Football: Barclays league division one- Maria scores four as Dynamo demolish LightStars |13 May 2013
On Praslin on the same day, La Passe edged Côte d’Or 1-0, while St Louis Suns won away on La Digue, beating Anse Reunion 3-1. On Friday, 10-man St Michel defeated The Lions 2-0 to move into second position.
Maria hits four against nine-man LightStars
Northern Dynamo’s Marcus Maria scored four goals to help his team demolish nine-man
LightStars could have grabbed a sensational lead in the opening minute but Ian Vel delayed his shot after a mêlée in the Dynamo penalty area, thus fluffing the opportunity.
Dynamo though were more ruthless as they opened the floodgates in the sixth minute after Maria twisted and turned Sergio Barra and Lovens Calva before crossing to Malagasy Asman Todisoa who connected at the near post to beat goalkeeper Denis Fideria to make it 1-0.
In the 12th minute, LightStars’ Andrew Jean played a suicidal back pass which Maria pounced on to trick Fideria who came rushing out but went for the player and left the ball. Maria coolly collected the loose ball to score into an empty net for a 2-0 lead.
LightStars though kept going despite this disadvantage and in the 14th minute Malagasy Mario Ravo’s free-kick created confusion in the Dynamo penalty area but Andy Brioche shot wide.
Dynamo stretched their lead in the 42nd minute when defender Sergio Barra brought down Maria in full flight for a penalty awarded by referee Trevor Bijoux. But LightStars’ defender Michel Oreddy, who had been booked earlier, was quite rightly shown his second yellow and was sent off for throwing insult at the official.
LightStars were on the brink of quitting the field as they tried to blame the officials for their shortcomings. After calm was restored, Maria took the spot kick, firing the ball past Fideria for a 3-0 half-time score.
Dynamo were hungry for goals in the second half and in the 53rd minute, Maria capitalised on a defensive blunder by Calva to link up with Todisoa who set up captain Evans Télémaque and he rammed the ball low into the net to make the score read 4-0.
In the 56th minute, LightStars were denied a goal by a fantastic save by goalkeeper Jules Monnaie who once again was in top form as he tipped over captain Bertrand Lablache’s fierce shot.
A minute later, LightStars had no complaints as Ian Vel was shown his second yellow card as he pulled back Steven Télémaque who was clean through and referee Bijoux had no choice but to dish out his red card which left the Praslin side with a mountain to climb.
In the 63rd minute, Dynamo added a fifth goal as Marty Fanny released Todisoa who squared to Maria who completed his hat-trick for a 5-0 score.
A minute later, Dynamo scored again as Maria linked up with Steven Télémaque who cut the ball in Todisoa’s path and his half volley hit the target to make it 6-0.
Four minutes later, Fanny once again threaded a pass to midfielder Basil Bertin who burst through a disjointed LightStars defence to rifle past a hapless Fideria for a 7-0 lead.
Five minutes later, Maria made it 8-0 as Fanny combined with substitute Jean Alain Valentin who laid the ball on a platter to their diminutive striker whose shot went in off the crossbar as he scored his fourth personal goal.
LightStars huffed and puffed but Dynamo goalkeeper Monnaie was defiant as he kept Ravo and captain Lablache at bay before conceding in the 78th minute with a near post which flew past him for a final huge 8-1 score which pushes the Praslin team to the bottom of the league table.
Ten-man St Michel shake off The Lions’ threat
Ten-man St Michel shook off the threat of The Lions to earn a 2-0 hard fought win at Stad Linite on Friday evening.
This match was almost called off at half-time as the match commissioner had to consult with both team captains to discuss the poor lighting at the stadium. After much deliberation the two teams agreed to continue a match which had its fair of controversial moments.
St Michel started brightly as they went for an early breakthrough and in the seventh minute on a counter-attack, Leeroy Coralie linked up with Gervais Waye-Hive who cut inside his marker but his curling shot was easily saved by goalkeeper Jerome Dingwall.
Two minutes later, the defending league champions went ahead from Joel Barbé’s lay-off to Way Hive who chipped the ball at the far post to captain Don Anacoura who connected to direct the ball low at the far post for a 1-0 lead.
