Football: l’UFFOI tournament - St Pierre rip apart Cercle de Joachim |05 October 2016

Reunion outfit St Pierre ripped apart Mauritian club Cercle de Joachim in a 4-1 triumph in the inaugural match of the l’UFFOI tournament on Monday afternoon at Stad Linite.

The Reunion team had the first chance in the 4th minute as Ricardo Sophie eluded a defender to fire at goalkeeper Aboubakar Augustin who pushed the ball away.

In the 17th minute, the Reunion club again threatened from a marauding run by Joé Damour to Wilson Stephano Crosset whose shot was kept out by the Mauritian goalkeeper before the two teams took a short water break.

St Pierre broke the deadlock in the 24th minute after resumption of play from Damour’s cross to his skipper Quentin Boesso who headed home for a 1-0 lead.

The goal shook Cercle de Joachim into action and seven minutes later, they were on level par with a cracking goal from a free kick. It all started from a free kick awarded by referee Egbert Havelock on the edge of the penalty area for a foul by Ngongue on the Mauritian club’s Ghanaian striker Anderson Langue.

Percy Buckland stepped up to blast the ball past St Pierre’s goalkeeper Emmanuel Ledoyeus for a 1-1 score.

St Pierre nearly restored their lead in the 42nd minute from captain Boesso’s corner which the Mauritian goalkeper Aboubakar missed but his defender cleared the danger for a 1-1 scoreline at half time.

St Pierre lost Wilson Stephana Grosset to injury early in the second half after he had looked lively in the first period.

Nonetheless, St Pierre regained their advantage in the 48th minute from Darmour’s inswinging corner and there was Ricardo Sophie to head into the net to make it 2-1.

In the 54th minute, Cercle de Joachim almost levelled matters from a teasing cross by Samuel Hangel which was destined for Langue’s head but St Pierre’s goalkeeper Ledoyeus plucked the ball in mid air to deny the Ghanaian striker.

The Reunionnais then moved up a gear to go and dominate proceedings and in the 76th minute, substitute Joel Leconte showed exquisite skills before he unleashed a blistering shot in the side-netting.

Three minutes later, Leconte released Sophie whose thunderous shot came off the crossbar as the Mauritians rode their luck.

St Pierre stretched their lead in the 81st minute as substitute Alexandre Guy Coricourt played a neat one-two with Leconte before he planted the ball into the roof of the net past a static goalkeeper Aboubakar for a 3-1 score.

On the stroke of full time, St Pierre put the icing on the cake as Leconte and Sophie sliced open the Cercle de Joachim defence and though Sophie’s initial shot was blocked by goalkeeper Aboubakar, he got a second bite of the cherry to seal an emphatic victory as they meet La Passe, today in their second and final match.

Their coach Christian Daffreville was pleased with an opening win though he expects a tough match today.

“We did not play to our usual level in the first half but my team improved drastically in the second period and it turned out to be a good win. But we expect a much tougher match against the local team though we hope to show our opponents the level of football in Reunion,” the St Pierre coach told Sports Nation.

As for the Cercle de Joachim coach, Congolese Joe Balanga, he was not too downhearted with the loss.

“It was not a bad result as we have travelled with a young squad for this competition as our senior players are unavailable. So we wanted to see what these young players have to offer and we are confident of an improved performance in our next match,” coach Balanga who has been with this club for only three weeks stated.

St Pierre face La Passe today at the Amitié stadium in a 3pm kick-off.

R. J-L