Football: Barclays league division one-St Michel, La Passe, St Roch, The Lions win |08 April 2013
St Francis v St Michel
This was a meeting by the teams at the extreme ends of the table with St Michel enjoying different fortunes as they are unbeaten while St Francis are rooted to the bottom with no
There was to be more misery for the Baie Lazare-based team as St Michel made the perfect start, breaking the deadlock in the first minute as captain Don Anacoura found space on the right to centre to Malagasy Hassan Aly who slotted the ball past goalkeeper Ian Ah-Kong for a sensational 1-0 lead.
St Michel kept piling on their good start and soon went further ahead in the 10th minute as Malagasy Jimmy Radafison played a long ball to the overlapping Aly who spotted goalkeeper Ah-Kong off his goal-line. Aly lofted the ball over Ah-Kong to make it 2-0.
In the 13th minute, St Michel should have stretched their advantage as Aly released captain Anacoura whose lob came off the crossbar.
Four minutes later, captain Anacoura picked out Gervais Waye-hive whose instinctive cross was met by Nelson Laurence’s diving header but he hit the side-netting.
St Francis had a decent chance in the 22nd minute as Malagasy Hery pounced on a mistake by his former teammate Yannick Manoo and Dereck Agathine but his fierce shot sailed agonisingly wide.
In the 25th minute, Adrian Constance curled in a beautiful free-kick which crashed against the crossbar with St Michel goalkeeper Gino Melanie beaten.
St Michel enjoyed plenty of possession but lacked movement from their makeshift strikers of captain Anacoura and Laurence.
However, they produced the best move of the match as Aly and Waye-Hive exchanged passes to thread a pass to captain Anacoura. Anacoura squared to Laurence who drilled the ball past goalkeeper Ah-Kong for a 3-0 half-time lead.
St Michel pushed on Andy Mougal for Manoo while St Francis’ Malagasy striker Branly Zizi was replaced with a knee injury in the second half.
In the 53rd minute, St Francis Malagasy Hery should have done better after he pounced on a defensive error but he made a meal of his shot.
St Michel were also denied a blatant penalty in the 57th minute as Laurence was brought down by captain Ronny Monthy but referee Nelson Emile was not convinced.
In the 84th minute, Mougal latched onto a through ball though he looked suspiciously offside but his shot was charged down by goalkeeper Ah-Kong.
St Michel’s captain Anacoura though lost possession to Malagasy Hery in the 86th minute and he fed Stephane Esparon who coolly slotted the ball into the top corner to make it 3-1.
In the 89th minute, St Michel were again denied a clear penalty as Laurence hassled for the ball and St Francis’ captain Ronny Monthy, who was on the floor, handled. But from metres away the officials allowed play to go on.
On the stroke of full-time, St Michel’s Agathine picked up a poor clearance and let fly a cracking shot which goalkeeper Ah-Kong just managed to push out as St Michel ran out comfortable 3-1 winners despite a not so convincing victory ahead of their eagerly awaiting clash with La Passe next Saturday.
La Passe v Anse Reunion
La Passe maintained their good form as they defeated neighbours and bitter rivals Anse Reunion 2-1 on La Digue on Saturday.
Malagasy Fagnorena gave La Passe the lead in the 33rd minute but Anse Reunion came back to equalise at 1-1 in the 55th minute through Malagasy Hugo Sezou who rifled in a superb strike which sailed past goalkeeper Vincent Euphrasie.
As the game headed for a draw, former Quincy striker Alex Dugasse scored in the 89th minute for a 2-1 score to give La Passe all the points.
The Lions v LightStars
The Lions moved into third position in the standings with a brace by Darrel Damoo to help them beat LightStars 3-2 on Praslin.
Darrel Damoo had opened the score in the first half but Sergio Barra leveled matters with a free-kick for a 1-1 half-time score.
The Lions restored their advantage as young Laurent Vel made it 2-1, but LightStars equalised from the penalty spot as referee Jose Pillay awarded the Praslin side a penalty. Malagasy Mario Ravo made no mistake from the penalty spot as he slotted the ball past goalkeeper Jerome Dingwall to make it 2-2.
The Lions though were not to be denied their third victory as Damoo completed the scoring for an incredible 3-2 victory for the newly promoted team.
St Roch vs St Louis Suns
St Roch returned to winning ways as they shocked St Louis Suns 1-0 to inflict a first loss on this central Mahé side.
However, this game was marred by controversy as St Louis Suns were hard done by referee Egbert Havelock who awarded a goal which should never have stood.
The major talking point in this match occurred in the 22nd minute as St Roch’s Nerick Athanase latched onto a through ball and collided with the advancing goalkeeper Joel Lesperance who came out worse off as he stayed on the ground. But referee Havelock was the only one in the stadium who did not think the infringement warranted a foul. Therefore, Roy Julie, who was lurking, tapped the loose ball into an unguarded net for a 1-0 lead much to the disgust of the St Louis Suns players.
St Louis Suns protested especially as goalkeeper Lesperance had to be taken to hospital with a bleeding nose as a result of the clash and was replaced by Elvis Leopold. The St Louis Suns camp was furious with the official for failing to protect their goalkeeper and allowing the controversial goal to stand.
After a poor first half, St Louis Suns showed more urgency in the second and in the 56th minute they were again unhappy with referee Havelock as Malagasy Clariel went down in the penalty area under a strong challenge by Malvin Pierre but the official was not convinced it was worth a penalty.
In the 74th minute, St Louis Suns’ substitute Trevor Poiret’s free-kick was cleared as far as Nadim Lucas whose floated cross fell to unmarked captain Mervin Mathiot who surprisingly headed wide of goalkeeper Julio Toulon’s goal.
Two minutes later, St Louis Suns again threatened as Poiret and captain Mathiot combined to open up St Roch’s defence which had welcomed back Daven Belle after a long lay-off but captain Mathiot shot over when it looked easier to score.
In the 89th minute as St Louis Suns pushed forward, St Roch should have scored a second goal as Julie picked up a long ball which he lobbed into Alpha Balde’s path. Baldé’s shot hit the goalpost from a tight angle as St Louis Suns rode their luck.
Deep in injury time, Poiret’s corner was cleared to him and he picked out captain Mathiot at the far post who looked clearly offside but assistant referee James Emile failed to raise his flag. Surprisingly though captain Mathiot headed wide with the goal at his mercy as St Roch celebrated their second victory.
As for St Louis Suns, they were really annoyed with the officials who suffered a barrage of insults from their supporters.
R. J-L.