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Football: African Club Championships - Côte D’Or, St Michel lose first-leg matches |13 February 2017

 

 

 

Local champions Côte D’Or lost 0-2 at home on Praslin on Saturday to Ethiopian side St Georges in the African Football Confederation (Caf) Champions League first round match whereas double cup winners St Michel were beaten by the same score on Friday evening against Al-Hilal in the away match of the CAF Confederation cup competition.

The Minister for Sports, Youth and Culture  Idith Alexander was in attendance for this home match on Praslin as she was presented to the two sets of players along with the Seychelles Football Federation (SFF) president Elvis Chetty and the presidents of both clubs before the kick off.

It was some cagey opening minutes in this match played in bright sunshine which slowed down the Ethiopians who struggled to cope with the heat despite being used to playing as they faced St Michel in this same competition last year.

However, St Georges sounded the first alarm bell at the Amitié playing field in the 14th minute from Zeleke Natnaez’ through ball to his captain Adane Girma who had found space in Côte D’Or’s rearguard but he rifled his shot across goal much to the relief of the small crowd at the Amitié playing field.

Côte D’Or responded in the 16th minute as Malagasy Jean Tigana and Dine Suzette combined before the latter played the ball to Gerald Basset who set up Collin Esther but he could not direct the ball on the turn on target inside the penalty area.

On the half hour mark, Tigana and Suzette linked up to open up St Georges on the right and Suzette went galloping on goal but he shot weakly at goalie Robert Odongkara who smothered the shot as he wasted the best chance for his team in this entire match.

Côte D’Or got caught in the 40th minute as Malagasy defender Jimmy Radafison was dragged into midfield before the ball was spread out to Assefa Behailli whose centre was intercepted by Benoit Marie, but the ball hit goalie Jean-Paul Lesperance and dropped invitingly to Ahmed Salahdin Said who accepted the windfall to bury it into a gaping goal to make it 1-0.

Côte D’Or had yet recovered from this setback when they almost conceded a second two minutes later from Abdela Abubeker Sani’s inch perfect cross to captain Girma whose glancing header rolled agonisingly wide.

The Ethiopian champions had the upper hand in the second half and in the 53rd minute Behailli released captain Girma who fired low but goalie Lesperance did well to thwart the danger.

Côte D’Or brought on the burly Ryan Antat in place of Suzette to give them more aerial strength in attack but it was the visitors who scored again on the hour mark.

It all started from the impressive Behailli’s through ball to Salahdin who glided past captain Jones Joubert’s tackle and eluded goalie Lesperance’s intervention to slot the ball into an empty net to make it 2-0 as he bagged his brace.

St Georges’ new recruit Burkinabe’s Prince Severin Waongo forced a good save out of goalie Lesperance with a free kick in the 75th minute as they went for more goals with Côte D’Or looking jaded.

St Georges though were a class above our local champions who now have a mountain to climb in the return match this week in Addis Ababa.

 

What they said after the match

Ralph Jean-Louis – Côte d’Or coach

“We had a good first half where we created good scoring opportunities but failed to convert and then gave away a goal.  But with our short preparation, we could not maintain the high intensity and our level dropped in the second half against a team boasting five foreign players but we are gradually getting better and we have a week to prepare for the next match.”

 

Jan Mak - Côte d’Or’s technical advisor

“We faced one of the better teams on the African continent whose level is higher than ours but in spite of that, we had a good first half and if we had scored, we would have put them under pressure.  But we still have a game to play and this tie is not done yet but we have to score first in the next match to give us a chance.”

 

Jones Joubert - Côte d’Or captain

“We managed to hold our opponent at bay in the opening minutes where we should have scored but missed our chance and then when our opponent went ahead, it made life difficult for us.”

 

Mart Nooij - St Georges coach

“We played a solid game as we tried to eliminate our opponent’s left flank as well as penetrate through the middle and though our first goal was lucky, we should have scored earlier and after that we were in control and saw the match off quite well.”

 

Adane Girma - St Georges captain

“The heat really affected us and we took time to adapt but once we opened the scoring, we were in control and we did not find the match too difficult and we could even have scored more goals.”

 

 

St Michel beaten in Sudan

Double cup winners St Michel lost 0-2 on Friday evening to Sudan’s Al-Hilal in the CAF Confederation cup competition.

St Michel conceded a goal in each half as they lost the first leg and they returned to the country on Saturday afternoon to prepare for the return match this coming Saturday at Stad Linite.

It was Krongo Hassan who opened the score in the 27th minute, while on 67 minutes, the hosts doubled their lead through Rahim Moez to take a comfortable lead back to Seychelles, when they play this weekend.

 

R.J-L

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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