Football: Division one league |11 June 2018
Côte d’Or sweep aside St Michel, La Passe win
Praslin side Côte d’Or swept aside title contenders St Michel 5-2 inspired by a hat-trick by Malagasy Kassah Voavy at Stad Linite on Saturday afternoon in a match watched by a large crowd, while on La Digue, La Passe won the derby 4-1 against bitter rivals Anse Reunion.
Kassah hat-trick sees off St Michel challenge
Côte d’Or’s Malagasy striker Kassah Voavy netted a hat-trick to help his team see off the challenge of one of their title rivals St Michel in a 5-2 romping in an action-packed match at Stad Linite on Saturday afternoon in a top-of-the-table clash.
Côte d’Or got off to the perfect start in this match where referee Jean-Claude Labrosse had taken the 22 actors quite early on the pitch and then had to wait almost five minutes to kick off this match which still began before 4.30pm, the usual kick-off time.
The Praslin team went on the offensive in the opening minutes and when St Michel failed to clear a Collin Esther corner, Malagasy defender Zenith Fenolahy centred the ball into the box where Kassah met it with a spectacular overhead kick which found refuge in the far corner for a 1-0 lead with only three minutes on the clock.
Kassah missed another clearer chance in the 7th minute as his brother Voavy Faralahibe outsped Norvil Gaspard to lay the ball on a plate to him.
St Michel went close to equalising in the 10th minute when Malagasy Evariste dispossessed his former teammate Hedy Esther and he bore on goal to shoot at Côte d’Or goalkeeper Neddy Lesperance who parried the ball into corner.
Yannick Manou missed a gaping goal three minutes later from an inswinging Hassan Aly free kick over the Côte d’Or defence to the unmarked defender but he somehow headed wide.
In the 14th minute, captain Alex Nibourette played a teasing cross across the Côte d’Or goalmouth but Graham Cafrine was slow to react as the chance went begging.
Côte d’Or then stretched their lead in the 19th minute when Voavy collected a loose ball in midfield to feed Collin Esther on the left and the midfield playmaker returned the ball to the league’s top striker on the edge of the penalty area and he stabbed the ball past goalkeeper Alvin Michel to make it 2-0.
Three minutes later, Côte d’Or capitalised on another St Michel defensive mistake from a short back pass by Manou which Voavy intercepted to slot home for a 3-0 lead as Voavy netted his 14th goal of the season.
St Michel had to reshuffle their defence as Perry Bijoux, who was left out of the starting line-up for missing training, was brought on in the 27th minute in place of Gaspard and Julio Brown moved at right back allowing his former St John Bosco teammate to partner Manou in central defence to try and stop the rout.
St Michel pulled a goal back in the 35th minute from a deep cross from Brown which was met by Malagasy Francis’ powerful header which came off the post to Cafrine who rifled the ball into the net for a 1-3 scoreline.
Côte d’Or restored their three-goal advantage on the stroke of half-time when Kassah linked up with Jones Joubert before he let fly a fantastic dipping shot which sailed over goalkeeper Michel to make it 4-1 at half-time.
Côte d’Or made it 5-1 in the 53rd minute after Randolph Elizabeth was caught dilly dallying on the ball by Jules Constance who slipped the ball to Voavy who rounded the outrushing goalkeeper Michel but the angle was too tight to squeeze the ball into the net so he pulled it back to his partner in crime Kassah who eluded a defender to place the ball into the bottom corner to complete his hat-trick and a 5-1 advantage for his team.
Substitute Neil Confiance reduced the arrears with his first touch in the 57th minute after replacing Elizabeth as he headed past goalkeeper Lesperance Evariste’s corner for a 2-5 score.
Francis should have done better with a clear opening in the 72nd minute from Aly’s free kick over the Côte d’Or rearguard but he flashed his shot across goal.
A minute later, St Michel were denied a blatant penalty when Yuri Bibi brought down Evariste in the penalty area but referee Labrosse blew his whistle to sanction the St Michel player as well as book him for simulation which was a poor decision which did not go down well with the St Michel fans.
To complicate matters, Côte d’Or broke instantly for a counter attack and Kassah threaded a pass to Voavy whose initial shot was blocked but he pounced on the rebound and was tripped by goalkeeper Michel for another penalty incident which the official was not strong enough to award.