In the 22nd minute, St Michel almost extended their advantage against a very defensive The Lions side who had packed their midfield with only Darren Payet in attack.
It all started from Malagasy Hassan Aly’s free-kick which was met by Alex Nibourette’s header which flashed cross the face of goal.
There was much controversy and outcry on the half hour mark when referee Emile Fred sent off St Michel’s Nelson Laurence as he issued a second yellow card to the midfielder who had earlier been booked.
Referee Fred adjudged that Laurence had handled the ball deliberately when it appeared that he had been fouled by The Lions’ Rachim Padayachy. It appeared to be a very harsh decision which really infuriated St Michel.
As for The Lions, they made two quick substitutions to attempt a more offensive approach as Payet was replaced by Dave Max and minutes later Denis Auguste was substituted by Darrel Damoo as they tried to make their numerical advantage pay.
St Michel held on for the remainder of this half and coach Ralph Jean-Louis also made his substitutions in the second period as he brought on Henny Dufresne and Wilnes Brutus to replace Way Hive and Corallie in a bid to make up for their man shortage.
The Lions had a go at St Michel in this second half but could not conjure a clear opportunity.
In fact, St Michel came close to adding a second goal in the 51st minute as Malagasy Jean Del’Or Tsaralaza stole the ball from defender Maurice Ahmed but his attempted long range lob failed to hit the target.
Two minutes later, St Michel thought they should have been awarded a penalty as The Lions substitute Michael Ernest handled in the penalty box but referee Fred turned a blind eye.
On the hour mark, St Michel countered swiftly as they broke down a Lions’ attack and captain Anacoura picked out Brutus whose shot was tipped over by goalkeeper Dingwall.
In the 71st minute, Yannick Manoo played a glorious long pass to Del’Or who laid the ball off to Brutus who in turn fed Aly who looked odds on to score but goalkeeper Dingwall did well to block his shot with his outstretched legs.
In the 82nd minute, Aly picked out Nibourette whose header produced a brilliant reflex save by goalkeeper Dingwall.
Two minutes later, Del’Or pounced on a defensive mistake to thread a pass to captain Anacoura whose header was cleared on the goal-line by defender Maurice Ahmed.
St Michel’s pressure reaped fruit in the 88th minute as Malagasy Jimmy Radafison’s cross was met by Brutus’ glancing header which found refuge in the far corner to make it 2-0.
On the stroke of full-time, there was another moment of controversy as assistant referee Gilbert Lusta flagged for an infringement as he adjudged that Manoo had improvised for a back pass which goalkeeper Nelson Sopha handled. At first it looked like a questionable decision by the official and referee Fred awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position. This really enraged the St Michel camp.
But after consulting the regulations, assistant referee Lusta was proved right as Manoo’s actions is deemed as a deliberate trick in order to play a back pass. The regulation states that the player in question (Manoo) is guilty of unsporting behaviour and is cautioned and an indirect free-kick is awarded which proves that both assistant Lusta and referee Fred were correct in their decision.
La Passe edge Côte d’Or
La Passe edged Côte d’Or 1-0 at the Amitié Stadium on Saturday to move to the top of the league standings.
After a goalless first half where Côte d’Or hit the woodwork, La Passe, who were slightly the better team, scored through Yves Zialor to hand the Praslin outfit their second league defeat as they dropped to third while La Passe lead the standings.
St Louis Suns gun down Anse Reunion
On La Digue, St Louis Suns registered their first away win as they gunned down Anse Reunion 3-1.
St Louis Suns, who the weekend before had lost to La Passe on La Digue, fell behind in the first half as referee Bernard Camille awarded Anse Reunion a penalty after goalkeeper Joel Lesperance brought down Malagasy Hugo Sezou. Sezou stepped up to beat Lesperance to make it 1-0.
St Louis Suns though leveled matters as Denis Barbé equalised for a 1-1 score at half-time.
St Louis Suns went ahead in the second half as Malagasy Falirina opened his account with the central Mahe team for a 2-1 lead and Fabien Cadeau assured them all the points with another goal for a final 3-1 scoreline.
R. J-L.