Football: Division one league |14 May 2018
St Michel go top
● Côte d’Or and La Passe win, The Lions get first win
St Michel took pole position on the division one league table with a 2-0 win over Anse Reunion on Saturday on La Digue while Côte d’Or tore apart Foresters 5-1 on Praslin on the same day and at Stad Linite, La Passe beat NorthernDynamo 4-1. On Friday, league champions St Louis drew 0-0 with Red Star Defence Forces.
St Michel beat Anse Reunion to go top
St Michel defeated Anse Reunion 2-0 at the L’Union playing field to go top of the league table on goal difference (+14) with 21 points from nine matches.
Malagasy Evariste broke the deadlock in the first half to put St Michel 1-0 up at half-time and his countryman Francis scored a second for his ninth goal of the season for a 2-0 final score for the players of coach Rodney Choisy.
Côte d’Or tear apart Foresters
Praslin side Côte d’Or tore apart Foresters 5-1 at Stad Amitié on Saturday afternoon to join St Louis in third position with the same number of points - 19.
Malagasy Kassah Voavy opened the floodgates in the first half following a penalty awarded by referee Alix Bonne for a 1-0 lead and Voavy Faralahibe made it 2-0 before half-time.
Foresters’ midfielder Brandon Labrosse reduced the arrears early in the second half at 1-2 but the Mahe team suffered more punishment as Dine Suzette netted twice and Andy Brioche scored once for a final 5-1 result.
St Louis and Red Star in a stalemate
The top-of-the-table clash involving Red Star Defence Forces and defending champions St Louis ended in a 0-0 stalemate at Stad Linite on Friday evening.
This match had attracted a very large crowd in expectation of a cracker but it was St Louis who carried the game to their opponents who relied on the counter via their prolific goal scorer, Malagasy Jocelyn Fenosoa.
St Louis drew first blood in the 7th minute after some good approach play by Collin Bibi to release Nigerian striker Kazeem Adeyeri who shot just wide.
Red Star Defence Forces responded five minutes later from Malagasy Jean Tigana’s through ball to Jocelyn but his shot on the turn sailed over the crossbar.
St Louis had a gilt edge chance in the 19th minute when defender Jones Larue failed to clear his line allowing Karl Hall to win a high ball against goalkeeper Jerome Dingwall and the ball rolled invitingly to Adeyeri but he could not stab it into an empty net.
St Louis had an even better opportunity to break the deadlock 10 minutes later after a darting run by Collin Bibi to release Adeyeri who laid the ball on a plate to Gerick Vidot in the goalmouth but amazingly he shot wide when it looked easier to score to leave the first half on a 0-0 score.
Red Star Defence Forces came out more offensive in the second half and in the 62nd minute Tigana broke clear to thread a pass to Jocelyn who shot quickly trying to surprise St Louis’ Malagasy goalkeeper Michel but he blocked the shot.
Red Star Defence Forces were unlucky not to take the lead in the 66th minute from an inswinging corner by Jocelyn to captain Warren Mellie whose towering header looked destined to hit the net but goalkeeper Michel produced a wonderful save to deny him.
Two minutes later, Jocelyn pounced on a misplaced header by Collin Bibi to bore on goal but he dragged his shot wide.
St Louis then came back stronger as the match drew to a close and in the 77th minute, Danny Madeleine played a superb cross to Hall who connected with his feet but the ball rolled off target.
In the 80th minute, Malagasy Tahiry weaved his way into the Red Star Defence Forces penalty area and centred to Gervais Waye-Hive who played the ball back in the box to Hall who could not direct the ball past goalkeper Dingwall.
Collin Bibi forced goalkeeper Dingwall to tip over the crossbar in the 82nd minute his fierce shot after being set up by Waye-Hive as St Louis upped the tempo.
In the first of the five minutes of added time, Waye-Hive floated a corner which fell to Hall but he blazed his shot over the bar.
