Football: Sunkiss’d division one-Controversial penalty saves St Louis’ blushes |17 October 2005

St Louis and St Michel in 1-1 draw

A large crowd had converged on Stad Linite to witness the Saints derby. St Michel had a point to prove to their doubters after being knocked out of the Land Marine Cup last Wednesday. As for St Louis, they had to avoid defeat to keep alive their league challenge.

The boys of coach Brian Uranie were the better side in the first half as they packed their defence and restricted St Louis’ possession of the ball.

They created the first chance of the half in the 12th minute. Alex Nibourette exploited St Louis’ weak right side to centre to Marcel Labiche who forced goalie Eugène Valentin to come out to punch the ball.

As the match developed, St Michel grew in confidence and on the half hour mark, Godfrey Denis sent a dubious free-kick narrowly wide.

St Louis only came in the match in the later stage as Alpha Baldé’s teasing corner was half cleared to Malagasy Ralida, whose shot was charged down.

In the 37th minute, Philip Zialor should have done better from Terry Créa’s deep cross which Lorenzo Mathiot failed to clear. Zialor’s control though let him down in a good scoring position.

In the 44th minute, St Louis thought they should have been awarded a penalty when Fabien Cadeau went down in the box under Joel Barbé’s challenge but referee Jean Claude Labrosse was not convinced.

From the break, St Michel were to score rather controversially. Marcel Labiche seemed to have nudged defender Jones Joubert who went sprawling to the ground. Labiche crossed to an unmarked Brian Gill whose near post shot beat goalie Valentin who must take the blame for conceding a soft goal.

St Louis made two substitutions, replacing the injured Cafrine and Créa with Jude Nancy and Achille Henriette respectively.

Even though the boys of coach Marc Mathiot had much of the possession, St Michel defended well.

In the 76th minute, the hard-working Baldé rifled a fierce shot and goalie Nelson Sopha was equal to the task. Four minutes later, Baldé was unlucky with his lob from Zialor’s pass which goalie Sopha detected off target.

In the 85th minute, Baldé flashed a cross across goal which Zialor picked up but his spectacular volley flew wide. A minute later, Zialor again failed to make the most of a clear run despite being in an offside position which was not signaled.

Referee Labrosse gave St Louis a lifetime in the 88th minute when Henriette went down in the penalty area from a Nibourette tackle. Referee Labrosse, who was far from the action, signalled a penalty much to the disgust of the St Michel players.

When calm was restored, Ralida sent goalie Sopha the wrong way to level the score.

Minutes later, the game almost turned ugly as Baldé and Gill were involved in an off-the-ball incident.

It took sometime to restore order and after consulting his assistant Eldrick Adelaide, referee Labrosse expelled both players for throwing punches at each other. But there were more guilty parties who should have been punished in this incident.

After that, the match lost its momentum and even referee Labrosse lost count of time as he allowed the action to go on for 98 minutes.

After the match, St Michel’s coach Uranie was furious with the official for denying them a victory they desperately needed to restore their lost pride.

As for coach Mathiot, he felt his team had chances to win but were wayward in their finishing.

SMB add to Light Stars’ troubles

SMB registered an important victory over Praslin-based Light Stars on Friday October 14 at Stad Linite.
 
Both teams were desperate for the points to improve their league standings. SMB’s former Light Stars winger Luc Lespoir produced a decent cross for the overlapping Brian Dorby who volleyed wide.

In the 20th minute Light Stars’ Joel Esther picked up a half cleared corner to centre to Tanzanian Jonathan Mbanze who headed wide.

Six minutes later, Light Stars almost conceded from Che Dorasamy’s cross-cum-shot which Didier Jean-Baptiste deflected. It required a good save by goalie Denis Fideria to save his team’s blushes.

In the 28th minute, Light Stars opened the scoring from a neat combination between Mbanze and Hugh Jeanne. Jeanne’s inch-perfect cross was headed home by Mbanze.

Minutes later, Mbanze should have increased the lead as he linked up with Cyrus Athanase.

In the 33rd minute, SMB went close from Brian Dorby’s cross which Colin Laporte headed goal-wards but goalie Fideria cleared his line.

Three minutes later, Light Stars’ Congolese midfielder Mohamed Irambona produced a moment of magic to filter a pass to Mbanze.

SMB’s goalie Antoine Dubel came off his line and missed his clearance but the ball rolled wide.

On the stroke of half-time, SMB levelled matters from Dorasamy’s deep cross which Joseph Marcelin intelligently headed over the advancing goalie Fideria.

Light Stars were dominant in the second half but a hatful of misses proved costly.

In the 53rd minute, Mbanze should have hit the target but made a meal of his shot. Four minutes later, Irambona’s curling free-kick was spilled by goalie Dubel who reacted in time to clear the danger.

At the other end, Lespoir forced a good save (69th minute) out of goalie Fideria.
In the 74th minute, Marcelin pounced on an error by defender Bertrand Esther but goalie Fideria produced a good stop.

SMB took the lead in the 83rd minute as Brian Dorby played a quick free-kick to Lespoir whose inch-perfect cross was headed past goalie Fideria by Colin Laporte.

Light Stars should have equalised seconds later as Irambona set up Mbanze who flashed a powerful header wide.

SMB’s coach Roger Labonté said that his team wanted to win to improve their position.
As for his counterpart Thierry Hitimana, he felt his team had plenty of chances to win the match but paid the price for poor finishing.

Sunshine keep pressure on Survivors

Sunshine maintained their recent good form with a convincing 3-0 victory over Surviviors on Praslin on Saturday.

After a goalless first half, Ronny Rose, Robert Suzette and Steven Constance scored the goals to give Sunshine a well-deserved win.

Red Star and Anse Réunion share points

On the same day on La Digue, Red Star held Anse Réunion to a 1-1 draw.
Anse Réunion opened the score in the first half through their young midfielder Stephen Morel.

After missing a handful of opportunities, Bernard St Ange salvaged a point for Red Star by netting the equaliser in the second half.

R. J-L.