Football: Barclays league division one-Dynamo demolish hapless St Francis |20 April 2013

This defeat keeps St Francis rooted to the foot of the table though it was a more or less balanced first half but the north Mahé club took a decisive step as they took the lead on the half-hour mark.

Dynamo’s goal came courtesy of a superb cross by Malagasy Asman Todisoa which was met by Marcus Maria’s header which floated over goalkeeper Andrea Libanotis to make it 1-0.

In the 43rd minute, Dynamo extended their lead as Marty Fanny galloped forward to centre to Todisoa who lobbed Libanotis for a 2-0 lead.

Dynamo stretched their advantage on the stroke of half-time as once again Evans Télémaque rifled his shot home at the far post for a 3-0 advantage.

St Francis tried to fight back in the second half and got a lifeline only two minutes in the second period after a horrible mistake by Dynamo’s goalkeeper Jules Monnaie who failed to hold on to a high cross, letting in Malagasy Hery who had the easiest of tasks to head into an empty net for a 1-3 score.

On the hour mark, St Francis’ Andre Constance’s curling free-kick sailed wide as the Baie Lazare-based team threatened to restore the balance.

However, Dynamo always looked dangerous on the counter and in the 61st minute Todisoa latched onto a through ball but goalkeeper Libanotis blocked his shot.

In the 60th minute, Dynamo’s left back Teddy Cupidon bore forward and picked out Maria at the far post who cut inside but could not hit the target.

In the 67th minute, Dynamo’s Maria showed his fighting spirit as he hassled for the ball in the St Francis penalty area and he just managed to flick the loose ball in the net at the far post for a 4-1 lead.

Two minutes later, Maria should have completed his hat-trick as he collected a cross in the clear but amazingly he fired wide with the goal at his mercy.

In the 74th minute, Maria pounced on a loose ball to shoot at goalkeeper Libanotis who parried his shot and captain Télémaque drilled the ball into the net for a 5-1 score.

Four minutes later, St Francis were awarded a soft penalty by referee Bernard Camille after Malagasy substitute Branly Zizi and Hery exchanged passes. Dynamo’s Marty Fanny tried to intervene but was penalised as he was adjudged to have fouled Branly Zizi by the official who pointed to the spot for a dubious penalty.

Branly Zizi took the initial penalty which was saved by goalkeeper Monnaie, but assistant referee Gilbert Lusta adjudged that the goalkeeper had infringed and the penalty was controversially retaken.
This time round Branly Zizi thumped the ball past Monnaie for a 5-2 scoreline.

Dynamo coach Cliff Nolin was unhappy with the penalty decision but praised his players’ performance.

“We had a few injuries that affected our team earlier on, but recently we have been showing progress as there is a good balance in the team and we hope to continue to improve our results,” coach Nolin told Sports Nation.

As for St Francis’ coach Marc Mathiot, he was disappointed with his team’s inept performance.
“My team must take their matches more seriously as we made a decent start but once again we lost concentration. We conceded and this affected the final result,” lamented coach Mathiot.

R. J-L.