Football: Sunkiss’d division three champions-The Lions roar |18 September 2004

Cascade-based The Lions had wasted the opportunity to wrap up the championship on Monday September 6 as a  90th minute headed goal by Ivan Nicholas gave Agrics a 1-0 win.

Ironically, the same Agrics handed The Lions the title on a plate as they edged St Roch 3-2 in a mid-week fixture.

With two goals by substitute Marcus Labiche in the 51st and 68th minutes, St Roch, the only team who had a chance of catching The Lions on points, thought they had done enough to secure a point from the encounter, but Vincent Denis fired in a 69th minute winner for Agrics.

Denis (26th) and Steve Hollanda (6th) had given Agrics a 2-0 half-time lead.

With the league title already sewn up as they have 39 points from 15 matches and promotion to the second division guaranteed, The Lions can now enjoy themselves against mid-table Anse Kerlan today at 3.15 p.m. at the Grand Anse Praslin playing field and against both bottom side St Pierre and third-placed St Francis on October 2 and 12 respectively.

Coach Jean-Marc Benstrong, himself a former Red Star, Grand Anse Mahe and Seychelles centre-back, told Sports Nation yesterday that his “team had done a good preparation” for today’s match against Anse Kerlan and “were confident of securing all three points to win the league.”

Playing second division football was The Lions’ aim when they started their third division campaign earlier this year and they will do just that in 2005.

In just four years, coach Benstrong’s team have beaten all the odds against them and they are now eyeing top flight soccer.

First, they will need to have a good run in the second division to finish at the top of the table for automatic promotion to the first division.

“Second division football will be tougher and we will have to recruit players to bolster the side to rival with more experienced teams for the title. I have three attack-minded players and a defender in mind, but I won’t reveal their names. It was not easy winning the third division even though we won matches by very big margins. We had to sweat it out as all teams played hard against us compared to when they met the other sides. To make the league more interesting and at the same time improve the level of our football, teams should give a 100% every time they step onto the field against any opposition,” said coach Benstrong.

With the league crown under their claws, The Lions can now turn their attention to the Land Marine Cup and they hope to do even better than last year when they reached the quarterfinals, only to lose 1-2 against La Passe.

Having already eliminated third division opponents St Roch and St Francis, The Lions will next play second divisioners South Olympics on September 28.

“We want to have a good run in the competition again this year and we will be using our last three league matches to prepare for the competition,” added coach Benstrong.
It remains to be seen who can put The Lions to sleep...

The players who participated in The Lions’ third division campaign are Elvis Etienne (goalkeeper), Jerry Dick, Kenneth Lozaique, Kenneth Bibi, Franky Marie, Thomas Nancy (defenders), Terry Songoire, Marcus Assman, José Julienne, Marcus Gappy, Barry Esther, Ronny Vidot, Achille Hoareau (midfielders), Michel Pierre, Steve Stephen, Steven Jean and Désiré Valentin (strikers).

G. G.