Paris--Oyannax gave their chances of reaching the playoffs a massive lift on Saturday as they stunned Clermont 11-10 and maintained their advantage on Montpellier who battled back to draw 24-24 at Racing-Metro.
While Oyannax celebrate a famous victory, the defensive bonus point picked by Clermont lifts them just above Stade Francais and Toulon at the summit of the Top 14.
Stade Francais also drew on Friday 19-19 at La Rochelle, while Toulon are in action later on Saturday at Grenoble.
Oyannax are clinging to sixth place in the table and the final playoff spot and their victory was vital as they stay three points above Montpellier.
In other matches, French international scrum-half Jean-Marc Doussain scored a try with two minutes left as Toulouse stole victory from Bayonne 20-17 in a thriller at the Ernest-Wallon stadium.
Finally, Brive won a crucial relegation battle 22-20 at Lyon as the visitors remain rooted to the bottom, while Brive give themselves a cushion on second-from-bottom Castres, who host Bordeaux-Begles in the final match on Saturday.
Clermont opened the scoring against Oyonnax, when Peceli Yato touched down and Brock James knocked over the conversion, but the visitors were resistant in the trenches for the rest of the match and eventually ground down the former French champions.
Montpellier came back from 14 points down to force a 24-24 draw as the Racing squandered a golden chance to close ground on the leaders.
At Colombes, Racing were heading for victory and an offensive bonus point after dominating the match for long periods but Montpellier dug in and launched their comeback with 19 minutes to go.
Australian fly-half Ben Lucas booted over three pressure penalties sandwiched around a crucial try from Fijian international Timoci Nagusa, who appeared to break his arm just before crossing the line, as Jake White's team kept up their bid for a playoff spot.
AFP
