Football: Barclays league division one |14 October 2013

Côte d’Or go top, La Passe and LightStars lose, St Francis beat St Michel

Praslin outfit Côte d’Or leapfrogged La Passe into pole position in the Barclays league division one with a 2-1 win over Northern Dynamo on Saturday, while La Passe lost the La Digue derby 1-0 against Anse Reunion. On Mahé, The Lions returned to winning ways by beating LightStars 3-1 and on Friday St Francis shocked St Michel 2-1.

The Lions roar past LightStars

The Lions returned to winning ways with a 3-1 victory over bottom club LightStars on Saturday at Stad Linite.
LightStars though will have only themselves to blame as they got off to a bright start in this encounter and in the third minute captain Kevin Prosper failed to direct Malagasy Haja’s corner on target.

The Praslin side took the lead in the 18th minute from Malagasy Mario Ravo’s cross to Haja who bundled the ball past goalkeeper Jerome Dingwall to make it 1-0.

The Lions had to react and on the half hour mark captain Michael Ernest lofted a free-kick to Gino Agathine whose header was tipped over by goalkeeper Romeo Barra into corner. From the resulting corner floated by Randolph Lablache, Ahmed Maurice headed over a clear chance.

A minute later, Darrel Lesperance pounced on a poor goal-kick by LightStars to link up with Lablache who centred to him but his half volley was pushed into corner by goalkeeper Barra.
LightStars threatened in the 37th minute from a pinpoint cross by Ian Vel to Prosper who headed over from a good scoring position.

On the stroke of half-time, Prosper again went close from Haja’s corner and in the impending mêlée, the same Haja hit the post with his cross-cum-shot.
The Lions struck early in the second half as Darrel Damoo’s burst of speed in the 46th minute left defenders in his wake and he centred to Lesperance who controlled the ball before firing into the net to make it 1-1.

In the 50th minute, LightStars almost regained their lead from Ravo’s corner which Barnsley Philo headed back to Haja who forced a point-blank block by goalkeeper Dingwall.

The Lions though were the more dominant team and in the 58th minute Damoo latched onto a through ball but LightStars goalkeeper Barra was quick off his line to clear the danger.
Coach Gavin Jeanne had to replace goalkeeper Dingwall through injury in the 72nd minute and Raphael Moustache came on.

In the 77th minute, The Lions’ substitute Yannick Charlette played a superb through ball to Lablache but his cross-cum-shot was tipped over into corner.
The Cascade-based team took the lead in the 80th minute from substitute Laurent Vel’s corner which was deflected at the near post to drop invitingly to Dave Max who rammed the ball home for a 2-1 lead.

The Lions had a great chance to stretch their lead in the 82nd minute as Agathine played a great ball out of defence to Dave Max who raced clear to centre to Lablache who looked suspiciously offside but was not signaled. Lablache though wasted the opportunity as goalkeeper Barra blocked his shot.

The Lions secured the win in the 87th minute as Jude Nancy released Vel who beat the LightStars offside trap and blasted a right-footed shot which flew past goalkeeper Barra to seal a 3-1 win for his team.


Anse Reunion edge La Passe

Anse Reunion defeated their bitter rivals La Passe with a single strike by Malagasy Hugo Sezou for a 1-0 win on Saturday on La Digue in the derby match.
Anse Reunion’s victory ensured that La Passe lost top spot as Côte d’Or moved to the top of the league standings.

Côte d’Or defeat Northern Dynamo

Praslin side Côte d’Or had to battle hard to defeat Northern Dynamo 2-1 to move to the top of the league standings.
Côte d’Or had to wait for the second half to break the deadlock as Malagasy Patrick Rasaminana opened the score for a 1-0 lead.

Dynamo’s Marcus Maria though equalised as he reacted quicker to a free-kick which had come off the post to shoot past goalkeeper Kitson Cecile for a 1-1 score.

Côte d’Or were not to be denied a victory in front of their fervent fans as Marcus Labiche scored a late winner to make it 2-1 to propel his team to the summit of the Barclays league division one.

Coach Ahmed Abdou told Sports Nation that his team had come all out to win this match to keep them in the title race.  

This win will surely boost their morale ahead of their clash with St Michel tomorrow in the Intelvision Cup quarter final match at Stad Linite.

St Francis dent St Michel’s title hopes

St Francis dented defending Barclays league division one champions St Michel’s hopes of retaining their crown with a hard fought 2-1 win at Stad Linite on Friday.

St Francis celebrated claiming the scalp of another big gun after beating St Louis Suns last week as they moved away from the relegation zone.

Ironically, St Michel got off to a very good start as Leeroy Corallie fired past goalkeeper Andrea Libanotis after captain Don Anacoura and Darwin Rosette had combined to set him up for a 1-0 lead.

St Francis though overcame this setback as they came more into the match and in the 15th minute Malagasy striker Branly Zizi headed straight at goalkeeper Gino Melanie from Stephan Barallon’s cross.

Five minutes later, Stephan Barallon rifled a first-time shot across the face of goalkeeper Melanie’s goal.
In the 27th minute, St Francis were rewarded for their positive approach as young Stan Fanchette curled a beautiful free-kick from the edge of the penalty area past goalkeeper Melanie to make it 1-1.

St Michel had a decent chance in the 41st minute but goal scorer Corallie’s bicycle kick flew just wide of goalkeeper Libanotis’ goal.
The league champions again came out strongly at the start of the second half and in the 54th minute goalkeeper Libanotis spilled Rosette’s shot to Nelson Laurence but he blazed over with the goal at his mercy.

St Francis stunned St Michel just past the hour mark as Zizi linked up with Ryan Antat whose outside-of-the-foot shot beat goalkeeper Melanie for a 2-1 advantage.
St Michel had to push forward, put St Francis who had dropped back to defend their lead, under a lot of pressure.

In the 64th minute, Corallie was twice denied by the crossbar as St Francis rode their luck.

St Michel threw everything at St Francis but failed to find a breakthrough.
St Francis should have scored a goal deep in added time as St Michel’s corner was cleared to Branly Zizi who out-sprinted the St Michel defence but goalkeeper Melanie stood tall to block his shot.

However, St Francis had done enough to inflict a third league defeat on St Michel whose manager Andrew Jean-Louis told Sports Nation he feels his team had underestimated their opponents who were highly motivated for this encounter and deserved their win.

As for St Francis coach Marc Mathiot, he praised his players’ performances as he feels his defensive and offensive play worked well and added that the three points are important to boost their position.

Below is the league standings.

R. J-L.