Football: Championship League |12 January 2024
Bel Air climb into second spot after thrashing Rovers
Championship league football resumed on Tuesday when Rovers FC faced Bel Air FC at Stad Linite, Roche Caïman and the Bel Airians came out victorious on a 4-1 score.
Bel Air, who are eyeing for the championship crown, opened the scoring as early as the third minute of the game through skipper Norris Bibi following a clear opportunity inside the penalty area.
After conceding early in the first half, Rovers relentlessly pushed for an equaliser but all their efforts went wide of Raphael Jean’s goal.
Bel Air, recognising the threat Rovers FC posed, looked for a cushion goal and it came in the 32nd minute when Terry Estico fired a screamer from outside the six-yard box to give his team a 2-0 lead.
The Bel Airians maintained their good attacking composure and kept bringing the danger to Rovers’ goal, but the latter’s goalkeeper, Kim Hoareau, made a nice save to deny Jeanelle from extending his team’s lead in the 44th minute.
In the second half, Rovers tried to make a comeback but Bel Air held on tight to their two-goal lead. The game seemed like taking on a different shape when Bel Air’s Ian Bibi was sent off following two yellow cards, but even with 10 men Bel Air kept their composure and pushed forward for more goals.
In the 60th minute, Norris Bibi completed his brace as he scored to give Bel Air a 3-0 lead. Despite being a man down, Bel Air scored a fourth goal through Malagasy player Berto from Estico’s free kick (4-0).
Rovers got a consolation goal in the 74th minute when the team’s foreign player Mousa pounced on a rebound from Nick Labiche’s free kick to score (1-4).
Speaking to the media, Bel Air’s assistant coach Jeffery Paul said that at the beginning, the game was 50/50 but they clinically used their chances to score four goals.
“Our approach remains the same. We train hard and come out fighting for three points, but as you may know many clubs when they face Bel Air they play very well. So, our players knew that they had to play hard if they wanted to earn the three points to move up of the league standings,” said coach Paul.
As for Rovers’ head coach Michel Renaud, he said he feels his team played fairly well but the result does not reflect their performance.
“We have a very young team and I believe what is missing is some maturity in our game. As you have seen we conceded goals as a result of some minor errors by our players, but I feel that the lads gave a lot till the 90th minute,” said coach Renaud.
Neil Sirame