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Football: Division one league - La Passe, Côte d’Or, Anse Reunion win |20 March 2017

 

 

● St Michel, Foresters pick up draws

 

La Digue-based La Passe returned to winning ways with a convincing 4-0 win over 10-man St John Bosco, Anse Reunion bounced back to win 2-1 against Red Star Defence Forces, Côte d’Or inflicted a third defeat on the trot on Revengers (2-1), St Michel were held to a 1-1 draw by Northern Dynamo, while Foresters picked up a point against LightStars in a 2-2 away draw.

 

La Passe overcome St John Bosco

 

La Passe defeated St John Bosco 4-0 to bring them back to earth at Stad Linite in a bad-tempered match.

St John Bosco started brightly as they looked for an early goal and Deroy Brutus carried their threat and was denied as his wonderful overhead volley brought out an equally good save from goalie Basil Esther in the 6th minute.

Bosco then committed defensive suicide a minute later as Julio Brown’s short back pass was pounced upon by Marcus Labiche who was fouled by goalkeeper Duane Romain to concede a penalty awarded by referee Alix Bonne.

League’s top scorer Malagasy Rhino took responsibility of the spot kick and he rifled the ball into the bottom corner to make it 1-0.

The goal settled La Passe’s nerves as they went on to dominate proceedings and in the 17th minute, captain Achille Henriette threaded a pass to Labiche who looked suspiciously offside but it was not signaled though goalkeeper Romain did well to block his shot.

In the 33rd minute, La Passe circulated the ball well to set up Rhino whose fierce shot was pushed away by goalkeeper Romain and Labiche tried to latch onto the loose ball but the Bosco goalkeeper redeemed himself to thwart the danger.

Two minutes later, La Passe added a second from Kenny Nibourette’s throw-in to Stenio Ernesta who slipped past Travis Quatre to pull the ball to captain Henriette whose shot sailed into the net via a slight deflection for a 2-0 lead at the interval.

Bosco tried to raise their game in the second half but it was La Passe who went close again just past the hour mark from Kenny Nibourette’s teasing cross which fell onto Labiche’s head but goalkeeper Romain produced a brave save at point blank range to stop the La Passe striker from scoring.

A minute later, captain Henriette floated a free kick after substitute Randolph Elizabeth had fouled Nibourette and the set piece was met by Nadim Lucas whose header sailed across goal to Stenio Ernesta who stooped to hit the target for a 3-0 score.

Elizabeth nearly cut the deficit in the 67th minute after being set up by Ghanaian forward Emmanuel Awkrah and his beautiful strike produced a top-drawer save from goalkeeper Basil Esther.

A minute later, Bosco defender Julio Brown, who had a long running feud in this match with Stenio Ernesta, was shown a straight red card for kicking out at the lanky striker.

The Bosco players were not happy with this decision by referee Bonne and a bottle was even thrown onto the pitch as obscene language resonated in the stadium which was unacceptable but there were no security officers to deal with the culprits.

As for the match, La Passe bagged a fourth goal in the first minute of added time. Captain Henriette’s stinging shot was pushed out into his path as he got a second bite of the cherry but substitute Denilson Rosette fouled him as he aimed for a second shot to give away a second penalty.

Malagasy substitute Fredo was assigned the spot kick and he made no mistake as he sent goalkeeper Romain the wrong way for an emphatic 4-0 victory.

However, at the end of the match the official was insulted by a supporter who had made his way onto the pitch and surely the Seychelles Football Federation must take serious actions to stop such unruly behaviour of supporters in the stadium where the officials lack protection.

La Passe trainer Marius Fanchette said it was vital that his team returned to winning ways to keep pace with the leading group.

“We did not play exceptionally well but we had some good moments and it was important to win to keep pace with the leading pack,” coach Fanchette told Sports NATION.

The Bosco camp were unhappy with the harsh sending off of their defender Brown and the second penalty awarded against them but their manager Andrew Bristol also felt that his team did not perform to expectation when he talked to the media.

“We did not play well but at times the decisions of the referee further aggravated our problems and we are concerned as the same referee always officiate our matches and we would like this to change,” the Bosco manager said.

 

Anse Reunion sneak past Red Star Defence Forces

 

Anse Reunion sneaked past newly promoted Red Star Defence Forces in a 2-1 win at the La Digue playing field on Saturday.

Anse Reunion, who lost to St John Bosco the previous week, went ahead from the penalty spot in the first half. Malagasy Tholix Jean easily converted the spot kick to give his team a 1-0 lead.

