Football: Barclays league division one |26 May 2014

La Passe, St Michel, Northern Dynamo, St Louis Suns win

La Digue-based La Passe sneaked past Revengers 1-0 on Saturday while St Louis Suns stunned Anse Reunion 3-0 on La Digue and Northern Dynamo swept aside The Lions 4-2. On Friday St Michel returned to winning ways with a 6-0 victory over St Francis whereas Côte d’Or snatched a 3-3 draw against LightStars in the Barclays league division one action this weekend.

La Passe sneak past Revengers

La Digue-based La Passe had to win to maintain their challenge in the Barclays league after St Michel had taken over at the top of the league with a big win on Friday.

La Passe though had to sweat for the three points as Revengers, playing in front of their home crowd at the Amitié Stadium, gave them a run for their money before they conceded in the second half as Stan Fanchette scored the all-important goal for the La Digue side to make it 1-0.

La Passe though were reduced to 10 men in the latter stages of this match after referee Alix Bonne gave Jules Constance his marching orders for a second bookable offence.
Nonetheless, La Passe held on to claim three vital points in the title race.

St Louis Suns stun Anse Reunion

St Louis Suns stunned Anse Reunion with a 3-0 victory at the La Digue playing field on Saturday

They took a decisive step to claim the win as defender Steve Henriette headed them in front for a 1-0 lead.

The same Henriette then made it 2-0 from the penalty spot as they went in at half-time.

Elijah Tamboo confirmed this good win as he scored late on for a 3-0 victory.

Northern Dynamo sweep aside The Lions

Northern Dynamo swept aside the threat of The Lions with a 4-2 triumph at Stad Linite on Saturday.

The conditions were ideal for a good match with a bright sunshine and Dynamo responded superbly as they shocked their opponents with a goal after just 53 seconds of play.

Malagasy Valerie, who was returning from a two-match ban, collected a loose ball on the edge of the penalty area to rifle the ball low past goalkeeper Jerome Dingwall’s dive for a 1-0 lead.

The Lions barely had time to get their act together when they were punished as Marcus Maria threaded a pass to Aldo Dufresne in the 2nd minute and he coolly tucked it home to make it 2-0.

The Lions were desperate for a goal and were rewarded for their industrious approach play when Malagasy Herizo Razaparany thumped the ball after a mêlée past Northern Dynamo’s stranded goalkeeper Jules Monnaie for 1-2 score.

Dynamo though still looked menacing when they went on the offensive and were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty by referee Emile Fred who struggled to handle the match.

Asman Todisoa latched onto Joshua Adeline’s through ball in the 21st minute but was brought down by Rachim Padayachy’s challenge but the official was not convinced.

Two minutes later, Todisoa got on the score sheet as his back header from Damien Tamboo’s long throw-in flew past goalkeeper Dingwall for a 3-1 score.

The Lions’ Denis Auguste went close to reducing the arrears on the half hour mark with a curler which flew agonisingly wide.

In the 40th minute, Todisoa saw his flicked header from colleague Valerie’s free-kick come off the crossbar.

Dynamo though suffered a minor setback as captain Ronny Hoareau did not return for the second half with a groin injury as Adeline dropped into defence while Warren Mellie came on to play in midfield.

But they still had numerous chances to stretch their lead such as in the 56th minute from a long ball by Todisoa to Dufresne who lofted a perfect pass to Marcus Maria but he volleyed wide with the goal at his mercy.

The Lions made a double substitution in the 64th minute as Darrel Damoo and Laurent Vel replaced Auguste and Randolph Lablache as they looked for more width to open up the Dynamo defence.

Dynamo though had decent opportunities to kill off the contest such as in the 65th minute from Valerie’s counter and link-up with Maria who fired across goal and when goalkeeper Dingwall spilled the ball Dufresne could not tap in from close range as he blazed over.

In the 67th minute, Dynamo burst forward through Maria as The Lions’ defence had pushed forward but Maria in a one-on-one situation, shot weakly at goalkeeper Dingwall as Ahmed Maurice chased him.

In the 83rd minute, man-of-the-match Valerie played a free-kick to Maria whose shot on the turn was blocked by goalkeeper Dingwall.

At the other end two minutes later, Damoo raced clear down the right to cut the ball back to Vel but defender Collin Tirant produced a last-ditch tackle to deny him from five metres out.

In the 86th minute, The Lions’ Brian Dorby failed to punish goalkeeper Monnaie who had failed to hold substitute Gabonese Tony Moussikoue’s shot.

The Lions reduced the arrears though in the 88th minute as Damoo was released by Moussikoue on the edge of the penalty area and he shot past goalkeeper Monnaie for a 2-3 scoreline.

Malagasy Valerie though killed off The Lions’ resistance a minute later as he scored with an exquisite free kick which crashed into the net for a 4-2 victory for Dynamo.

