Football: Barclays league division one-St Louis Suns win at last, The Lions shock LightStars, La Passe edge Côte d’Or |26 September 2011
On the same day, The Lions picked up a 3-2 away win against LightStars on Praslin and La Passe edged visitors Côte d’Or. On Friday, St Roch fought from three goals down to secure a remarkable 4-4 draw against St Francis.
St Louis Suns v Anse Reunion
St Louis Suns were desperate for a win and they started brightly and were unlucky not to
In the impending mêlée, the ball was threaded to Ryan Antat and with Anse Reunion’s Steven Pool playing him onside, he blasted the ball past goalie Jean-Paul Ah-Kong to give St Louis Suns a 1-0 lead.
St Louis Suns were the better side but were vulnerable to the pace of Anse Reunion’s Malagasy forward Jean Estel Baransuice who saw his 17th minute shot sail onto the roof of the net.
In the 19th minute, Denis Barbé played a superb ball to Daniel Maillet whose inch-perfect cross fell to Antat but he fluffed a great chance to add a second for St Louis Suns.
A minute later, Mervin Mathiot centred to Maillet and when Ah-Kong failed to cut out the cross he could not direct his shot on target.
Baransuice was a constant danger and in the 24th minute Steven Pool found him with his cross but the Malagasy striker’s strong shot was pushed out by goalie Elvis Leopold.
Anse Reunion’s Baransuice was at it again in the 31st minute as he broke clear but his low shot was stopped by Leopold’s legs.
In the 34th minute, captain Trevor Poiret slipped a pass to Mathiot who was heading for goal but was stopped in his stride by a non-existent offside flag by the inconsistent assistant referee Walter Underwood.
Four minutes later, St Louis Suns survived a scare as captain Norvil Gaspard played a neat one-two with Baransuice but the former’s shot was turned away by Leopold.
St Louis Suns of the first half had clear chances but failed to convert.
Anse Reunion came out for the second half determined to redress the scoreline and in the 46th minute, Jude Payet could not connect to Baransuice’s teasing cross.
In the 47th minute, as Anse Reunion increased the tempo, Gaspard saw his fierce shot deflected into corner.
St Louis Suns had a decent chance to go further ahead in the 53rd minute as Mathiot raced forward but his shot was deflected onto the crossbar.
Anse Reunion were just unlucky not to level the score in the 59th minute from Pool’s cross which Leopold missed but substitute Ahmed Adrienne could not reach the ball.
Anse Reunion equalised in the 59th minute as they made the most of a rare mistake by defender Jonathan Bibi who lost the ball in midfield. The ball was quickly played to Baransuice who sped into the box to shoot low to make it 1-1.
St Louis Suns though kept their calm and in the 72nd minute, Poiret tested Ah-Kong with a strong shot which he managed to keep out.
In the 78th minute, substitute Fabien Cadeau found space to centre to another substitute, Roddy Melanie, but he miscued his diving header.
Anse Reunion nearly took the lead in the 80th minute as substitute Adrienne galloped forward onto a through ball but Leopold was equal to the task.
On a swift counter, St Louis Suns pumped the ball forward to Poiret who held his marker to lob Ah-Kong to give his team a 2-1 win which guaranteed them three vital points though they remain bottom as The Lions surprisingly won on Praslin.
LightStars v The Lions
Ten-man the Lions registered an unlikely win on Praslin on a 3-2 score over LightStars on Saturday.
Dine Suzette gave The Lions the lead from the penalty spot and Randolph Lablache made it 2-0 with a beautiful shot before half-time.
However, The Lions grew complacent and allowed LightStars to fight their way into the match as Andy Brioche cut the deficit to 2-1 before Malagasy Mario Ravo levelled matters at 2-2 to set up a grand stand finish.
The Lions had Gervais Saminadin sent off late in the match for retaliation but Lablache assured his team three precious points with another superb strike in injury time to make it 3-2.
La Passe v Côte d’Or
On La Digue, Côte d’Or with their La Passe connection made life difficult for the home team and even led at half-time, courtesy of the lanky former La Passe striker Hubert Ernesta.
