Football: Barclays’ league division one-St Michel go top, St Louis suns beat defending league champions |02 August 2010

St Louis Suns - La Passe

St Louis Suns continued their good form against La Passe as they edged the defending league champions 1-0 at Stad Linite on Saturday despite being reduced to ten men in the latter stages of the match.

St Louis Suns scored early in the sixth minute after La Passe’s Pierre Fanchette had fouled Andy Mougal.  Captain Trevor Poiret lofted the free kick which Brian Dorby met with a towering header which flew in the net for a 1-0 lead.

La Passe almost leveled matters a minute later as Marcus Labiche shook off the challenge of David Dorby, but Jonathan Bibi produced a great block to deny the former Foresters striker.

In the 10th minute Labiche again threatened as he benefited from a cross which ricocheted off David Dorby but captain Bruno Saindini failed to connect to his teasing cross with the goal at his mercy.

In the 16th minute, St Louis Suns put on a good passing move which resulted in captain Poiret pulling the ball back to Roddy Melanie, but he miscued his shot from a good scoring position.

A minute later, St Louis Suns again threatened as captain Poiret stole the ball from Fanchette to centre to Fabien Cadeau, whose close range shot was charged down.

The game was an intense affair and at times the St Louis Suns fans were unhappy with referee Gonzague Boniface, who was rather harsh on them and lenient on La Passe, especially captain Saindini who committed a series of fouls.
 
In the 22nd minute captain Saindini played a free kick into the path of Achille Henriette, but his shot was blocked by goalie Joel Lesperance.

St Louis Suns should have extended their lead in the 35th minute as captain Poiret pounced on a defensive error to release Mervin Mathiot who should have hit the target, but somehow he shot wide with the goal at his mercy.

In the 40th minute St Louis Suns went close from Brian Dorby’s teasing cross but Mougal’s glancing header was saved by goalie Vincent Euphrasie. 

La Passe came out for the second half with all guns blazing as they pinned St Louis Suns on the defensive.

In the 57th minute, captain Saindini saw his low fierce free kick spilled into corner by goalie Lesperance.

In the 73rd minute La Passe should have done better with a poor clearance by an otherwise solid Jonathan Bibi.
 
 The ball was played to Labiche, who looked yards offside, but assistant referee Jean Ernesta failed to flag, allowing Labiche to flash his shot across goal.

Five minutes later, in a rare St Louis Suns attack, Cadeau played a cross-field pass to captain Poiret, whose strong shot was pushed into corner by goalie Euphrasie.

Controversy loomed in the 86th minute as La Passe’s Malagasy striker substitute Thierry went down in the penalty area after an argy-bargy with Cadeau.

 The La Passe players claimed he had been elbowed and though referee Gonzague Boniface had not seen the incident, he consulted his assistant Ernesta, after which he brandished a straight red card to Cadeau.

Three minutes later, the same Thierry fired a poorly cleared ball against St Louis Suns post as the Mahe team rode their luck.

St Louis Suns could even have added a second in injury time as substitute Vince Barbe combined to set up captain Poiret, but his control let him down when he had a clear run at goal.

St Louis Suns held on to register a win, which propelled them to second position in the league.

Anse Reunion – St Michel

St Michel won this top-of-the-table clash with a single goal in the seventh minute thanks to Bernard St Ange for an important victory, which helped them move to the top of the league table.

  
St Roch fight back for a draw

Bottom club St Roch fought back from 0-2 down to earn a credible 2-2 draw against LightStars at Stad Linite on Friday evening.

It was a morale boosting point for the boys of coach Gerard Gonthier and they fully deserved the point.
LightStars made the most of some defensive errors to let in Malagasy Mario Ravo who beat goalie Eugene Valentin to make it 1-0.

St Roch responded in the 25th minute through Steven Telemaque’s teasing cross, which goalie Denis Fideria had to push out as he clashed with the advancing Nelson Renaud.

Two minutes later, LightStars extended their lead from a cleverly played free kick which was taken quickly by Malagasy Mahffa Tolojahny over a ball watching St Roch defence.

 Ravo, who was on his return from a five-match ban, latched onto the ball to slot it under goalie Valentin for a 2-0 lead.
In the 34th minute, Ravo released captain Bertrand Esther who did well to cut back to Ernesto Doway, who looked odds on to score but his shot was deflected into corner.

Three minutes later St Roch should have reduced the deficit from a poor clearance by goalie Fideria to save the custodian’s blushes.

In the 39th minute, Ravo created havoc in the St Roch penalty area and Denis Belle was lucky not to concede a penalty as he pushed over the diminutive striker, to the annoyance of the LightStars camp.

St Roch was a transformed side in the second half and in the 53rd minute, Telemaque lofted a corner kick to Marvin Pierre, who rose well but failed to hit the target with a free header.

Five minutes later St Roch cut the deficit as Pierre centred to Nerick Athanase, who managed to stick the ball into the net with some brilliant skills to make it 1-2.

St Roch had gained the momentum and on the hour mark, Telemaque floated a corner to Pierre whose towering header was cleared on the goal line.

Two minutes later, the hard-working Telemaque threaded a pass to Athanase who cut inside to fire at goalie Fideria who saved the danger.  Surprisingly Athanase was soon replaced much to the astonishment of the crowd as he was posing a threat to the LightStars defence.

In the 81st minute, substitute Nigel Moustache floated a cross to Renaud who flicked on and captain Daven Belle just missed the target at the near post as St Roch claimed for a handball which the official did not spot.

St Roch produced a good passing move in the 88th minute as Telemaque created space to centre to Renaud who beat goalie Fideria to head home for a deserved equaliser at 2-2.

LightStars had only themselves to blame in the end as they had got off to a good start but grew complacent and St Roch pegged them back to claim only their second point in eight matches.

R.J-L