St Michel had a last gilt-edge opportunity to reduce the scoreline from substitute Nick Labiche’s brilliant cross to Francis in the box but he could not direct his shot on target as St Michel suffered their third defeat in the league which sees them drop to fourth place while their opponents leapfrogged them into second position behind league leaders Red Star Defence Forces and St Louis are third on the log.
Côte d’Or coach James Barra was quite pleased with the result as he was adamant their tactical switch had brought about this emphatic result against one of their main rivals.
“We had made a few tactical adjustments to our playing style to get the best out of our two strikers and today it paid dividends in a match where we made a bright start and never looked back to collect all the points which is important in our title race,” Côte d’Or coach Barra related to Sports NATION.
As for St Michel manager Andrew Jean-Louis, he admitted that his team were not good enough especially in defence where they leaked too many goals.
“We had a very poor first half where we were sluggish in defence and lacked concentration to give away some sloppy goals as we were caught off-guard by the speed of our opponents. We did improve in the second half but the damage had been done and overall it was a disappointing result where we did not live up to our top position in the league. I must also congratulate our opponents for their victory,” St Michel manager Jean-Louis told Sports NATION as his team have now lost to all three top teams in the league.
La Passe thrash Anse Reunion in La Digue derby
La Passe thrashed neighbours and bitter rivals Anse Reunion 4-1 at the l’Union playing field on Saturday afternoon.
Malagasy Florent had put the team of Coach Bruno Saindini ahead and Tanzanian midfielder Moses made it 2-0 at half-time.
Anse Reunion forward Yelvanny Rose reduced the deficit with a header early in the second half for a 1-2 score before Deter Constance of Anse Reunion and Florent were sent off by referee Egbert Havelock following an altercation.
La Passe’s Tanzanian striker Gideon bagged a brace late on to secure a comfortable 4-1 triumph for his team.
LightStars and Revengers share the spoils
Revengers squandered a two-goal lead to share the spoils with LightStars in a 2-2 draw at Stad Amitié on Saturday.
Ivan Cedras gave Revengers a 1-0 lead and Malagasy Martelen Jean added a second (2-0) but Jude Valentin cut the deficit before half-time for a 1-2 score.
LightStars’ Albert Rose netted the equaliser for the players of coach Ted Esther for a final 2-2 score.
St Louis beat The Lions
Reigning league champions St Louis tamed The Lions 2-0 at Stad Linite on Friday evening to stay in the title race among the leading pack.
St Louis had the upper-hand in this match but only opened the scoring midway in this half in the 23rd minute from Nigerian striker Kazeem Adeyeri who fired past goalkeeper Raphael Moustache to make it 1-0.
St Louis were hard done by referee Alix Bonne on the stroke of half-time when he failed to blow his whistle for a blatant penalty decision after The Lions defender Darrel Lesperance had pulled down Adeyeri who had picked up a cross from Gervais Waye-Hive and had eluded the defender and looked odds on to score.
St Louis pressed their opponents in the second half as they went for more goals and Adeyeri should have scored a second goal in the 51st minute.
On the hour mark, Adeyeri pounced on a poor clearance by goalkeeper Moustache to set up Gerick Vidot but he missed a gaping goal.
St Louis added a second a minute later when Collin Bibi spread the ball out to Waye-Hive whose pinpoint cross was headed home by Adeyeri for his brace and a 2-0 lead.
Elijah Tamboo was denied by a good block by goalkeeper Moustache two minutes later when he latched onto Malagasy Tahiry’s through ball to shoot at goal.
St Louis then lost captain Bertrand Esther to a leg injury in the 77th minute and was replaced by Damien Maria.
Tamboo again went close in the 84th minute with a curling shot which ricocheted off the crossbar and the rebound fell to Adeyeri whose stinging shot was turned away by goalkeeper Moustache.
The Lions’ only decent chance arrived in the 88th minute from a flick on by Nigerian forward Samuel Okoye at the near post from captain Rashim Padayachy’s cross but St Louis goalkeeper Michel saved at the second attempt as his team registered a comfortable win to please their coach Michel Renaud.
“We wanted to win all the points as well as not concede and we achieved our target in a match where we rested some of our national team players who were involved in the Cosafa Cup,” claimed the St Louis trainer.
As for The Lions coach Marc Mathiot, he was generally satisfied with his team’s showing after being inactive for three weeks.
“We just resumed training this week as the players were not present for training during the three-week break so our performance is not bad against a superior opponent,” The Lions coach said.