Football: Barclays league division one |19 October 2013

St Francis claim The Lions’ scalp

St Francis claimed the scalp of The Lions with a comfortable 3-0 victory at Stad Linite on Thursday in the Barclays league division one.

This is St Francis’ third league win on the trot and they got off to the perfect start as they opened the scoring in the fifth minute.

It all started when The Lions’ left back Andrew Onezia’s clearance was charged down by St Francis’ Stephane Barallon who bore on goal to lob advancing goalkeeper Raphael Moustache and defender Ahmed Maurice could not clear the goal-bound shot (1-0).

The Lions had to raise their game and in the 13th minute Denis Auguste played a pass to Randolph Lablache but St Francis captain Ronny Monthy intercepted but allowed Lablache to steal the ball and fire at goalkeeper Andrea Libanotis who parried the shot.

The boys of coach Gavin Jeanne continued to carry the game to St Francis and in the 20th minute Laurent Vel’s curling free-kick forced a good save out of goalkeeper Libanotis.

In the 38th minute, The Lions Gabonese midfielder Tony Moussikoue played a quick corner to captain Jude Nancy who floated the ball to Lablache who linked up with Darrel Lesperance but his goal-bound shot was cleared by captain Ronny Monthy.

The second half was a more interesting affair and in the opening minutes Moussikoue, who had a decent game, played a one-two with Auguste to elude Andrian Constance’s tackle but his fierce shot flew agonisingly wide.

St Francis also went close in the 49th minute as Stephane Barallon nicked the ball from Onezia to send an inch-perfect cross to Stan Fanchette whose clever flick was smothered by goalkeeper Moustache.

A minute later, Harry Libanotis fed Malagasy Branly Zizi from 35 metres out and his frightening pace left the whole of The Lions defence in his wake and he stabbed the ball low past goalkeeper Moustache for a 2-0 score.

The Lions responded in the 55th minute from Vel’s in-swinging free-kick which goalkeeper Libanotis pushed into corner.

In the 59th minute, St Francis’ Adrian Constance was lucky not to receive his second yellow card from referee Kierens Yocette for retaliating on Auguste as they fought for the ball. He only received a verbal warning after being booked in the first half.

The Lions though were furious with referee Yocette in the 63rd minute as he awarded a penalty to St Francis which was a rather harsh decision. It all started when Harry Libanotis combined with Branly Zizi whose return pass hit Ahmed Maurice’s hand and the official deemed it was worthy of a penalty much to the frustration of The Lions’ coach and players.

Malagasy Malamo Ducaud stepped up to take the spot kick, sending goalkeeper Moustache the wrong way for a 3-0 lead.

The Lions tried to bring more width to their play as they brought on Dave Max and Darrel Damoo but they never got in the match.

However, Lablache went close in the 81st minute as he exchanged passes with Lesperance but his shot was cleared by captain Ronny Monthy who had a solid game in defence.

In the third minute of added time, Onezia’s long range effort crashed against the crossbar and came off a retreating defender to hit the bar again but the danger was eventually cleared as St Francis triumphed.

Coach Marc Mathiot told Sports Nation his team are showing good progress as they are more committed in training and he added that the three points further improve their fight against relegation and boost morale in their camp.

As for his counterpart Gavin Jeanne, he complained about his team’s inconsistency but felt the result did not reflect the match as he thought his team had given a good account of themselves.

R. J-L.