Football: Barclays league division one- St Michel, Anse Reunion win, The Lions shock La Passe, St Louis Suns and Dynamo draw |29 April 2013
On Friday, The Lions claimed the scalp of big guns La Passe with a 2-1 win.
The Lions upset La Passe
The Lions caused a major upset as they beat high-flying La Passe 2-1 at Stad Linite on Friday.
It was La Passe’s first defeat in this league campaign but a major victory for The Lions who
The Lions tried to deny La Passe space and hit them on the counter but Rick Bibi should have done better in the 23rd minute when he was set up by captain Achille Henriette.
The Lions stunned La Passe on the half-hour mark from a blistering counter-attack led by Denis Auguste who linked up with captain Randolph Lablache who unselfishly squared a pass to the onrushing Darrel Damoo who easily tapped in at the far post to make it 1-0.
La Passe made a switch in their strike-force as they pulled off Yves Zialor to bring on Malagasy Fagnorena but in the 41st minute The Lions were unlucky not to go two up as captain Lablache latched onto Darrel Lesperance’s defence splitting pass but his strong left foot shot was parried by goalkeeper Vincent Euphrasie.
La Passe came out with all guns blazing in the second period and in the 52nd minute, captain Henriette picked out Rick Bibi with his corner kick but the midfielder’s hooked shot was saved by goalkeeper Jerome Dingwall.
In the 54th minute, The Lions created another decent chance as Auguste held the ball well to roll it back to Jude Nancy whose instinctive cross was chest-trapped by Lesperance into the path of captain Lablache but he shot across goal as La Passe rode their luck.
The Lions felt hard done by assistant referee James Emile in the 57th minute after La Passe failed to clear a corner which dropped to Lesperance who curled in a beauty which found refuge in the net. But The Lions’ goal celebration was short-lived as the assistant referee flagged for a not-so-evident offside, a decision which baffled the eastern club.
Seconds later at the other end, The Lions conceded a goal as they were caught off-guard and Malagasy Valerie collected a loose ball to let fly a 20-metre drive which flew past goalkeeper Dingwall’s desperate dive to level matters at 1-1.
The game now grew more intense and exciting and in the 71st minute Dingwall made a horrendous mistake as he played a poor goal-kick straight at La Passe captain Henriette on the edge of the penalty area, but Henriette’s chip sailed over the crossbar much to the relief of Dingwall.
In the 80th minute, The Lions regained the lead as captain Lablache played a neat one-two with Malagasy Antonio to carve open La Passe’s defence and kept his cool to slot the ball past goalkeeper Euphrasie for a 2-1 score which The Lions’ camp celebrated wildly.
La Passe had to throw caution to the wind and in the 88th minute, substitute Alex Dugasse’s glancing header from captain Henriette’s cross flew inches wide.
La Passe’s last chance to grab a share of the spoils fell to captain Henriette deep in injury time from Malagasy Tholix Jean’s corner but his header sailed agonisingly wide of the goal as his team suffered their first defeat while The Lions celebrated claiming the scalp of a big gun.
Coach Gavin Jeanne praised his team for sticking to their game plan.
“We played well tactically as we denied them space and attacked them on the counter. Our aim is to stay in the first division and we are pleased with how things are going for this team in the first round,” the Lions coach told Sports Nation.
St Louis Suns halt Dynamo’s progress
Northern Dynamo and St Louis Suns shared the points in a hard fought 1-1 draw at Stad Linite on Saturday.
Dynamo got off to a flying start as they took the lead as early as the sixth minute from Marcus Maria’s floated corner. St Louis Suns goalkeeper Joel Lesperance came for the ball but failed to touch it allowing Ronny Haoreau to connect with a towering header to punish the St Louis Suns custodian’s blunder to make it 1-0.
It was a good return for the Dynamo defender who had been suspended and then injured.
As for St Louis Suns, they had to raise their play and Fabien Cadeau should have done better a minute later when he latched onto a through ball but with captain Mervin Mathiot begging for a pass, he went for glory and wasted a glorious opportunity.
Dynamo though always carried a threat with their pacey forward line and in the 17th minute, Maria set up Malagasy Asman Todisoa who rounded Steven Constance but the angle was too tight to beat goalkeeper Lesperance.
In the 23rd minute, captain Mathiot played a neat one-two with Denis Barbé but his control let him down at the crucial moment allowing goalkeeper Jules Monnaie to race out to thwart the danger.
A minute later, Cadeau picked up a fantastic pass over the defence by Barbé but once again he failed to bring the ball under control, fluffing a good chance.
In the 26th minute, Dynamo produced a superb passing move involving Todisoa and Maria to release Basil Bertin whose inch-perfect cross dropped invitingly to the unmarked Steven Télémaque but he headed over with the goal begging.
In the 35th minute, St Louis Suns’ Malagasy striker Clariel, who was making his return after injury, centred to Jean-Paul Aglaé who headed to captain Mathiot but he fired wide.
On the stroke of half-time, St Louis Suns again wasted a goalscoring opportunity as Roddy Melanie bore on goal but with only goalkeeper Monnaie to beat, he shot weakly at him much to Dynamo’s relief.
In the second half St Louis Suns picked up where they had left off in the first but Melanie volleyed a great chance wide in the 46th minute.
St Louis Suns were in control of the match and on the hour mark, Malagasy Clariel’s poor control let him down or else he would have had a clear opening from Barbé’s lofted pass.
Two minutes later, St Louis Suns were gifted a leveler after referee Jean-Claude Labrosse penalised goalkeeper Monnaie for holding on to the ball for too long. Substitute Kelly Nibourette rolled the indirect free-kick to defender Nigel Freminot who blasted a thunderous shot which crashed into the roof of the net to make it 1-1.
The goal spurred St Louis Suns on but they failed to create a clear opening until the 84th minute when captain Mathiot glided past defender Marty Fanny and his shot ricocheted off goalkeeper Monnaie’s chest before the danger was cleared.
In the 88th minute, Dynamo, who had always looked dangerous on the counter, had a half chance as Steven Télémaque fed substitute Shane Elizabeth but his raking shot rolled agonisingly wide as the two teams had to settle for a point each.
St Michel tear apart LightStars
Defending league champions St Michel retuned to winning ways with an emphatic 4-1 victory over struggling LighStars at the Amitié Stadium on Saturday.
Malagasy Jean Del’Or Tsaralaza scored twice in the first half to complete his brace and Hassan Aly also got on the scoresheet for a 3-0 half-time score.
Striker Leeroy Corallie made it 4-0 in the second period but LightStars’ Malagasy striker Mario Ravo scored a superb solo goal to give some credibility to the scoreline of 4-1.
Anse Reunion add to St Francis’ troubles
Anse Reunion cruised to a 3-0 victory against bottom club St Francis on La Digue on Saturday.
St Francis held their own in the goalless first-half but they were undone in the second as Yelvanny Rose scored twice before Malagasy Hugo Sezou sealed St Francis’ fate for a 3-0 win.
R. J-L.