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Football: First division league - St Louis, Côte D’Or and La Passe register big wins |09 April 2018

Defending league champions St Louis thrashed St Michel 4-0 at Stad Linite on Saturday, while on La Digue, La Passe ripped apart Au Cap 4-1. On Friday, Côte d’Or got a hat-trick from Malagasy Voavy Faralahibe as they demolished Northern Dynamo 5-1.

 

St Louis thump St Michel

Defending league champions St Louis registered their biggest ever victory over their bitter rivals St Michel with a 4-0 triumph at Stad Linite on Saturday watched by a huge crowd.

The first half was an evenly balanced affair with St Louis drawing first blood in the 11th minute from Malagasy Tahiry’s corner to captain Bertrand Esther who could not direct a free header on target.

St Louis then lost midfielder Travis Laurence through a groin injury in the 16th minute and he was replaced by Yannick Julie.

St Michel went even closer to break the stalemate on the half hour mark from Malagasy Evariste’s superbly struck free kick on the edge of the penalty area which crashed against the crossbar after captain Esther had handled the ball.

Gervais Waye-Hive also nearly scored with a beautiful free kick two minutes later from 30 metres out as his well-struck shot forced St Michel goalkeeper Alvin Michel to tip the ball onto the crossbar and into corner.

In the 35th minute, Waye-Hive picked out Malagasy Herve who had sneaked in behind St Michel’s defence as he played a ball to the back post but the defender could not connect properly to the skidding ball.

St Louis though rode their luck in the 40th minute when St Michel’s Evariste slipped a ball to his countryman Francis who looked odds to score but St Louis goalkeeper Michel produced a top drawer save to keep the match scoreless at 0-0 at half-time.

St Louis made another substitution as Jean-Paul Aglaé replaced Danny Madeleine after the break and two minutes later the league champions were awarded a highly contested penalty which turned the match on its head.

It all started when goalkeeper Alvin Michel failed to hold on to Elijah Tamboo’s shot which he spilled and Tahiry latched onto the loose ball but was grounded in what referee Emile Fred deemed was an illegitimate tackle, so he pointed to the penalty spot which really infuriated the St Michel players and fans.

Karl Hall though kept his cool in all the bustling and he easily dispatched the spot kick to make it 1-0 much to the delight of the St Louis fans.

St Michel had hardly settled when Hall chased a high ball as he beat the St Michel offside trap and he out jumped goalkeeper Michel to head home his second goal against his former team for a 2-0 lead as he bagged his brace.

St Michel had to respond and in the 67th minute Evariste found space on the right to centre to Leeroy Corallie whose header sailed agonisingly wide under pressure from Damien Maria.

St Michel then rung the changes in the 70th minute as they pulled off Corallie and surprisingly Malagasy Hassan Aly to bring on Malagasy Ludovigue and Basil Bertin as they tried to redress the balance.

But a minute later, St Louis stretched their advantage from Collin Bibi’s high free kick in the St Michel penalty area which Hall knocked down to Tamboo who in turn rifled at goalkeeper Michel who could only parry the ball and there was Way-Hive to bury the loose ball into the net to make it 3-0.

Waye-Hive then rubbed further salt in St Michel’s injury as he netted his brace in added time after Tamboo released him and he drove in the box to curl the ball low into the far corner to seal an emphatic 4-0 victory for champions St Louis as their supporters raised the roof at Stad Linite. This is St Michel’s second successive league loss to St Louis.

St Michel manager Andrew Jean-Louis felt his team were hard done by the official especially with what he deemed as a “dubious penalty” which gave their opponents the breakthrough.

“I feel the penalty decision affected my team as it was not evident and this swung the match in our opponents’ favour as we had had a good first half but after this controversial incident, we looked disorganised in defence and all our team did not function and this is a bad defeat to swallow and more so the scoreline,” St Michel manager Jean-Louis told Sports NATION.

As for St Louis coach Michel Renaud, he was pleased with his players’ attitude for this derby where they showed their true level.