St Louis’ last opportunity to claim all the points came deep in injury time and it fell to Waye-Hive at the back post but he failed to hit the target as Red Star Defence Forces held on for a point which was very acceptable for their manager Philip Barbé when he spoke to Sports NATION after the match.
“We had to adopt a cautious approach against an opponent who has some dangerous offensive players. We also had numerous opportunities to win this match but in the end we are satisfied with a draw as well as being able to maintain our unbeaten run,” said Red Star Defence Forces manager Barbé.
As for St Louis coach Michel Renaud, he felt his team dominated this match and should have won it.
“We had lots of chances but we could not convert in a match we dominated for long periods. But we must also be pleased we did not lose,” coach Renaud told Sports NATION.
La Passe condemn Northern Dynamo to another defeat
La Digue side La Passe bounced back from two losses to add to Northern Dynamo’s poor start to the season with a 4-1 victory at Stad Linite on Saturday afternoon.
Northern Dynamo made a decent start to this match and they felt they should have earned a penalty in the 11th minute when Gambian striker Musa Njie went down under a strong challenge but the officials waved play on.
La Passe scored with their first meaningful foray forward when Achille Henriette released Malagasy Rhino in the 14th minute and the La Passe captain kept his cool to stab the ball past goalkeeper Frank Moutoni for a 1-0 lead.
Northern Dynamo should have drawn level three minutes later from a teasing Marcus Maria free kick but Wesley Esther could not connect with a header.
The players of coach Bruno Saindini made it 2-0 in the 28th minute from a curled corner in the box by Henriette and Shaun Barbé headed strongly into the net to make it 2-0.
Malagasy Florent and their new Nigerian striker Mwazembe Moses Godwin should have added to La Passe’s scoreline but they missed clear chances.
Northern Dynamo narrowed the score on the stroke of half-time with a rasping 30-metre shot from out of the blue by Kevin Estico which crashed into the net past goalkeeper Paul Ah-Kong for a 1-2 score at break.
La Passe dominated the second period and in the 54th minute, captain Rhino found space on the edge of the penalty area to fire at goalkeeper Moutoni who spilled the ball to Florent but Moutoni did well to turn the second shot into corner.
In the 65th minute, captain Rhino exchanged passes with Henriette before unleashing a fierce shot but goalkeeper Moutoni produced a flying save to deny him.
Henriette scored his team’s third goal with a beauty as he collected a throw-in from Barbé and he turned from a distance and let fly a wonderful strike which flew over goalkeeper Moutoni and the ball grazed the post and into the net for a 3-1 score.
Northern Dynamo though kept trying and in the 82nd minute their substitute, Malagasy Rajamana, appeared to be shoved in the back by defender Gervais Saminaden and the northern Mahe team expected a penalty call from referee Jean-Claude Labrosse but he allowed play to go on.
La Passe wrapped up the points in the 88th minute from a solo effort from Henriette who easily eluded a defender to bore on goal to blast the ball into the net for his brace and a 4-1 final scoreline.
La Passe coach Bruno Saindini was happy with the result after losing their previous two matches to St Michel and St Louis respectively.
“We wanted to win this match at all cost to maintain our challenge in the league and we are therefore happy we achieved our objective,” the La Passe coach said.
As for Northern Dynamo coach Cliff Nolin, he was not happy with the level of officiating as he felt his team were denied a clear penalty in the first half which he feels would have changed the complexion of the game and he added it was a similar situation to their previous match against St Michel where he was adamant they were not awarded two clear penalties.
The Lions register first win
Cascade-based The Lions registered their first league victory with a comfortable 2-0 win over Revengers at Stad Amitié on Friday.
The players of coach Marc Mathiot opened the scoring in the first half courtesy of Malagasy Clariel, who was back from suspension, to make it 1-0 at half-time.
Clariel bagged his brace in the second half for a final 2-0 scoreline to help his team move off the foot of the table to 11th place with four points while Northern Dynamo dropped to the bottom of the log with three points
R. J-L.