FOOTBALL: BARCLAYS LEAGUE |28 September 2015

LightStars stun St Michel, Foresters beat nine-man La Passe, Côte D’Or win

Foresters defeated nine-man La Passe 2-0 on Saturday at Stad Linite while on Praslin on the same day, LightStars stunned St Michel 1-0.

On Friday Côte D’Or edged The Lions 2-1 to remain joint top of the league with St Michel.

Foresters beat ten-man La Passe

La Passe were the better side in the first half of this match as Foresters made a slow start and the players of Coach Bruno Saindini should have taken the lead in the 8th minute from Collin Esther’s cross to Renick Esther but his stooping header was turned into corner by Cameroonian goalie Franck Moutoni.

Captain Achille Henriette was guilty of a bad miss in the 35th minute from a wonderful pass across the face of goal by Stan Fanchette but he got entangled with the ball with the goal at his mercy.

This game turned on its head on the stroke of half time from a careless back pass by La Passe defender Kenyan Kelal Ogal Kaoga to goalie Dave Mussard, which Foresters striker Francis Nourrice latched onto and was hit in the head by the La Passe goalkeeper in his attempt to clear the danger.

Referee Alix Bonne quickly signaled the infringement and pointed for a penalty and sent off goalie Mussard, which proved the turning point of this match as it swung Foresters’ way.

Foresters’ skipper Godfrey Denis stepped up for the spot kick, to send substitute goalie Vincent Euphrasie, who had been drafted in to replace Stenio Ernesta, the wrong way to give his team a  1-0 lead at half time.

Foresters brought on Ugandan Tonny Kizito as they went for more goals in the second half and in the 53rd minute, he played a delightful through ball to Nourrice who did well to smash the ball into the net as he sneaked through La Passe’s defence to make it 2-0.

La Passe should have reduced the deficit just past the hour mark from an electrifying counter led by captain Henriette who linked up with Renick Esther to send a telling pass to Collin Esther but he shot wide when he should have hit the target.

Six minutes later, captain Henriette did brilliantly to set up Renick Esther but his control let him down in a good scoring position.

Seconds later at the other end of the pitch, La Passe defender Kaoga was lucky not to concede another penalty as he appeared to pull down Nourrice as he lost the battle for a long ball but the officials, who had a decent game, were not convinced.

In the 79th minute, Kizito played an inch perfect cross to Nourrice who lost his marker but blazed the ball over the crossbar when he should have added to his goals tally.

In the 87th minute, goalie Euphrasie produced a wonderful save to deny Martin William from scoring at point blank range.

La Passe were reduced to nine men in injury time as Collin Esther, who had just been booked for having a go at the assistant referee James Emile, received his second yellow card of this match for a foul on captain Denis purely out of frustration as his team succumbed to their second league defeat allowing their opponent to leapfrog them into third position in the league.

Coach Saindini was unhappy with his team’s lapse in concentration especially in defence which cost them the points in this match where they had made a bright start.

“We started well but the sending off of goalie Mussard changed the course of this match. We lacked concentration in defence but we also created lot of chances that we failed to convert which proved costly,” coach Saindini said.

As for his counterpart, Rodney Choisy, he admitted that his team did not play exceptionally well but was pleased they had done enough to collect three vital points.

“It was a good win for us though we did not play well but we wanted the three points which is essential at this stage,” coach Choisy told Sports Nation.

LightStars stun St Michel

Praslin outfit LightStars stunned the Barclays league leaders St Michel with a narrow 1-0 victory at the Amitié playing field on Saturday for the shocking result of this weekend.

LightStars surely was a pale shadow of the team that got beaten so easily in midweek to Northern Dynamo and even their coach James Barra acknowledged this fact.

“It was totally a different performance as the players were eager to do well in front of their supporters and we played much better and I’m really pleased with the win and the players’ determination to do well today,” coach Barra told Sports Nation over the phone after the match as they registered their first league win.

Fabio Lemiel scored the all-important goal with a free kick in the second half for a 1-0 victory and the St Michel manager Andrew Jean-Louis accepted that his team under performed.

“We did not play to our usual level and our opponent made the most of their chance and I would like to congratulate them for their win,” the manager of the defending league champions said.

Côte D’Or edge The Lions

Côte D’Or kept the pressure on St Michel with a 2-1 win over The Lions on Friday at Stad Linite to stay joint leaders with them after the seventh round of matches.

Both teams have 16 points but St Michel have a slightly better goal difference and on Friday Côte D’Or raced to a two-goal lead at half time through Malagasy Jimmy Radafison in the 19th minute and in the 36th minute, Marcus Labiche rammed home from Gerald Basset’s teasing cross.

The Lions were denied a clear penalty by referee Emile Fred 55 seconds in the second period for a foul by Radafison on Liberian forward Mohamed Varny but the players of coach Gavin Jeanne cut the deficit in the 54th minute from Varny’s pass to Darrel Damou who fired the ball home to make the score 1-2.

Côte D’Or though held on to grab all the points which pleased their coach Ahmed Abdou.

“We played well in the first half but dropped in the second period but I’m just pleased to collect all three points which is important for us especially against a difficult opponent away from home,” coach Abdou said.

As for Coach Jeanne, he was left to rue another defeat which pushes them in the relegation zone just above Anse Reunion.

“We had chances in this match especially in the second half where we played better, but we could not score and thus another defeat though I also feel we had a strong case for a penalty turned down,” lamented The Lions coach.

Below is the league table as it stands following the weekend’s matches. Sports Nation would also like to apologise for the mistakes in the league standings sent to us by the SFF, which was published in Saturday’s issue.

R.J-L