Football: Barclays league division one: St Louis Suns sneak past Revengers |01 March 2014

St Louis Suns sneaked past newly promoted Revengers 2-1 at Stad Linite on Thursday evening in a Barclays league division one encounter.

Revengers had on Wednesday welcomed their two new Malagasy recruits – Roger Nambinatsoa who started the match and his colleague Evariste Rakotondrahaja who came on in the second half.

But it was St Louis Suns who were the better side in the first half as they had more possession.

St Louis Suns, fielding an all-Seychellois side including new recruits Henny Dufresne, Bertrand Esther, Franky Naiken, Adrian Constance and goalkeeper Ian Ah-Kong, were more slick in their passing as Revengers took time to settle.

St Louis Suns had the first real chance in the 11th minute when Bertrand Esther’s free kick came off the wall to him and he hooked a pass to captain Mervin Mathiot who was in the clear but shot weakly at goalkeeper Wilfred Ally.

Revengers should have shocked St Louis Suns in the 29th minute as Steven Lesperance burst through on a counter-attack but he shot narrowly wide.

Nine minutes later, St Louis Suns were gifted the lead from a bad mistake by goalkeeper Ally who dropped what appeared to be an easy catch and captain Mathiot was on hand to punish him as he collected the loose ball to fire low into the net to make it 1-0.

In the 39th minute, Revengers goalkeeper Ally redeemed himself to deny captain Mathiot’s dipping shot with a finger-tip save to turn the ball over the crossbar.

From the resulting corner played by captain Mathiot to Elijah Tamboo, Kelly Nibourette missed a clear header.

On the stroke of half-time Revengers rode their luck as St Louis Suns’ Franky Naiken raced clear and was brought down by defender Shelton Arrisol. St Louis Suns appealed for a penalty, but referee Nelson Emile was spot on as he awarded the free kick on the edge of the penalty area.

St Louis Suns continued to dominate proceedings in the second half and in the 49th minute Dufresne floated a corner onto Esther’s head but he could not direct a clear chance on target.

St Louis Suns were let off the hook in the 62nd minute as Andy Laurence released Steven Lesperance who beat the offside trap and goalkeeper Ah-Kong started to come out but was caught in no man’s land. Lesperance’s lob though sailed agonisingly wide as Ah-Kong who had an average game, must have breathed a sigh of relief.

This missed opportunity bolstered Revengers’ confidence though as they began to have a stranglehold on the match.

But in the 69th minute, St Louis Suns captain Mathiot went close with a curling free kick which goalkeeper Ally did well to turn into corner.

Ten minutes later, St Louis Suns stretched their lead from substitute Trevor Poiret’s corner which Travis Laurence rifled at goal but goalkeeper Ally pushed out. The ball fell to substitute Serge Asba whose shot came off Hedy Esther to beat goalkeeper Ally and make it 2-0.

In the 84th minute, Poiret latched onto a long ball and controlled impeccably but blasted it wide when he should have hit the target.

Two minutes later, St Louis Suns conceded a dangerous free kick as Esther blocked Marcus François’ run on goal and was booked in a match where the official brandished more than seven yellow cards.

Andy Laurence took the free kick and goalkeeper Ah-Kong somehow failed to hold on to the ball which bounced awkwardly in front of him and into the net for a 1-2 score.

St Louis Suns though had done enough to win their first match though assistant coach Patrick Cafrine was disappointed with his team’s overall performance.

“We played decently in the first half but were overconfident in the second period and I’m not satisfied with our performance though the three points is a consolation. We are desperate to sign a striker too,” assistant coach Cafrine said.

As for Revengers coach Basil Hoareau, he was not too disappointed despite the loss.

“We showed too much respect for our opponents in the first half but we played better offensively in the second. So despite the defeat, I’m partly satisfied with our performance,” coach Hoareau told Sports Nation.

R. J-L.