Football: Airtel Cup - Dynamo shock St Michel as Côte d’Or, La Passe win |23 March 2015

There was a goals galore during the weekend with 18 goals scored in four Airtel Cup matches as Northern Dynamo provided the shock result by beating St Michel 3-2 and Côte d’Or scored a feast of goals – six.

Dynamo stun St Michel

On Saturday at Stad Linite, Northern Dynamo turned the tables on St Michel as they won 3-2 in an action-packed match.

Dynamo should have been awarded a penalty in the first minute of this match when St Michel reserve goalkeeper Elvis Leopold clattered into Wesley Esther after he had rushed out of goal and left the Dynamo midfielder lying on the floor, but referee Jean-Claude Labrosse turned a blind eye to this incident which could even have resulted in a red card for the goalkeeper.

In the ninth minute, there was another strong call for a penalty when Malagasy Leonard Besabotsy handled Ronny Houareau’s free kick but again the referee was not convinced which left Dynamo frustrated.

St Michel came to life in the 12th minute with a brilliant one-two between Malagasy Jocelyn and Gervais Waye-Hive which opened up Dynamo’s defence but the former’s low shot came off the foot of the post.

Dynamo were rewarded for their bright start with a penalty in the 20th minute as Nelson Laurence was adjudged to have handled Francis Moumou’s corner and referee Labrosse pointed to the penalty spot. Gambian Musa Njie scored emphatically from the spot to put his side 1-0 up.

Four minutes later, Dynamo took a 2-0 lead from Houareau’s long free kick which was met by a towering header by Njie which flew in the net as he grabbed his brace.

The goals shook St Michel out of their lethargic start and five minutes later Leeroy Corallie burst through to rifle a fierce shot into the roof of the net to cut the deficit to 1-2.

On the half hour mark, coach Ralph Jean-Louis made a double substitution as Carl Hall came on for his first match since his return to the club and Alex Nibourette was introduced after serving a two-game suspension.

The two players made an instant impact as St Michel swarmed all over Dynamo who dropped deep to defend and in the 41st minute Hall levelled the score at 2-2 with a downward header from Malagasy Hassan Aly’s corner.

In the 44th minute, Aly again picked out Hall with a beautiful pass and his header looked to be creeping in at the far post but goalkeeper Jules Monnaie produced a world class save to deny him.

Dynamo came back after half-time looking eager to restore their lead and they did so in the 52nd minute from Darren Gonzalves’ cross to Esther who looked yards offside but assistant referee James Emile failed to raise his flag, thus allowing Esther to tap in past goalkeeper Leopold to make it 3-2.


Three minutes later, Aly tested goalkeeper Monnaie with a free kick which he just managed to push into corner.

St Michel huffed and puffed but Dynamo defended resolutely and were only troubled in the 87th minute when goalkeeper Monnaie had to make a double stop from Jocelyn’s and Nibourette’s close range efforts.

Deep into the five minutes of added time, St Michel felt hard done by assistant referee Gerald Pool who ruled out what looked a valid goal by Yannick Manou after goalkeeper Monnaie had pushed Waye-Hive’s free kick onto the crossbar and the ball had come back to him and he headed into the net. The goal did not count as St Michel suffered a first defeat this season and Dynamo celebrated a deserved win.

Dynamo coach Cliff Nolin was pleased with the result though he was not happy with his team for losing their focus after going 2-0 up in the first half.

“It was a good result for us as we worked hard to contain our opponents but we looked disorganised when they made two substitutions and we had to readjust at half time and it helped achieve this win,” explained coach Nolin.

As for St Michel manager Andrew Jean-Louis, he was disappointed with the result and also questioned the officiating.

“We did not start well but then caught up with our opponents to level the score and could even have taken the lead. We again went to sleep in the second half but the Dynamo goal was offside and we had a good goal disallowed. We will now have to go back to the drawing board to prepare for the next match,” the St Michel manager said.

