Football: Division one league - Red Star Defence Forces and La Passe share the spoils |24 November 2017

Red Star Defence Forces fought back twice from a goal down to draw 3-3 against La Digue outfit La Passe at Stad Linite in a division one league match on Wednesday afternoon at Stad Linite.

La Passe made a bright start in this match as they opened the scoring as early as the 5th minute when they showed good passing movement and Malagasy Rhino released his countryman Florent who shot into the far corner past goalkeeper Danny Larue who was static to make it 1-0.

Red Star Defence Forces hit back to level matters in the 14th minute from an in-swinging corner by Malagasy Jocelyn Fenosoa which was met by a powerful header of Barry Marie in a crowded penalty area for a 1-1 score.

Two minutes later, Jocelyn played a similar corner at the near post which was met by Kenner Nourrice’s glancing header and La Passe goalkeeper Dave Mussard saved at the second attempt after dropping the header.

This was an end-to-end exciting match as both teams attacked at will and in the 18th minute, Perry Monnaie and Malagasy Rhino combined for La Passe on the edge of the army team’s penalty area and the ball broke to Achille Henriette whose curling shot was smothered by a flying save from goalkeeper Larue.

In the 25th minute, Henriette released Monnaie who got a lucky break and raced on goal but narrowly missed the target with a low shot.

La Passe regained the lead two minutes later as Florent latched onto a through ball to shoot across goal and Monnaie guided the ball over the line to make it 2-1.

Red Star Defence Forces drew level in the 37th minute though in dubious manner as seconds earlier La Passe were denied a clear corner by referee Gerald Gonthier and the ball was booted forward by goalkeeper Larue and it was fed to Carlos Mondon and his telling cross was sweetly volleyed home by Jocelyn for a 2-2 score.

There was to be more controversy in the 40th minute when referee Gonthier failed to penalise Jocelyn for an infringement on La Passe captain Laurel Ladouce who lost possession and then went and fouled the same player Jocelyn and the official pointed to the penalty spot which did not go down well with the La Passe players who made their feelings known to the official.

Meanwhile, Jocelyn picked himself up to cheekily chip the ball past goalkeeper Mussard to net his 26th league goal of this campaign and extend his lead at the top of the goal-scoring chart and put his side 3-2 in front at half-time.

La Passe leveled the score in the 49th minute when Red Star Defence Forces midfielder, Malagasy Michel Nambintsoa handled Henriette’s corner and the official pointed to the penalty spot.

Malagasy Claude Fredo was assigned the penalty kick and he slotted the ball past goalkeeper Larue to make it 3-3.

The game then swung back and forth and Red Star Defence Forces were denied a blatant penalty in the 54th minute when Jocelyn bore on goal and was pulled down by La Passe captain Ladouce and the official turned a blind eye.

Two minutes later at the other end, Monnaie hassled for the ball and managed to fire at goalkeeper Larue in a tight angle and he tipped the ball over.

The players of coach Harold Hoareau though had the better chances and in the 77th minute substitute, Malagasy Sydo Jean Alberto thumped a shot which goalkeeper Mussard parried and the ball fell to Jocelyn but a last ditch tackle by defender Senky Vidot saved the day for La Passe.

Ten minutes later, the colleagues of captain Michel Souris should have grabbed the lead from a brilliant cross by Barry Marie to Jocelyn who amazingly headed over when he should have hit the target as the game ended in a fair share of the spoils to please both camps, especially Red Star Defence Forces manager Philip Barbé.

“This match was quite interesting and could have gone either way though we had better chances in the second period to win all three points, but we hope a point will be enough to push us above the playoff position. We want to reassure our fans that we will be in existence next year and we want to make it clear that we do not benefit financially from the budget allocation for the army but rather the team is sustained through sponsorship and the management team that contribute to assist the team,” manager Barbé told Sports NATION.

As for La Passe coach Bruno Saindini, he was generally satisfied as his team fought back to earn a point.  

“We had a good first half but we also gave away two goals as our defence is not solid enough and this is an area where we need to improve next season. We had also hoped for a better placing in the league but we could only manage a third position which we have to accept,” explained the La Passe coach.

R. J-L.