Football: SFF first division league - St Michel, La Passe, Revengers victorious |03 October 2016

Defending league champions St Michel left it late against LightStars to win 2-1 while on Praslin, La Passe beat Côte d’Or 3-1 and on Friday Praslin outfit Revengers overcame St John Bosco 2-0.

St Michel snatch injury time winner

League leaders St Michel netted an injury time winner to see off the challenge of Praslin based LightStars on a 2-1 score on Saturday afternoon in a league encounter at Stad Linite.

St Michel should have made a dream start in this match fresh from their triumph in the Airtel Cup last week as Yannick Manou threaded a pass to Leeroy Corallie in the first minute of play but his shot lacked sting to trouble goalkeeper Basil Esther in the LightStars goal.

LightStars then went on to dominate St Michel and in the 11th minute Bertrand Lablache combined with Malagasy Paul Bruyelle to set up Renick Esther whose shot appeared to come off a defender’s hand as they appealed for a penalty but referee Bernard Camille was not convinced.

Three minutes later, St Michel goalkeeper Gino Melanie had to come off his line to block Lablache’s shot but the loose ball fell to Bruyelle who went on a mazy run past a couple of defenders but he just could not direct his shot on target.

In the 22nd minute, LightStars’ Malagasy forward Mario Ravo picked up the ball from his own half as a St Michel corner broke down and he raced into the opposing half to pull the back to Renick Esther who shot tamely a clear chance straight at goalkeeper Melanie.

St Michel also had a decent chance in the 44th minute from Manou’s long ball to Neil Confiance who controlled well to fire at goalkeeper Esther who pushed the ball over the crossbar.

On the stroke of half time, Bruyelle found space on the right to cut inside to Joel Barbé and his low shot was turned into corner by goalkeeper Melanie and from the resulting corner, the St Michel goal minder collided with a LightStars player as he went for the ball and after a lengthy treatment, he had to be stretchered off to be replaced by Alvin Michel.

As Melanie made his way off, play resumed and the ball was lofted forward by Confiance to Malagasy Jocelyn who stabbed it past goalkeeper Esther to make it 1-0 at half time.

LightStars went agonisingly close to level matters in the 50th minute from substitute Sergio Barra’s free kick to Andy Brioche whose header was destined for the top corner but goalkeeper Michel produced a stunning save to tip the ball for a corner.

The tempo dropped in this half but in the 68th minute, LightStars goalkeeper Esther did well to keep out Confiance’s header from Ghanaian Emmanuel Nuhey’s cross.

Four minutes later, LightStars conjured a good move to open up the St Michel defence as Lablache picked out Bruyelle who linked up with Renick Esther who again failed to hit the back of the net from a good scoring position.

In the 79th minute, St Michel nearly bagged a second goal as substitute Kennan Nourrice filtered a pass to another substitute, Gervais Waye-Hive, who intelligently allowed the ball to roll to Jocelyn on the edge of the penalty area but he made a meal of his shot with the goal at his mercy.

LightStars got their reward in the 82nd minute when Manou failed to clear the danger and Bruyelle slipped a pass to Renick Esther who squeezed the ball between the advancing goalkeeper Michel’s legs to make it 1-1.

St Michel had to react if they did not want to drop points and in the 86th minute, Jocelyn bore on goal as he latched onto a through ball and goalkeeper Esther rushed out to clatter into him as St Michel appealed for a penalty but referee Camille thought otherwise much to the frustration of the St Michel camp.

St Michel though had the last laugh as they scored deep into injury time from a curling free kick by Jocelyn at the near post and there was Corallie who got a header to beat goalkeeper Esther’s flapping hands for a 2-1 final score as the whistle blew after the goal to leave LightStars dejected to lose in such a cruel manner while it was relief for St Michel who open a three-point lead at the top of the league standings with 33 points as Foresters remain second.

St Michel manager Andrew Jean-Louis was just relieved they had secured all the points despite an unconvincing performance against LightStars.

“It was vital for my team to claim all three points in this match especially as our closest rivals have dropped points. Though we did not perform to our usual standards but it appears that the players were still exhausted from last week’s final. So we are just satisfied with the result,” the St Michel manager told Sports NATION.

Henriette brace inspires La Passe

La Passe skipper Achille Henriette scored a brace to inspire his team to a 3-1 victory over title contenders Côte d’Or at the Amitié stadium on Praslin on Saturday afternoon.

It was good preparation for the players of coach Bruno Saindini before their involvement in the l’UFFOI tournament this week.

Stenio Ernesta put them ahead early in the first half and captain Henriette made it 2-0 at the interval.

Captain Henriette added his second goal and his team’s third in the second period from the penalty spot.

Though his initial shot was saved by goalkeeper Jean-Paul Lesperance, referee Emile Fred ruled that the spot kick be retaken because of an infringement by the Côte d’Or shot stopper.

Former St Michel’s Malagasy defender Jimmy Radafison came off the bench to score from a free kick for Côte d’Or for a 3-1 final score as they succumbed to their fourth league defeat.

Revengers stroll past St John Bosco

Praslin-based Revengers registered a morale-boosting 2-0 victory against St John Bosco at Stad Linite on Friday evening.

Revengers broke the deadlock in this match as early as the 9th minute as Malagasy Evariste rifled a strong shot past goalkeeper Duane Romain to make it 1-0.

The goal shook up Bosco who created numerous scoring chances but could not hit the back of Revengers’ reserve goalkeeper Johan Pouponneau’s net as the Praslin team went in at half time in the lead.

Evariste had a decent chance in the 51st minute to add to the scoreline as he raced clear but the Bosco defence recovered in time to cut out the danger.

Bosco also went close in the 56th minute from Julio Brown’s free kick which fell to Yves Zialor but his close range shot was charged down by the Revengers’ wall.

Revengers stretched their advantage in the 67th minute from Randolph Lesperance’s free kick which dropped invitingly to Heddy Esther who tucked home for a 2-0 score

Revengers then tightened up their defence as they brought on Malagasy Mazinot Valentin in place of Ugandan midfielder Denis Oyoungo as Bosco also ran out of steam.

Heddy Esther had a gilt edge opportunity to add a third goal for his team in the 86th minute from Evariste’s filtered pass. He skipped past goalkeeper Romain but could not place the ball into the empty net from a tight angle but his team had secured all the points to improve their league standing.

Coach Basil Houareau was satisfied with the win though he felt they could have won by a wider margin.

“We had plenty of scoring opportunities but nevertheless I am pleased with the victory as it will boost our morale for our next match against league leaders St Michel on Thursday,” explained coach Houareau.

As for Bosco coach Roger Labonte, he was disappointed with his players for their poor preparation for this match.

“My players have not been training regularly since the break and were not physically ready for this match though we also wasted a few clear scoring chances before half time,” noted coach Labonte.

R. J-L