Football: Barclays league division one-Dynamo hold St Louis Suns, La Passe thrash Lightstars, Quincy stun St Francis |23 April 2012

On Praslin, La Passe ripped apart Lightstars (8-1) while neighbouring Anse Reunion edged Côte D’Or (2-1).  On Friday, Quincy stunned St Francis with a 3-2 victory.

St Louis Suns – Dynamo
These two teams put their unbeaten run on the line as they clashed on Saturday.
St Louis Suns had the first real chance in the fifth minute as Jean-Paul Aglae picked out Elijah Tamboo with a cross but the young striker’s glancing header was easily saved by goalkeeper Jules Monnaie.

However St Louis Suns were struggling as their two wingers never got going and this affected the whole team’s performance.

In fact it was Dynamo who were more menacing and in the 27th minute, Steve Henriette almost embarrassed goalkeeper Joel Lesperance with a 25-metre free kick which came off the crossbar.

In the 34th minute, St Louis Suns broke forward though Trevor Poiret appeared to be marginally offside which was not signaled, allowing him to center to Kelly Nibourette whose hooked shot was well saved by goalkeeper Monnaie.

Two minutes later at the other end, captain Evans Telemaque eluded Marlon Asba on the byeline to cut back to Basil Bertin, whose instinctive shot was easily smothered by goalie Lesperance.

Dynamo were to score in the next attack in the 42nd minute as captain Telemaque was given a free run and with acres of space, he really hurt St Louis Suns before releasing Marcus Maria, who drilled the ball past goalie Lesperance for a 1-0 lead.

Dynamo came out with all guns blazing in the second period and in the 47th minute, Marcus Maria was just denied by goalie Lesperance as the St Louis Suns defence went to sleep.
The Northern side were soon further ahead though as captain Telemaque thumped a raking shot which beat goalie Lesperance to make it 2-0.

Down but not out, St Louis Suns had to respond as they sent Roddy Melanie and Fabien Cadeau to improve their wing play.

They soon cut the deficit though in controversial circumstances as referee Emile Fred adjudged that Jude Botsoie had pushed Trevor Poiret though it was a soft penalty.

Defender Jonathan Bibi rifled the ball which goalkeeper Monnaie parried, to give Bibi a second bite of the cherry to drill home the loose ball for a 1-2 score.

St Louis Suns were now buzzing as they pushed Dynamo against the wall.
In the 76th minute, it required a last ditch tackle to deny Poiret on the penalty edge as Dynamo worked tirelessly to preserve their lead.

However St Louis Suns were rewarded for their endeavours in the 82nd minute as Denis Barbe fought hard to retrieve the ball before combining with Poiret and Cadeau, whose inch perfect cross was side-footed into the net to make it 2-2. The goal bought wild celebrations from the St Louis Suns fans who urged their team to go for all the points.

On the stroke of full time, Poiret had a decent opportunity as he was brought down on the penalty edge but his curling free kick sailed over in a very entertaining and physical second half which referee Emile Fred struggled to handle.

Dynamo coach Cliff Nolin was in fact unhappy with the penalty decision which he felt swayed the game in St Louis Suns’ favour after his team had dominated the first half.

As for St Louis Suns captain Mervin Mathiot, he was just relieved his team had not succumbed to their first defeat.

“We played poorly in the first half as everything did not work for us.  But the substitution improved our game and thankfully we managed to avoid defeat.”

Lightstars – La Passe

Lightstars suffered another crushing defeat at home to league leaders La Passe at the Amitie playing field.

Ironically it was Malagasy Ravo who opened the scoring for Lightstars.
However the boys of coach Bruno Saindini responded in devastating fashion as Malagasies Fredo scored a brace and Samourine and Valerie both scored one goal apiece.

Renick Esther scored twice on his former stumping ground on Praslin and footballer of the year Achille Henriette also added two more goals to complete an emphatic 8-1 victory for La Passe who will be in good stead for their big match against St Michel this weekend.

Anse Reunion – Côte D’Or

Anse Reunion edged Côte D’Or 2-1 on La Digue on Saturday.
Samy Radegonde gave the La Digue outfit the advantage in the second period after a goalless first half.

The players of coach Ahmed Abdou battled back to level the score through their impressive Malagasy midfielder Jean Tigana.

Anse Reunion though were not to be outdone as man of the match Samy Radegonde was brought down in the box for a penalty in the 85th minute.

Roderick Rose assumed responsibility for this spot kick which was blocked by goalie Kitson Cecile.

