Football: Barclays league division one-Dynamo condemn The Lions to relegation |10 November 2011

There has been much debate about this match especially after Dynamo did not play when it was first rescheduled and The Lions had won. But they appealed to the Seychelles Football Federation to replay this match as a three-goal margin win would have St Roch stumbling into the lower division.

After they won their appeal, The Lions still had a tall order to beat Dynamo by such a scoreline as very few teams had managed this feat this season.

In fact, The Lions made a disastrous start in this crucial match and almost fell behind in the third minute as Evans Télémaque threaded a pass to Basil Bertin who sprung The Lions’ offside trap but the young striker could not tuck the ball home allowing goalie Jerome Dingwall to block his shot into corner.

Dynamo were not to be denied two minutes later as Marcus Maria picked out Valerio Dorothé who had all the time to bury his shot into the roof of the net to make it 1-0.

Dynamo’s Maria was stopped from increasing his team’s lead in the ninth minute as he eluded captain Jones Joubert’s tackle but it required a last-ditch tackle by Gervais Saminadin to save his team from conceding another goal as they made a nervous start.

The Lions though slowly got their act together and in the 17th minute Randolph Lablache centred to Darrel Lesperance who headed wide from a good scoring position.

Midway in this half, The Lions drew level as Lablache and Dine Suzette combined with a short corner before lifting the ball to Lesperance who made amends for his earlier miss, scoring with a diving header to make it 1-1 as Dynamo were playing with 10 men as Collin Tirant was receiving treatment on the sideline after colliding with his captain Steven Côme.

In the 34th minute, Darren Payet fired a fierce free-kick which Dynamo goalkeeper Jules Monnaie parried.

Both teams had a decent chance before the break to take the lead. In the 40th minute, Télémaque’s through-ball released Bertin who beat the offside trap but he shot straight at Dingwall with the goal at his mercy.

A minute later at the other end, Lablache pounced on a defensive error but he flashed his shot across goal.

The two teams each made a substitution after half-time with Tirant going off for Dynamo and being replaced by Malagasy Asman Todisoa, while The Lions brought on Leeroy Gomme for Carlos Mondon.

The Lions had a gilt-edge opportunity in the 51st minute from captain Joubert’s floated free-kick which Gomme met with a header but Monnaie pushed the ball onto the crossbar and out of danger.

In the 53rd minute, Dynamo produced a good move as Bertin linked up with Todisoa to set up Maria who rounded a defender but his strong shot came off the crossbar.

Dynamo had an even better chance in the 55th minute after a sweeping move which saw Maria centre to Télémaque but he miscued his header from close range.

The boys of coach Cliff Nolin regained their advantage on the hour mark as Ronny Marengo filtered a pass to Maria who crossed to Todisoa and he bundled the ball into the net despite suffering a heavy tackle for a 2-1 lead.

The Lions had a great chance to equalise in the 63rd minute from substitute Valdo Azemia’s long ball over the Dynamo defence to Suzette who beat the offside trap but his attempted lob sailed over the crossbar.

The Lions’ defender Azemia was lucky not to be sent off a minute later as he pulled down Maria who was chasing a long ball but the officials turned a blind eye.

In the 67th minute, The Lions exchanged passes to set up Payet whose shot ricocheted off the crossbar.

Dynamo suffered a setback in the 77th minute as substitute Todisoa limped off but Dynamo managed to keep The Lions at bay and send them crashing into the second division after only one painful season among the elites.

R. J-L.”