St Louis Suns win eight-goal thriller |27 October 2008

Anse Reunion will rue themselves for letting victory slip away from them. The La Digue-based side got off to the best possible start as Malagasy Milison Niasere broke clear of St Louis Suns’ three-man defence to fire past goalie Eugene Valentin for a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute.

Two minutes later Milison again got the better of a shaky St Louis Suns’ rearguard to shoot past Valentin to make it 2-0.

St Louis Suns had to react as their fans, who were stunned by such a score-line early in the match, began to turn on them. In the 12th minute, Malagasy Jimmy Radafison centered to Congolese Jonathan Mbanze, who miscued his leader from a good scoring position.

In the 27th minute, St Louis Suns reduced the arrears rather fortuitously as Denis Barbé cut the ball back to Eddie Bistoé, whose mis-hit shot fell to Mbanze, who buried it past goalie Ricky Rose (2-1).

Any thought of a St Louis Suns revival was soon dashed as Anse Reunion restored their two-goal advantage in the 29th minute. Andy Ernesta exploited space on the right to centre to the unmarked Yelvanny Rose, who rifled low past Valentin to make it 3-1.

St Louis Suns had a decent chance in the 37th minute as Barbé picked out Yannick Charlette with a chipped pass but he delayed his shot and the danger was cleared by a defender.

St Louis Suns were all fired up in the second half and in the 49th minute, Barbé floated a corner to Ronny Hoareau but he could not direct his shot on target.

Six minutes later, Milison almost punished St Louis Suns after a poor back pass by a defender, but Valentin did well to deflect his shot into corner.

St Louis Suns again cut the deficit in the 57th minute as Barbé released Malagasy Jean Del’Or Tsaralaza, whose deep cross was bundled over the goal-line by Charlette (3-2).

It was game on for St Louis Suns as they swarmed all over Anse Reunion, who were under intense pressure as coach Vojo Gardasevic tried to change tactics to stop the opponents’ onslaught.

In the 64th minute, Barbé linked up with Mbanze, who set up substitute Trevor Poiret and he unleashed a fierce shot across goal and it beat goalie Rose to level the score at 3-3.

Three minutes later, Poiret pounced on a defensive error by goalie Rose but the Anse Reunion captain recovered in time to stop the winger’s lob. In the 75th minute, Radafison picked out the same Poiret with a cross but he headed wide.

St Louis Suns completed their revival in the 77th minute as the hard-working Jean Del’Or lofted a cross to Barbé, who rose majestically to thump a towering header past goalie Rose to make it 4-3.

St Louis Suns made sure of the points with a fifth goal in a remarkable match described as one of the best of the season.

Barbé started the move in the 80th minute before laying the ball into the path of Mbanze, whose stinging shot zipped past goalie Rose to complete the scoring at 5-3.

R. J-L.