However Roderick Rose latched onto the rebound to fire home the winner.

Quincy shock St Francis

Newly promoted Quincy FC shocked St Francis with a hard fought 3-2 victory at Stad Linite on Friday evening.

It was Quincy’s first victory in the top flight and well deserved for the players of coach Elsie Ernesta and her assistant Allain Silva.

Quincy made a bright start in this match and in the sixth minute Robin Joubert should have tested goalkeeper Andrea Libanotis but fed Jerry Freminot who had strayed offside.

In the 19th minute, Freminot showed his skill as he cut inside a defender but shot weakly at goalie Libanotis instead of passing to Joubert who was in a better goal scoring position.

St Francis, who struggled to get into their rhythm, almost stole the lead in the 27th minute as Radley Monthy played a free kick to Yannick Charlette who was in the clear but goalkeeper Trevor Bill did well to block his shot.

In the 29th minute, Quincy opened the scoring with a glorious strike by captain Georges Ravinia after a neat build-up and his 30-metre dipping volley sailed over goalie Libanotis to crash into the net for a 1-0 lead.

Four minutes later, Freminot should have increased Quincy’s advantage as he latched onto captain Ravinia’s through ball but he made a meal of the opportunity.

Quincy continued to slice open St Francis’ defence and in the 35th minute captain Ravinia played a neat one two with Alex Dugasse but the former Sunshine midfielder shot directly at goalie Libanotis.

There was controversy in the 40th minute as referee Jose Pillay harshly penalised Jason Fred for a foul on Stephane Barallon and failed to penalise the St Francis winger who kicked out at the Quincy defender in retaliation in front of the official. Barallon was allowed to walk away without a booking, let alone an expulsion.

St Francis leveled matters from the resulting free kick which Radley Monthy intelligently chipped the ball into the path of Ryan Antat who blasted the ball past goalie Bill to make it 1-1.

Referee Pillay was again at fault when he failed to award Quincy a clear penalty as St Francis’ Rondy Onezime brought down Hervé Toulon but allowed play to go on.

St Francis made the most of this let off as they countered though there appeared to be an offside against Stephane Barallon who broke clear as assistant referee Steve Marie’s flag stayed down and he fired past goalie Bill for a 2-1 half time score.

St Francis came out strongly in the second period and in the 47th minute Stephane Barallon worked wonders before crossing to Monthy who nearly hit the target at the near post.

The same Monthy was the victim of a crude tackle from behind in the 49th minute by the impressive Lindsay Bamboche, who was lucky to escape a booking or even harsher punishment.

In the 55th minute, Monthy showed his class as he glided past a couple of defenders but went for goal and he hit the side netting instead of squaring to two of his colleagues who were screaming for a pass as they were in a better scoring position.

However Quincy weathered the storm as St Francis appeared to run out of steam and in the 64th minute Freminot picked out Dugasse who miscued with the goal begging.

Two minutes later Freminot skipped some crude tackles to rifle at goalie Libanotis who produced a good save.

Quincy were rewarded for their persistence in the 75th minute from captain Ravinia’s deep cross which was met by a superb leap by Joubert who headed home to equalise at 2-2.

The second half was a fascinating contest and there was to be more drama in the 80th minute as Bamboche, who had a very good game, picked out Dugasse with a long ball and the Quincy striker turned to drill the ball through goalie Libanotis’ legs for a 3-2 score-line.

As St Francis pressed to level matters, Quincy should have extended their lead such as in the 87th minute when Dugasse’s downward header from captain Ravinia’s cross should have resulted in a goal.

In the 88th minute, Quincy were again denied a blatant penalty as substitute Randy Gangadoo released Dugasse who was hacked down by substitute Yannick Confiance but referee Pillay turned a blind eye.

St Francis’ only chance to grab a point came in the first minute of injury time from a long ball to Barallon but goalie Bill was alert to the danger as he plucked the ball from the midfielder’s feet and was fouled in the process.

Quincy players and fans were ecstatic after this victory and so was coach Ernesta who told Nation Sports that she had seen positive signs in her team’s performance since their last match against La Passe despite losing that encounter.

“I am very happy with this win as we played well and this result will boost morale in our camp.  There is still a long way to go but at least this performance is a step in the right direction,” coach Ernesta told Nation Sports.

As for St Francis’ coach Marc Mathiot, he was very bitter with his team’s lack of fighting spirit which cost them dearly in a match where they had been second best for long periods.

R.J.L