La Passe levelled the score in the second half as Collin Bibi scored to make it 1-1. The match was heading for a draw until Marcus Labiche stepped up to score the winner to make it 2-1 and give his team some valuable points to help them close the gap on St Michel.
St Roch v St Francis
Bel Ombre-based St Roch fought from three goals down to secure a remarkable 4-4 draw against St Francis at Stad Linite on Friday
This match between two struggling teams was highly entertaining with loads of goalmouth actions to thrill the fans.
St Francis drew first blood as early as the fifth minute when Yannick Manou’s free-kick was fumbled over the goal-line by St Roch goalkeeper Terence Lesperance to gift the Baie Lazare-based team a 1-0 lead.
In the 10th minute, St Roch should have drawn level from Malagasy Nestor Benahovy’s free-kick which Brian Ravinia somehow missed at the far post.
St Francis though were the more enterprising side and in the 12th minute, Ronny Monthy picked out Nicolas Atala with a deep cross but his header missed the target.
A minute later, Manou latched onto a loose ball to free Trevor Vidot who bore on goal but Lesperance blocked his shot with his leg.
In the 18th minute, St Roch rode their luck twice, firstly when Atala set up Stephane Barallon who looked odds on to score from close range but his shot came off the post and was cleared to Malagasy Fortunat who let fly a thunderous shot and Lesperance produced a great one-hand save to keep the ball out.
St Francis continued to threaten and Ronny Monthy’s 34th minute dipping shot forced a superb tip-over by Lesperance.
Two minutes later, St Francis’ Manou combined with Barallon to filter a pass to Vidot but one-on-one he failed to beat Lesperance who stood tall.
St Francis were rewarded for their pressure in the 41st minute. Vidot intercepted St Roch’s Daven Belle’s poor back header to Lesperance to head over the goalkeeper to make it 2-0.
In the 42nd minute, St Francis went close as Malagasy Fortunat played a long ball to Barallon but Lesperance stood defiant.
Seconds later at the other end, St Francis captain Rondy Onezime lost the ball to Stephen Télémaque whose strong shot was blocked by goalie Andrea Libanotis.
In the 43rd minute, St Roch were furious with assistant referee Darnsley Télémaque as they felt Barallon was offside, which was not evident, as he raced on goal but Lesperance was again defiant as he made a good stop.
On the stroke of half-time, St Roch, who had been under pressure for long periods, were given a lifeline when Eldrick Adelaide clumsily brought down Télémaque and referee Emile Fred, who had a good game on Friday, pointed to the spot.
Télémaque sent Libanotis the wrong way to make it 2-1 at half-time.
St Roch nearly levelled matters two minutes into the second half after Télémaque left captain Onezime on the deck with some neat foot-work to centre to Darrel Forte but he crashed a gilt-edged chance against the post.
In the 54th minute, St Francis went 3-1 up in controversial manner as Klaus Pragassen went down after a tackle by Ronny Monthy which was not signaled. St Francis pour forward in a counter as Monthy linked up with Barallon who played to Alpha Baldé and he laid to Fortunat who was given time to unleash a thumping shot into the roof of the net for 3-1 lead.
In the 73rd minute St Francis extended their advantage to 4-1 with a brilliant solo goal as Manou threaded a pass to Barallon who went on a sinking run to skip past a couple of tackles and even Lesperance to drill the ball home for a classy strike.
St Roch though were not yet done as a minute later they were awarded another penalty after Adelaide misjudged a long ball to let in Télémaque and the St Francis defender grabbed the St Roch player to the ground and was lucky to earn only a yellow card. Télémaque once again took charge of the spot kick and fired past goalie Libanotis for 4-2 scoreline.
St Roch were now buzzing and in the 79th minute, the irresistible Télémaque weaved his way into the box to lay the ball to Benahovy who rifled low to make it 4-3.
St Francis were now out of sorts in defence and cracked again in the 84th minute as they failed to cut out a long ball allowing Benahovy to sneak in and lob Libanotis to complete a remarkable comeback at 4-4 for the final score.
St Roch have now scored nine goals in two matches but amazingly collected only two points as they drew both.
R. J-L.