Football : Airtel Cup - St Michel, La Passe draw, Dynamo, Au Cap win |16 July 2018

Defending Airtel cup winners Northern Dynamo won 5-2 against Revengers on Saturday while Au Cap defeated The Lions on Friday. On Saturday, St Michel drew 1-1 with Anse Reunion and La Passe fought back to a 2-2 draw against Red Star-Defence Forces.

Dynamo bounce back in style

Defending Airtel cup champions Northern Dynamo bounced back from midweek defeat with a convincing 5-2 victory over Revengers at the Amitié playing field on Praslin on Saturday.

Kevin Mirabeau opened the floodgates as early as the second minute for a 1-0 lead and Gambian forward Musa Njie made it 2-0 nine minutes later.

Revengers though clawed their way back in the 18th minute with a strike by Malagasy midfielder Martelin for a 1-2 score but on the half hour mark, Njie bagged his brace for a 3-1 score at half time in favour of Dynamo.

Revengers Malagasy winger Patrick Rasaminana pulled a goal back in the 68th minute from the penalty spot to make it 2-3.

Dynamo though scored twice late in the match from the penalty spot awarded by referee Kerens Yocette for a foul on Marcus Maria and Malagasy Rajamana netted from the spot for a 4-2 in the 90th minute and the same Rajamana added a second in the 94th minute for a 5-2 result for the players of coach Cliff Nolin to return to winning after losing their opening match to LightStars in midweek in a group D match.

Ten-men La Passe fight back to a draw

La Digue side La Passe came back from a disastrous start to a 2-2 draw with Red Star-Defence Forces with ten men at the L’Union playing field on Saturday.

La Passe suffered a major setback early in the match when their central defender Laurel Ladouce handled Malagasy Jean Tigana’s goal bound shot and was as a result given his marching orders with a straight red card by referee Nelson Emile as he also awarded a penalty.

Last season’s top scorer Malagasy Jocelyn Fenosoa, who had missed his team’s last two matches, stepped up to shoot past goalie Dave Mussard for a 1-0 lead.

La Passe gave away another penalty minutes later when defender Elton Monnaie brought down the same Tigana and the referee had no choice but to point once again to the penalty spot.

La Passe though did not crumble but rather rolled up their sleeves and began a courageous comeback as Malagasy Florent reduced the deficit just after half time to make it 1-2.

La Passe completed the comeback with fifteen minutes remaining as Malagasy Rhino scored to make it 2-2 and the players of coach Bruno Saindini could even have won the match if not for some poor finishing but their coach was pleased with his team’s fighting spirit when he spoke to Sports NATION after the match.

“We made a bad start in a match where we had targeted a victory but we never gave up even after falling behind and we could and should have won as we created lots of scoring opportunities late in the match but I am satisfied with the result in these circumstances where we were down to ten men for long periods,” explained the La Passe coach.

Anse Reunion hold St Michel to a draw

La Digue outfit Anse Reunion came from behind to share the spoils with St Michel in a 1-1 result at Stad Linite in a group B match on Saturday afternoon.

St Michel had made a couple of changes to their lineup to the team that lost to St Louis on Wednesday where they gave a debut to their latest Malagasy recruit Rivakely who was plying his trade in Thailand.

St Michel were desperate to return to winning ways as they started on the front foot as they carried the game to their opponent and in the 4th minute, Malagasy Francis set up Neil Confiance but he shot narrowly wide of goalie Rehad Payet’s goal.

Three minutes later, Roderick Rose almost embarrassed the St Michel goalie Alvin Michel with a long range effort when he spotted the St Michel custodian way off his line but the ball sailed agonisingly wide.

In the 9th minute, St Michel put a string of passes together before Francis teed up Rivakely who let fly but the Anse Reunion defender Malagasy Eddy produced a great last gasp tackle to thwart the debutant on the penalty edge.

St Michel continued to probe for the opening goal and in the 20th minute, Malagasy Hassan Aly floated a corner to the back post to Francis whose header came off the crossbar as Anse Reunion rode their luck.

Six minutes later, Rivakely latched onto a loose ball on the penalty edge to unleash a stunning left foot shot which crashed with the underside of the cross bar before goalie Payet pushed the ball into corner.

Anse Reunion also went close on the half hour mark when Tanzanian Rashid Gumbo hassled for the ball in midfield before spreading a pass to Warren Bibi on the right who centred to his captain Yelvany Rose who was just inches from connecting with a header.

St Michel’s last chance to score in this half came in the 37th minute from a mêlée in the Anse Reunion penalty area and Confiance laid the ball to Rivakely who fired a fierce shot but it was blocked by a defender for a 0-0 score at half time.

St Michel had to bring in Nick Labiche in place of captain Alex Nibourette in the second half who had a pulled muscle and in the 66th minute, they did go ahead in this match from Aly’s curling corner which was headed down into the net by Trevor Vidot, who has returned to this team, to make it 1-0 much to the relief of the St Michel supporters.

Anse Reunion though leveled the score in the 78th minute from a free kick after St Michel defender Yannick Manou conceded a needless free kick.

Tanzanian Gumbo curled the set piece in a crowded St Michel penalty and Cliff Cesar, who was making his debut for this La Digue team after joining from Revengers, headed into the roof of the net for a 1-1 score.

The goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of St Michel as they could not create any decent scoring opportunities despite enjoying plenty of possession as they were held to a draw much to the frustration of their supporters and manager Andrew Jean-Louis when he spoke to Sports NATION after the match.

“It was a very disjointed performance as we did not play as a team but were too eager to play long balls forward instead of passing the ball around and therefore I am very disappointed with our performance as we lacked organisation in our play,” claimed the St Michel manager.

As for the new Anse Reunion coach Basil Hoareau, he was pleased with the result in a match which he knew was going to be tough.

“We had wanted to claim a win today but it was a tough match and we are satisfied with the result as we fought back after conceding,” explained the former Revengers coach.

Au Cap add to The Lions’ troubles

Au Cap added to The Lions’ troubled season with a 2-0 triumph at Stad Linite on Friday afternoon in a pool C match.

Mederick Jean-Baptiste gave the 2017 second division champions a 1-0 lead before Ghanaian striker Emmanuel Armah sealed the points before half time with a second goal for a 2-0 win.