Red Star Defence Forces had the chance to level the score through a penalty awarded by referee Nelson Emile but Jude Estico’s spot kick was smothered by goalkeeper Ian Ah-Kong.

Marlon Sinon did score for Red Star Defence Forces in the second period for a 1-1 score.

However, Roderick Rose ensured Anse Reunion secured all the points for a 2-1 final result.

 

LightStars and Foresters share the points

 

Praslin side LightStars were held to a 2-2 draw by Foresters at the Stad Amitié on Saturday.

Renick Esther bagged his fourth goal of the new season in the 39th minute to give LightStars a 1-0 lead at the interval.

Foresters’ former Plaisance forward Tanzanian Hussein Bakary scored the equaliser in the 64th minute to make it 1-1 before Martin William made it 2-1 12 minutes later.

LightStars though grabbed a second goal in the 87th minute courtesy of a strike by Andy Brioche for a 2-2 final score.

 

Côte d’Or add to Revengers’ bad start

 

League champions Côte d’Or added to their neighbours Revengers’ bad start to the new league campaign with a hard fought 2-1 victory at the Stad Amitié on Friday afternoon.

It was a third defeat on the trot for the players of coach Basil Hoareau who conceded in the first half as Dine Suzette breached their defence to make it 1-0 at half-time.

Revengers though fought back to level the score midway in the second stanza through substitute Rick Bibi as he netted with his first touch for a 1-1 score.

Revengers though gave away a second goal late in the match from a goalkeeping error by Jean-Paul Ah-Kong and Ryan Antat was on hand to punish them to make it 2-1 to secure all three points for coach Ralph Jean-Louis.

 

Northern Dynamo and St Michel share the points

 

St Michel dropped their first points as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Stad Linite on Friday evening in front of a decent crowd in a controversial match.

There was much to talk about in this encounter especially surrounding referee Egbert Havelock who is always selected to officiate his former team Northern Dynamo’s matches.

This match has surely raised a few eyebrows and St Michel manager Andrew Jean-Louis spoke about it as he feels his team were the victims of poor and biased officiating on Friday.

As for the match, St Michel dictated the pace in the first half but failed to break the deadlock as Dynamo struggled to outwit their opponents.

St Michel found a breakthrough in the 57th minute from Norvil Gaspard’s throw-in and the ball dropped invitingly to Malagasy Jocelyn whose low shot from the edge of the penalty area found refuge in the bottom corner of goalkeeper Frank Moutoni’s goal for a 1-0 advantage.

Two minutes later, Jocelyn latched onto a through ball and his fierce shot was saved at the second attempt by goalkeeper Moutoni.

In the 66th minute, the hard-working Ghanaian Emmanuel Nuhey slipped a pass to Jocelyn who looked clearly offside which was not signaled by assistant referee James Emile allowing the Malagasy to bore on goal but goalkeeper Moutoni was quick off his line to block the danger.

Dynamo then took control as they tried to redress the balance and in the 75th minute Aldo Dufresne played a cross field pass to substitute Marcus Maria who was yards offside but it was not indicated by assistant referee Gilbert Lusta. Maria tried to hit the target but his shot was deflected into corner.

Controversy loomed large in the 79th minute as Dynamo threw men forward and captain Warren Mellie was in an offside position but again was not flagged by the official. Captain Mellie hooked the ball over goalkeeper Alvin Michel and Malagasy Rajamana appeared to use his hand to push the ball into the net to level the score at 1-1.

The St Michel players were furious as they confronted the officials but the goal stood much to the anger of the players and fans alike.

Dynamo had a glorious opportunity to inflict a first defeat on St Michel in the 87th minute from a blistering counter-attack where Maria released Rajamana who skipped past two defenders but he inexplicable shot wide when it looked easier to score.

Dynamo had to hang on in the latter stages as midfielder Kieren Sinon had to be carried off with a leg injury and he could not be replaced as they had already made three substitutions but they held on for a point which satisfied coach Cliff Nolin.

“It was a tough match where we had to change our tactics to counter our opponents several times, but we managed to hold our own and we are pleased with a point though we had a great chance to win it late on,” Nolin told Sports NATION.

As for St Michel manager Jean-Louis, he was very annoyed with the level of officiating and questioned the choice of Havelock to officiate all of Dynamo’s matches since last year by the federation.

“We controlled the first half where we had numerous chances to score. But overall we are very disappointed with referee Havelock who helped our opponents throughout this match with his controversial decisions and even allowed them to score a handball goal and this is unacceptable and very frustrating,” complained the St Michel manager.

 

R. J-L.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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