Beach soccer Real Maldives triumph over Club Stormy in final |28 November 2017

Real Maldives overcame a stern opponent in the shape of Club Stormy to win their first trophy in two years in the beach soccer final on a 7-3 score at the Cable & Wireless Arena over the weekend.

This final was played in a great atmosphere at the Roche Caïman sports complex and Real Maldives opened the scoring directly from a corner by Ryan Bastienne two minutes into the match for a 1-0 lead but Club Stormy came straight back from the penalty spot where Michael Cadeau tucked home past goalkeeper Marcus Madeleine to make it 1-1 after Randy Hoareau had brought down Club Stormy’s Damien Hoareau.

Randy Hoareau though made amends minutes later when he stabbed home a loose ball to put the Anse Etoile-based side 2-1 up and their player/coach Don Anacoura extended their advantage to 3-1 with 30 seconds to go in the first period after being booked earlier by referee Gonzague Boniface for dissent. Lorddy Sinon then reduced the score to 2-3 with five seconds remaining. 

Glenny Gamatis should have put his side on equal par two minutes in the second period but his shot came off the crossbar before Real Maldives’ Ryan Bastienne nicked the ball from Trevor Morel to score and make it 4-2.

Marlon Asba though conceded a penalty with 7 minutes on the clock as he held back Cadeau who dusted himself up to blast the spot kick into the roof of the net for a 3-4 score.

Club Stormy also gave away a penalty with 38 seconds remaining when Ryan Annette hacked down Real Maldives skipper Steve Sanders who scored himself from the resulting penalty for a 5-3 lead at the end of the second period.

Club Stormy tried to throw caution to the wind in the last period to redress the balance but got caught as they lost the ball in the middle of the pitch allowing Asba to rifle a thunderous left foot shot to make it 6-3 and in the final two minutes captain Sanders made the most of a ball that rebounded off the post to slot it home to round up the scoring at 7-3 to lead his team to the cup as their fans danced on the pitch at the final whistle in an exciting final which Real Maldives won due to their experience.

Their coach Don Anacoura was relieved that his team had come good in the final after being nearly men on many occasions to finally lift the cup to end the season on a good note.

“We were desperate to win this trophy after a difficult season where we have had to rebuild our squad after quite a number of our players opted to return playing 11-a-side football. But we had prepared well for this match and we were conscious it was not going to be easy but we always were in front and managed to win and it is a moment to savour for the Real Maldives club as an achievement for this season,” explained player/coach Anacoura.

As for his counterpart, Club Stormy coach Cyril Gantier, he was disappointed with losing this match as he felt his team never reached the level expected of them in the grand final.

“I am disappointed as we normally perform at a higher level than we did today but it seems the pressure of the final got to the players and it affected their performance and they committed mistakes that were punished by our opponents and so we were always trailing on the score which meant we had to take risks but it proved costly,” the Club Stormy coach told Sports NATION.

The cups and medals for the season were presented by the principal secretary for youth and sports Fabian Palmyre and he was helped by Georges Bibi, the Seychelles Football Federation (SFF) chief executive, as the curtains came down on a fascinating season for this sport.

R. J-L.