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Archive - Archive 2004 - July 2013

Football: Barclays league division one-La Passe dim St Louis Suns’ fading lights |28 October 2011

This result ensured that the league title race will go to the wire as today, St Michel will need at least a point against Anse Reunion to be crowned champions.

On Wednesday, La Passe kept the pressure on the leaders, closing the gap to three points as they enter the final round of matches tomorrow when they entertain St Roch.

St Louis Suns though started brightly in the bright sunshine and they went ahead in the 11th minute through Elijah Tamboo who lobbed goalkeeper Dave Mussard to make it 1-0.

La Passe had a great chance two minutes earlier as Garry Radegonde broke clear but failed to beat goalkeeper Joel Lesperance.
La Passe slowly began to enjoy more possession and in the 24th minute, Malagasy Valerie exploited space on the St Louis Suns penalty area to fire at Lesperance who blocked his shot.

The La Digue side levelled the score in the 29th minute as Jean-Paul Adela’s cross came off Serge Asba and fell to Roderick Rose whose strong shot flew past Lesperance and into the net to make it 1-1.

In the 44th minute, Malagasy Valerie turned on the penalty area to shoot at Lesperance who was equal to the task as the first half ended in a stalemate.

St Louis Suns nearly re-established their lead in the first minute of the second half from David Dorby’s free-kick which dropped to Tamboo but his header was too weak to sail over Mussard.

In the 56th minute, St Louis Suns were just unlucky as Ryan Antat exchanged passes with Tamboo to open up the La Passe defence but the latter’s shot was blocked by Mussard’s legs.

A minute later at the other end, La Passe took the lead as they played some neat passes before Kenny Nibourette cut the ball back to Roderick Rose who drilled it low past Lesperance to make it 2-1.

Malagasy Valerie forced a good save out of Lesperance in the 69th minute with a thunderous shot after Achille Henriette had played a short corner to him.

In the 70th minute, St Louis Suns put a string of passes together involving substitute Mervin Mathiot and Denis Barbé to release Antat who looked odds on to score but his low shot came off the foot of the post as La Passe rode their luck.

Sensing defeat, St Louis Suns threw caution to the wind and in the 86th minute, Mathiot rolled a free-kick to captain Jonathan Bibi whose fierce shot was pushed out by Mussard.

As St Louis Suns pushed forward, they were almost punished on two occasions. In the 90th minute, Henriette slipped a pass to substitute Marcus Labiche who beat St Louis Suns’ offside trap but failed to round Lesperance who dispossessed him. In the dying minute, Henriette played a through-ball to Yelvanny Rose who allowed Bibi to stop him in his stride with a last-ditch sliding tackle.

La Passe though will be pleased with this hard-fought win which keeps St Louis Suns still battling to survive the drop.  But more importantly, their win has helped to sustain interest as the league race reaches its climax this weekend with the final round of games.

R. J-L.

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