Football: Barclays league division one - St Michel, La Passe draw, Côte D’Or beaten |14 September 2015
Barclays league champions St Michel could only manage a 2-2 draw at Stad Linite on Saturday against Northern Dynamo while on La Digue on the same day La Passe also shared the points with The Lions. On Praslin, Revengers and LightStars shared the spoils while on Friday, Côte D’Or lost their unbeaten run to Foresters at Stad Linite.
Dynamo fight back to a draw
Northern Dynamo fought back from a two-goal deficit at half time to earn a deserved point against the Barclays league champions St Michel on Saturday in an action-packed encounter.
St Michel had made three changes to the team that edged Revengers on Wednesday with Carl Hall, Leeroy Corallie and more significantly goalie Gino Melanie back in goal after a long spell out of the team.
It was Corallie though who made the biggest impact as he opened the scoring in the 7th minute as he capitalised on a poor judgment by Gambian defender Modou Jallow to race clear and slot the ball past goalie Jules Monnaie for a 1-0 lead.
Dynamo though had to raise their game and created a few gilt edge chances to level the score such as in the 19th minute from Aldo Dufresne’s hanging cross to Gambian striker Musa Njie as goalie Melanie, who was lucky not to be sent off in the ninth minute for throwing a punch at a Dynamo player, came out and missed the ball but the burly forward headed over the bar with an empty goal at his mercy.
St Michel also went close to stretch their advantage in the 22nd minute from a good move by Malagasy Jocelyn as he skipped past Kieran Sinon to send a teasing cross to Nelson Laurence at the near post but his shot came off the post.
On the stroke of half time, St Michel doubled their lead in somewhat controversial manner as referee Kerens Yocette adjudged that substitute Collin Tirant who had replaced the injured Jallow on the half hour mark had blocked Corallie who had rounded him in the penalty area and he pointed to the spot, a decision which infuriated the Dynamo bench and players as they felt hard done by the official.
Corallie though kept his composure and tucked the ball low into the corner for a 2-0 score at the break but Dynamo continued to make their feelings known as the players trudged off at half time and substitute Teddy Cupidon was shown a straight red card for dissent.
Dynamo came back for the second period all fired up as they brought on Marcus Maria to bolster their attack and they were soon rewarded as they reduced the arrears in the 48th minute from a loose ball 30 metres out, which Warren Mellie pounced upon to drill home past a static goalie Melanie to make it 1-2.
It was game on as both teams played with more intensity and St Michel almost restored their lead in the 51st minute from a mistake by Dufresne to let in Corallie who looked odds on to grab his hat trick with a sweet volley but goalie Monnaie, who was backtracking, produced a stunning one hand save to turn the ball into corner.
Three minutes later, Dynamo levelled the score from a centre by Mellie which substitute Maria tapped in at the far post for a 2-2 score.
Both teams huffed and puffed but failed to add to the score as they shared an entertaining draw which was more satisfying for Dynamo though their coach Cliff Nolin was still angry with the official after the match.
“We were very unhappy with the penalty incident and this made the players more determined to come out for the second half and fight hard so as not to lose this match,” coach Nolin said.
As for his counterpart coach Ralph Jean-Louis, it was a case of déjà-vu as he felt his team repeated their performance of Wednesday against Revengers.
“Once again we had a good first half but were poor in the second period and we have to try and adjust for our next match,” coach Jean-Louis told Sports Nation.
La Passe and The Lions share the spoils
La Passe struggled at home as they had to be content with a 2-2 draw against The Lions on Saturday as they had their national team midfielder Senky Vidot sent off late in this match.
The Lions broke the deadlock through Yuri Bibi for a 1-0 before La Passe captain Achille Henriette equalised with a fine strike for a 1-1 score at half time.
Liberian striker Mohamed Varny who was making his debut for The Lions, opened his account for his new team as he made it 2-1 but Stan Fanchette came off the bench to score for a 2-2 result as the two teams shared the points.
Foresters stun Côte D’Or
Newly promoted Foresters claimed the scalp of Barclays league leaders Côte D’Or on a 1-0 score on Friday at Stad Linite.
This was a feisty match with Foresters limiting space for their opponent in the first half deprived of goal mouth action despite the Praslin team enjoying the services of former national team Dutchman Jan Mak on their bench.
Foresters scored the all important goal on the hour mark from Martin William’s corner which Ugandan forward Tony Kizito shot at goal but goalie Kitson Cecile pushed out as far as Patrick Bonne who buried his shot into the net for a 1-0 lead.
Kizito should have made it 2-0 in the 73rd minute from Brian Dorby’s pass but he struck the crossbar and a minute later he was again unlucky as his volley from David Dorby’ flicked header came off the post.
Foresters though had managed to nullify the threat of the Barclays league leaders to inflict a first defeat on them much to the disappointment of coach Ahmed Abdou.
“We played poorly today and even if we tried to change things at half time, the players did not listen to the advice given and it cost us dearly and I’m very disappointed,” coach Abdou said.
As for the Foresters coach Rodney Choisy, he was just pleased his team had done the job required to earn three vital points.
“Our aim was to stop our opponents from causing us any trouble and I’m pleased we have succeeded as well as collect all the points,” coach Choisy told Sports Nation.
Revengers and LightStars draw
LightStars and Revengers shared a 1-1 draw at the Amitie playing field on Saturday.
Malagasy Haja gave LightStars a 1-0 lead as early as the third minute and they looked to be cruising to a first league victory but Malagasy Roger Nambintsoa equalised in the 84th minute for a 1-1 final score.