Football: Barclays league division one-St Louis Suns crush St Roch, Dynamo, Côte d’Or, La Passe win |02 April 2012

On Friday, Côte d’Or earned their first win on a 2-0 score against winless St Francis.

St Roch v St Louis Suns

St Louis Suns showed their class above St Roch as in the 29th minute, Mervin Mathiot punished goalkeeper Eugene Valentin, who had spilled the ball, to open the score (1-0).

St Louis Suns though conceded a stupid goal in the 39th minute as Andrew Maria exploited space to fire past goalkeeper Elvis Leopold for a 1-1 score.

However, St Louis Suns restored their lead in the 40th minute as goalkeeper Valentin spilled Serge Asba’s free-kick and once again Mathiot pounced to score though the St Roch camp appealed for an offside which was not signaled by official Steve Marie.

St Louis Suns showed more purpose in the second half and in the 50th minute captain Mathiot hit St Roch on the counter and his shot was pushed out by Valentin. However, Poiret fired the loose ball home to make it 3-1.

St Louis Suns were lucky not to concede a penalty in the 54th minute as defender Serge Asba appeared to handle St Roch’s Steven Télémaque’s cross, but referee Emile Fred did not award a penalty.

In the 85th minute, St Louis Suns extended their advantage as Poiret created havoc in the St Roch penalty area and his shot was released by Valentin and substitute Roddy Melanie thumped home the loose ball to make it 4-1.

Two minutes later, St Louis Suns almost added a fifth as captain Mathiot hit a stinging shot which was well saved by Valentin.

On the stroke of full-time, Elijah Tamboo made it 5-1 as he exploited space created by captain Mathiot’s pass to rifle the ball into the net for a 5-1 scoreline.

St Louis Suns’ captain Mathiot told Sports Nation his team started slowly but improved in the second half.

Anse Reunion v La Passe

La Passe beat bitter rivals Anse Reunion 2-0 in a La Digue derby at the island’s playing field on Saturday.
Malagasy Fredo scored a goal in each half to help his team win the derby 2-0.

LightStars v Northern Dynamo

Northern Dynamo registered a vital 3-0 away win against LightStars on Praslin on Saturday as Francis Moumou scored a wonderful hat-trick.
Moumou scored a goal in the first half and added two more in the second to maintain their unbeaten run.

Côte d’Or v St Francis

Praslin-based Côte d’Or cruised to a 2-0 victory over struggling St Francis at Stad Linite on Friday.

Côte d’Or were always the better side as they dominated proceedings entirely throughout the match with some delightful football skills, especially from their Malagasy midfielder Jean Jose Tigana.

Côte d’Or created the first opportunity in the 14th minute as Tigana did some good approach work to set up Dean Suzette who flashed a centre across goal but Collin Esther failed to score from close range.

Tigana tested goalkeeper Andrea Libanotis in the 17th minute with a long range effort which he spilled but Collin Esther failed to connect to the rebound.

A minute later, St Francis almost stunned Côte d’Or, but Yannick Charlette miscued his shot from a long ball which had not been cleared. The rebound fell to Stephane Barallon whose goal-bound shot came off the crossbar as Côte d’Or rode their luck.

Côte d’Or, however, continued to dominate the match with some superb passing moves which St Francis struggled to cope with.

In the 26th minute, Tigana created space to fire at Libanotis but his shot came off the crossbar with St Francis hanging on.

A minute later at the other end, Charlette almost surprised goalkeeper Kitson Cécile with a 35m free-kick which hit the crossbar.

Côte d’Or’s industrious play paid dividends in the 33rd minute as Malagasy captain Patrick Ramsamimanana cut inside a defender to drill a shot across goal and the ball deflected off captain Harry Libanotis for an own goal to make it 1-0.

On the stroke of half-time, Côte d’Or should have added a second goal as Rick Bibi picked out captain Ramsamimanana with a beautiful cross-field pass. Ramsamimanana cut inside a defender to rifle at Libanotis who tipped over his stinging shot.

St Francis showed more purpose in the second period and in the 50th minute, Stephane Barallon should have converted Evans Confiance’s inch-perfect cross with a downward header but Cécile saved on the goal-line.

Côte d’Or though were still the better side and in the 55th minute Suzette failed to connect to a great opportunity. Three minutes later, Côte d’Or’s impressive playmaker, Malagasy Tigana, burst forward but Libanotis was quick off his line to block his shot.

Côte d’Or extended their lead in the 70th minute as the irrepressible Tigana saw his thunderous shot come off the post to Rick Bibi who controlled the loose ball and fired home to make it 2-0.

As the game drew to a close, the boys of coach Ahmed Abdou showed their class as they kept possession and circulated the ball to frustrate the St Francis players.

Coach Abdou was pleased with his team’s first win though he feels they are still too wayward in front of goal.
As for St Francis’ coach Marc Mathiot, he said there is an urgent need to reinforce the squad.  He acknowledged that his team had shown some improvement but it is poor finishing as well as suspension and injury which are affecting the squad.

R. J-L.