“The players were highly motivated for this encounter after some indifferent performances and dropping points but they wanted to win this match though I never foresaw such a score line and we are quite happy with our performance and the result which boost morale in our camp,” coach Renaud related to Sports NATION.

 

La Passe sweep aside Au Cap

La Digue side La Passe swept aside new boys Au Cap 4-1 on Saturday afternoon at Stad Amitié.

Malagasy Rhino opened the floodgates in the first half from the penalty spot to make it 1-0 at half time.

Stan Fanchette made it 2-0 soon after the restart and then Achille Henriette added a third goal for a 3-0 score line before Marcus Labiche got on the scoresheet for a 4-0 advantage.

Au Cap netted a consolation goal late in the match through their Ghanaian striker Emmanuel Armah for a 4-1 final score.

 

Revengers and Forester share the spoils

Praslin outfit Revengers and Mont Fleuri-based Foresters could only manage a 0-0 score at Stad Amitié on Saturday in a league match.

 

Côte d’Or demolish Northern Dynamo

Praslin side Côte d’Or demolished Northern Dynamo 5-1 inspired by a hat-trick by Malagasy Voavy Faralahibe at Stad Linite on Friday afternoon.

The scoreline does not reflect this very entertaining encounter though as Northern Dynamo had their moments but crumbled in the end to lose heavily.

Côte d’Or opened the scoring in this match in the 12th minute from the penalty spot after referee Egbert Havelock penalised Northern Dynamo for a handball by defender Andriy.

Nigerian midfielder Peter Adeshina stepped up to shoot past goalkeeper Frank Moutoni to make it 1-0 but Northern Dynamo levelled matters six minutes later from Marcus Maria’s free kick which Lucas Panayi headed home for a 1-1 score.

Northern Dynamo were unlucky not to win a penalty in the 21st minute when defender Heddy Esther fouled Malagasy Rajamana but the official was not convinced.

Côte d’Or restored their lead on the half hour mark following a terrible mix-up between goalkeeper Moutoni and defender Andriy as both left the ball for each other allowing Voavy to accept the gift and score for a 2-1 score.

Three minutes later, goalkeeper Moutoni made amends with a fantastic one-handed save to deny Voavy with a header from Adehsina’s cross in a one-on-one situation as the first half came to a close.

Côte d’Or were hard done by referee Havelock in the 57th minute when he awarded Northern Dynamo a penalty which baffled everyone in the stadium after defender Benoit Marie trodded back to escort the ball to his goalkeeper Curtis Jaen-Baptiste and Rajamana was chasing him and went down.

The official though blew for what he deemed was an infringement much to the disgust of the Côte d’Or players.

Maria took responsibility for the spot kick but reserve goalkeeper Jean-Baptiste pushed out his shot which Rajamana pounced on and looked to be fouled by the Côte d’Or custodian but referee Havelock turned a blind eye.

Côte d’Or were thwarted on three occasions in a three-minute spell midway in this half as goalkeeper Moutoni stood defiant as his defenders went to sleep.

In the 72nd minute though, Voavy showed great speed to leave defender Francis Moumou in his wake and his well-placed shot found refuge in the net to make it 3-1.

In the 87th minute, Collin Esther sent in a teasing cross which Voavy headed goal wards but goalkeeper Moutoni parried as far as substitute Dine Suzette who volleyed home for a 4-1 score.

Côte d’Or added a fifth in the 89th minute from a whipping cross by Suzette to Voavy who rammed the ball home to complete his hat-trick and wrap up the scoring in a 5-1 triumph though their coach James Barra felt his team can play much better.

“We did not play well as we expect better performance from this group of players but it was important to win all the points and we have to be content,” coach Barra said.

As for Northern Dynamo coach Cliff Nolin, he was not happy the way his team cracked in the latter stages after holding their own for long periods.

“We did not score when we had the chances and then our makeshift defence lost concentration and caused this heavy defeat in a match where our players are still adjusting to new positions especially in defence,” coach Nolin related to Sports NATION.

 

R. J-L.

 

 

 

 

 

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