Côte d’Or sweep aside Anse Réunion

Côte d’Or swept aside Anse Reunion 6-1 at the Amitié Stadium on Praslin on Saturday.

Yury Bibi gave the Praslin team a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute but Yelvanny Rose equalised at 1-1 for Anse Réunion in the 26th minute.
Marcus Labiche restored Côte d’Or’s advantage in the 31st minute and Gerald Basset added another goal for a 3-1 score at the break.

Basset scored his second goal in the 59th minute while Dave Brioche got in the scoring act two minutes later for a 5-1 lead before Dine Suzette wrapped up the victory with a strike in the 73rd minute for a 6-1 thrashing of Anse Reunion.


La Passe beat Revengers

La Passe beat Revengers 4-0 on La Digue on Saturday, but not after being held goalless the first half.
La Passe had to wait until the second period to break the deadlock as Jean-Paul Marguerite made it 1-0.

La Passe though were again kept at bay and only added to the score in the dying minutes as Senky Vidot made it 2-0 and young Randy Emile scored twice to help his team to a 4-0 win.


St Louis and The Lions share the points

St Louis fought back to secure a share of the points with The Lions in a 1-1 draw at Stad Linite on Friday evening.

After a goalless first half, the two teams took to the pitch eager to break the deadlock especially The Lions who had been the better team.

However, the two teams forced referee Emile Fred to stop the match only two minutes into the second period as the lighting was poor and was affecting the players’ vision.

The officials consulted and then talked to the two captains before common sense reigned and the game resumed after a three-minute break.

Just past the hour mark, The Lions opened the scoring. From Gabonese Tony Moussikoue’s floated corner, St Louis defender Danny Madeleine miscued and his goalkeeper Jalyl Servina had to be alert to keep out his teammate’s mis-kick as he pushed the ball out. The ball though dropped invitingly to Darrel Damou who had missed a sitter early in the second period and he made amends this time as he fired the loose ball into the net in a crowded penalty area to make it 1-0.

St Louis had to raise their play and they brought on their two Nigerian imports, namely Oladele Olamiti and Kazeem Sulaimon, who arrived back in the country last week but it was The Lions who almost added a second goal in the 79th minute.
It all started from a burst of speed by Malagasy substitute Paul Bruyelle who dribbled past three defenders but then shot straight at goalkeeper Servina with the goal begging.

St Louis then stunned The Lions. Roddy Melanie sent a long ball into The Lions penalty area on the stroke of full time and Sulaimon chest-trapped despite Ahmed Maurice putting pressure on him and the Nigerian, who had his back to goal, then showed good balance to swivel and turn before hooking the ball into the net past a bemused goalkeeper Raphael Moustache to level matters at 1-1.

The Lions players were furious with the official as they were convinced Sulaimon had fouled their defender but the official awarded the goal and he was perfectly right as it was a good goal.

The Lions had a chance to snatch the points in the 91st minute from a high free kick by Jude Nancy which the St Louis defence cleared as far as Damou on the edge of the penalty area but he blazed his shot wide.

St Louis had an even better opportunity with the last kick of the match as captain Mervin Mathiot burst forward and goalkeeper Moustache raced out to meet him leaving an empty goal. But the St Louis skipper tried to skip past Moustache instead of squaring the ball to two of his teammates who were in the clear and The Lions custodian got a touch to concede a corner as Mathiot fluffed a great chance.

Nonetheless, St Louis coach Patrick Cafrine told Sports Nation he was satisfied with a point after they had lost their two previous matches.

“It was a balanced match as both teams had their moments in this match and I’m happy that our two substitutes helped us get a point,” coach Cafrine said.

As for his counterpart Gavin Jeanne, he was very unhappy with the official for allowing their opponents’ goal to stand.

“I’m disappointed that the goal was given as for me it was a clear foul and to concede in the last minute is very discouraging as it was a mistake by the St Louis striker. So now we have a lot of work to do before our next match,” coach Gavin told Sports Nation.

R. J-L.