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Archive - Archive 2004 - July 2013

Football: Barclays league division one -St Francis claim first point |14 April 2012

The match started in a somber atmosphere as the two teams observed a minute’s silence in honour of St Francis’ coach Marc Mathiot’s brother who passed away this week.

However, at the kick-off, St Francis were quick off the blocks as they almost scored in the opening minute from Radley Monthy’s corner which was met by Ahmed Adrienne at the near post but his shot was pushed out by goalkeeper Jules Monnaie.

St Francis though were gifted a penalty by veteran referee Gonzague Boniface when Dynamo’s Ronny Marengo failed to clear Evans Confiance’s cross and it inadvertently dropped on his hand. The official pointed to the penalty spot and Harry Libanotis stepped up to send Monnaie the wrong way to make it 1-0.

Dynamo bounced back five minutes later through another penalty after Marcus Maria’s shot came off Nicolas Atala’s hand. Steve Henriette fired home the spot kick past goalkeeper Andrea Libanotis to level matters at 1-1.

The north Mahe side improved as the game elapsed and in the 15th minute Malagasy Asman Todisoa headed softly at Libanotis.

Midway in this half, St Francis rode their luck from a series of corners. Firstly, Todisoa forced a tip-over save from Libanotis and from the resulting corner captain Evans Télémaque headed over after the goalkeeper had spilled Todisoa’s header.

St Francis had a great opportunity to regain the lead in the 27th minute from Evans Confiance’s superb ball to Stephane Barallon but in a good position, his control let him down.

Dynamo had a brilliant chance in the 39th minute as they put together a good passing move with Maria feeding Todisoa who looked odds on to score but allowed Libanotis to block his shot in a one-on-one situation.

In the 43rd minute, St Francis also had a fantastic opportunity from Randy Onezime’s teasing cross which fell to Stephane Barallon whose diving header rolled agonisingly wide.

The second half was another fiercely contested affair and in the 47th minute, Confiance pounced on Ted Cupidon’s mistake but Monnaie saved his team’s blushes. Monnaie again saved well from St Francis’ Adrienne in the 50th minute.

Twelve minutes later, St Francis’s Confiance picked out Barallon who eluded the tackle of Marengo, who had a poor game, but his strong shot was pushed into corner by Monnaie.

In the 64th minute, Dynamo nearly punished a bad mistake by St Francis’ goalkeeper Libanotis who lost possession to captain Télémaque who bore on goal and squared the ball to Todisoa but the latter somehow blazed his shot wide with the goal at his mercy.

St Francis’ best chance to claim all the points came in the 72nd minute as Barallon latched onto a long ball and his goal-bound shot on the turn was deflected into corner.

Dynamo could have stolen all the points in the 88th minute as Télémaque exchanged passes with Basil Bertin before setting up Todisoa who drilled the ball wide with the goal begging.

Dynamo’s coach Cliff Nolin told Sports Nation his team’s preparation was affected by the tsunami alert on Wednesday which forced them to cancel their training session. He added though that his team had decent chances to win this match.

As for St Francis, technical advisor Bernard Dorasamy dedicated the match to coach Marc Mathiot. Dorasamy stated that they were aiming for all three points and was happy with this team’s commitment.

R. J-L.

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