Ten-man St Michel thrash St Francis

Ten-man St Michel thrashed bottom club St Francis 6-0 at Stad Linite on Friday evening.

St Michel were without a victory in their last four matches and therefore were desperate for a win whereas St Francis were contemplating life after the departure of coach Marc Mathiot.

St Francis nevertheless held their own in the early minutes as they repelled the St Michel pressure. They suffered a major setback when their captain Ronny Monthy landed awkwardly and had to be transported to the hospital in the fourth minute with a suspected knee injury which looked serious.

Just past the hour mark, St Francis rode their luck from Malagasy Hassan Aly’s free kick to colleague Jimmy Radafison whose header was parried by Cameroonian goalkeeper Frank Moutoni.  Malagasy Jocelyn collected the loose ball and pulled it back to Radafison once again but he shot over the crossbar.

In the 34th minute, St Michel’s relentless pressure paid off as Alex Nibourette centred to Yannick Manou who had darted into St Francis’ penalty area. The former St Francis defender controlled the ball superbly with his right foot before unleashing a fantastic left foot shot which crashed into the net to make it 1-0.

Four minutes later, St Michel added a second as Radafison bore forward and unleashed a cracking 35-metre dipping shot which sailed over goalkeeper Moutoni and into the net for a 2-0 score as the St Francis custodian collided into the post.

In the 42nd minute, Darwin Rosette should have scored as Malagasy Jocelyn created space before setting him up.

St Francis had a decent chance in the 44th minute from Radley Monthy’s free kick but goalkeeper Gino Melanie saved well.

St Michel extended the score in injury time as Jocelyn combined with Manou who released Leeroy Mathiot who eluded goalkeeper Moutoni to score into an empty net to make it 3-0 and Moutoni had to be replaced as he was injured.

St Michel maintained the momentum in the second period and in the 53rd minute were awarded a penalty after substitute goalkeeper Jalyl Servina brought down Jocelyn who had latched onto Rosette’s through ball. Referee Jean-Claude Labrosse pointed to the spot and booked goalkeeper Servina and Radafison was assigned the penalty kick. He easily sent the St Francis goalkeeper the wrong way to complete his brace and make it 4-0.

In the 58th minute, Manou burst through from midfield and fired low at goalkeeper Servina who just managed to block the ball with his outstretched leg.

Five minutes later, St Michel scored again as Jocelyn and Mathiot exchanged passes before the Malagasy striker blasted a right foot volley past goalkeeper Servina for a 5-0 score.

In the 64th minute, St Michel added a sixth goal as Manou carried a counter-attack to link up with Aly who cut the ball into Jocelyn’s path and he rammed it home for a 6-0 lead.

In the 72nd minute, St Michel’s defence was caught napping from a long ball from defence to Radley Monthy with only Radafison back against two attackers. Monthy slipped the ball to former St Michel midfielder Bernard St Ange who tried to dribble past goalkeeper Melanie who brought him down.

It was a clear penalty and referee Labrosse pointed to the spot but decided to show a straight red card which showed real inconsistency as earlier on in a similar situation, he had only booked the St Francis goalkeeper when he pulled down Jocelyn to concede a penalty.

Melanie had to go and St Michel coach Ralph Jean-Louis pulled off Mathiot to bring on reserve goalkeeper Elvis Leopold.

St Francis’ Malagasy defender Malamo Ducaud stepped up to take the spot kick but his weak shot was stopped by goalkeeper Leopold.

St Michel held on to win at a canter despite a man short for the last quarter of an hour to keep pace with the league leaders.

Côte d’Or fight back to a draw

Defending Barclays league champions Côte d’Or of Praslin fought back from 3-1 down to earn a 3-3 draw with LightStars on Friday at the Amitié Stadium.

Cote D’Or will surely breathe a big sigh relief that they leveled the score late in the match while LightStars will rue themselves for letting their more illustrious neighbours off the hook.

LightStars had taken the lead through Andrew Jean but Côte d’Or’s Gerald Basset leveled matters to make it 1-1 at half-time.

LightStars regained the lead in the second half after some good work by Malagasy Mario Ravo to skip past two defenders to centre to Bertrand Lablache who headed home for a 2-1 advantage.

Malagasy Haja increased LightStars’ advantage to 3-1 and they looked set to upset the odds.

Côte d’Or though raised the tempo and substitute Dine Suzette reduced the arrears to 2-3.

It was backs to the wall for LightStars and Côte d’Or grabbed an equaliser with virtually the last kick of the game in five added minutes.

It all came from Malagasy Jean Tigana’s cross which Marcus Labiche headed into the net for an incredible 3-3 scoreline.

R. J-L.

Word count: 1,741
Published: 26-05-2014