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Archive - Archive 2004 - July 2013

Football: Land Marine Cup-Anse Reunion dump cup holders St Michel |15 October 2012

Football: Land Marine Cup-Anse Reunion dump cup holders St Michel

St Michel vs Anse Reunion

The last time St Michel had lost to Anse Reunion was in 2007 when they conceded the league title to the La Digue outfit.

Since then St Michel had dominated Anse Reunion and on Saturday, they were still the better team though the La Digue side were keener to stop them as they deployed a five-man defence with Malagasy captain Eddy in the sweeper position.

St Michel started brightly and in the third minute, Malagasy Jean Del’Or Tsaralaza latched onto a defensive mistake but he shot narrowly wide of goalkeeper Ricky Rose’s post.

Two minutes later, Del’Or was at it again as he hassled for the ball and his attempted lob of goalkeeper Rose sailed just wide.

In the 19th minute, St Michel opened up Anse Reunion with a quick break led by Alex Nibourette who centred to Del’Or who inexplicably miscued with the goal at his mercy. The ball rolled to Gervais Waye-Hive who hit the foot of the post as Anse Reunion rode their luck.

Anse Reunion, who had struggled to contain St Michel, had a half chance with Yelvanny Rose’s  free-kick flashing across goal.

The La Digue side stunned St Michel in the 40th minute. St Michel’s defence gave the ball away and Yelvanny Rose laid it to Malagasy Hassan Ali who rifled a cracking 30m shot which crashed onto the post inside the goal and rebounded for a fantastic goal which almost raised the roof of the stadium (1-0).

St Michel had to attack in the second half and in the 46th minute, Leeroy Corallie had a great opportunity when in an offside position, he was allowed to push Anse Reunion’s captain Eddy in the back to win the ball and he was not penalised. Corallie then bore on goal but in a one-on-one situation, goalkeeper Rose blocked his shot to deny the St Michel striker.

Anse Reunion also had a good chance in the 50th minute as Malagasy Ali released his colleague Hugo Sezou who exploited space as St Michel’s defence was caught napping but his powerful shot was charged down by goalkeeper Nelson Sopha.

St Michel then had to make two substitutions as Gino Agathine pulled a muscle and was replaced by Samuel Henriette while Corallie was taken off and Wilnes Brutus was brought on.

St Michel levelled matters in the 69th minute from a teasing cross by Nibourette and as the Anse Reunion defence was caught ball watching, their former midfielder, Del’Or, sneaked in to beat the offside trap and glance his header in the far corner for a 1-1 score.

Del’Or almost stunned goalkeeper Ricky Rose with a curling shot which bounced off awkwardly
in front of the goalkeeper who had to scurry across goal to thwart the danger.

In the 80th minute, Anse Reunion’s celebration was short lived when Malagasy Ali lofted a free-kick which was met by captain’s Eddy’s diving header which found refuge in the net. But assistant referee Hansley Petrousse had long raised his flag for a clear offside.

In the 85th minute, Anse Reunion again went close from an Ali corner which was met by Yelvanny Rose’s header and the ball rolled across goal.

As the match looked like heading for extra-time, Anse Reunion shocked St Michel whose defenders were to blame for the goal they conceded. Defender Allen Larue headed the ball in a dangerous area and when goalkeeper Sopha hesitated to come for the ball, Anse Reunion’s substitute Stenio Ernesta leapt to head the ball over the advancing goalkeeper and into the net to restore Anse Reunion’s lead at 2-1 in the 89th minute.

The goal came as a hammer blow to St Michel who could not conjure up another goal-scoring opportunity in injury time and had to relinquish their grip on another title after losing the Airtel Cup to Côte d’Or.
Anse Reunion will now face St Francis in the semifinal.

LightStars vs La Passe

LightStars had defeated La Passe in the league this season but on Saturday, despite home advantage, they were ripped apart 6-0.

In fact, La Passe had effectively won the tie in a 30-minute spell in the first half after Renick Esther had opened the scoring against his former teammates.

Alex Dugasse soon made it 2-0 before Malagasy Valerie extended the lead to 3-0.
Malagasy Fagnorena got on the score-sheet to make it 4-0 and his colleague Tholix Jean rounded up the scoring before half-time for a 5-0 lead.

Renick Esther added his second goal as he completed the rout for a 6-0 victory which helped them easily reach the semifinal where they will face Côte d’Or in a much anticipated match.

Côte D’Or vs Tigers

First division club Côte d’Or dumped second division side Tigers out of the Land Marine Cup at the quarterfinal stage with an easy 6-0 victory at Stad Linite on Friday.

Côte d’Or are in the semifinals of the Land Marine Cup after winning the Airtel Cup earlier in the season

Côte d’Or always had the measure of Tigers who languish at the lower end of the second division league table.

As for Côte d’Or, they are in third position in the top flight and are unbeaten in over three months and despite resting their inspirational Malagasy midfielder Jean Tigana, they had too much firepower for toothless Tigers.

Côte d’Or showed their intention as early as the fifth minute when the lively Dean Suzette hit the post with a strong shot.

The Praslin side though opened the scoring in the 13th minute when Francis Louis picked up a loose ball in midfield and let fly a 25m shot which sailed over goalkeeper Clint Naiken and into the net for a 1-0 lead.

In the 20th minute, Tigers goalkeeper Naiken redeemed himself with a point-blank save from Marlon Sophola’s free header as Côte d’Or threatened to extend their lead.

A minute later Côte d’Or went further ahead as Francis Louis pounced on a through ball to fire another long range effort which beat the diminutive Naiken to make it 2-0.

Côte d’Or were now in the driving seat and in the 25th minute they put in a sweeping move involving Malagasy Patrick Ramsamimanana who released the impressive Shaun Larue who held the ball well to elude his marker. Young striker Larue then pulled the ball back to Malagasy Mazinot Valentin who blasted it into the roof of the net for a 3-0 advantage.

In the 43rd minute Côte d’Or scored again as Malagasy Patrick picked up a stray pass to lob the advancing Naiken to make it 4-0 at half-time.

Tigers improved slightly in the second period as Côte d’Or removed their foot off the accelerator.

In the 49th minute, Tigers poured forward after referee Egbert Havelock had denied Côte d’Or’s Collin Esther a penalty as he went down in the area under a strong challenge. Tigers bore on goal with Chris Matombé exploiting space on the right to centre to Michel-Ange Tall but with the goal at his mercy, he missed the target with a clear header.

Côte d’Or though still managed to score a fifth goal in the 62nd minute as Francis Louis filtered a pass to Steven Lesperance who sprung Tigers’ offside trap to slot the ball home for a 5-0 lead.

Tigers had two decent chances to get on the score-sheet. In the 65th minute when Stephan Leon worked his way on the bye-line as he skipped a couple of tackles but the angle was too tight to squeeze the ball past goalkeeper Kitson Cecile at the near post.

In the 78th minute, Tigers had an even better opportunity as Michel-Ange Tall rattled the crossbar with a thunderous 35m free-kick with goalkeeper Cecile struggling to reach the ball.

The more experienced Côte d’Or sealed the victory a minute later as man-of-the-match Francis Louis slipped a pass to Malagasy Patrick who rounded goalkeeper Naiken to drill the ball home for an emphatic 6-0 win which propels them into the semifinal.

R. J-L.

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