Football: Airtel Cup - Foresters thrash The Lions in opening group match |06 July 2018

Mont Fleuri based Foresters made a bright start in their Airtel Cup group C match with a 4-0 thrashing of struggling The Lions at Stad Linite on Wednesday evening.

Foresters showed their intention early on in this match when Brandon Labrosse shot narrowly wide a long range effort in the 4th minute.

In the 15th minute, Labrosse forced The Lions goalie Randolph Bijoux to spill the ball from a fierce shot but goalie Bijoux recovered in time to stop Foresters captain Ugandan Tony Kizito to latch onto the loose ball.

Foresters opened the scoring in the 21st minute from a short corner involving Brandon Molle and Labrosse before the ball was played into The Lions’ penalty area where there was a mêlée before defender Marlon Sophola rifled the loose ball past goalie Bijoux for a 1-0 lead.

The Mont Fleuri side increased their advantage three minutes later this time from Ugandan Nazeer Muzamir’s free kick which was not well cleared and the ball fell to Vanerick Michel in the penalty area and he stabbed it into the net for a 2-0 lead.

The Lions’ then came out of their lethargic start and in the 33rd minute Keddy Moustache did well to combine with Yannick Charlette to slip a pass to striker Liberian Mohamed Varney but he shot wide from a good scoring position.

The Lions were hardly done by referee Kieren Yocette in the 35th minute when he denied them a clear penalty after Foresters’ defender Nelson Etienne tripped Varney in the penalty area but the official failed to point to the spot, leaving Foresters with a comfortable 2-0 lead at half time.

The Lions was slightly better in the second period and in the 55th minute, Varney twisted and turned before unleashing a fierce shot which the Foresters goalie Elvis Leopold tipped over the bar for a corner.

Foresters though stretched their lead in the 56th minute from another error by The Lions’ defence when Darrel Lesperance was robbed of the ball by Labrosse who then thumped the ball past goalie Bijoux for a 3-0 lead.

The Lions went close to reduce the deficit in the 64th minute from a Varney inswinging corner which was met by Nigerian striker Samuel Okoye’s downward header which looked goal bound but goalie Leopold flung himself to his right to turn the ball into corner with a smart save.

Foresters were gifted a penalty in the 75th minute when referee Yocette adjudged that The Lions midfielder Alvin Williams had handled Molle’s cross and therefore he pointed to the penalty spot much to the frustration of The Lions’ players.

Molle decided to take the spot kick himself and his low shot crept in past goalie Bijoux who had guessed the right way but could not stop the shot for a 4-0 score.

The Lions had a last chance to score a consolation goal in the 85th minute when Foresters’ substitute Martin William lost the ball to The Lions substitute Silvio Adrienne who released Okoye on goal but he delayed his shot and was eventually closed down as Foresters ran out easy winners in the end much to the delight of their coach Bryan Bastienne when he spoke to Sports NATION after the match.

“It was a good result though we can perform much better but at the moment we are trying to put together our team after losing a couple of players,” remarked the Foresters coach whose Malagasy defender and captain Leonard Besabotsy look set to join La Passe.

As for The Lions coach, Marc  Mathiot, whose team have shipped in eight goals in their last two matches, he said that they will make use of this competition to adjust their squad.

“It was very poor performance especially in the first half but we have a lack of quality players so we hope to add to our squad soon and try to get a decent team together in time for the second round of the league as we will use this Airtel competition to shape our team,” coach Mathiot said after losing his captain Rashim Padayachy this week as he linked up with high flying Red Star-Defence Forces to become the third The Lions player to join this army team this season after goalie Jerome Dingwall and defender Andrew Onezia signed for this new team at the start of this season.

R.J-L