Football: Division One League-Red Star squeeze past 10-man The Lions |01 June 2006

The match was delayed for an amazing 40 minutes as the officials sorted out the jerseys of the two sides. This was very frustrating for the fans as such matters should not be happening at this level with better coordination and communication.

As for away team The Lions, they had to change to a black and white stripes jersey but this did not affect them as they scored in their first real attack in the third minute.

The Lions Kenyan midfielder Moses Wanyoike slipped a pass to captain Allain Louise and with the pairing of Allen Larue and captain-of-the-day Nigel Freminot hesitating, the former Red Star player sprinted at goal to shoot past the advancing goalie Patrick Asba for a 1-0 lead.

The goal shook Red Star into action and three minutes later Wilnes Brutus latched onto a long ball but defender Johnny Moustache tackled him in the nick of time.

In the 11th minute, The Lions almost stunned Red Star as Kenyan Ezekiel Akatsa’s instinctive shot from Luc Lespoir’s through ball flashed agonisingly wide.

Red Star though were growing more dangerous as Brutus and Malagasy Amisy Voavy exploited space in The Lions defence.

In the 22nd minute, Taly’s goal-bound header from Vincent Volcère’s corner was cleared on the goal-line.

A minute late, Voavy played a defence-splitting pass to Dereck Omath but former Red Star defender Harry Libanotis recovered in time to block his shot.

The Lions’ defence was under intense pressure and goalie Kitson Cécile had to race off his line in the 24th minute to close down the menacing Brutus.

On the half-hour mark, Red Star’s pressure paid off though somewhat controversially. With The Lions’ Dereck Forte lying on the ground for some time with a head injury, Red Star did not stop play. Not even referee Gonzague Boniface, who had stopped play earlier to check on Forte’s head which had been heavily strapped after a clash with Volcère, thought it worth to stop the action.

With the ball still in play and The Lions waiting in vain for a sportsman-like gesture from their opponents, Taly crossed to Voavy who nodded home at the far post to level the score. The Lions protested over the whole episode, but still Red Star’s goal was allowed to stand.

Forte was immediately replaced by Hendrick Labrosse.

In the 33rd minute, The Lions clipped the cross-bar from Lespoir’s corner.
The speed of Red Star’s forward though caused havoc for The Lions defenders and in the 35th minute, Brutus slipped past three tackles to cut the ball back to Omath who shot wayward.

In the 40th minute, Brutus showed them the way as he bulldozed past a hesitant Moustache and Jerry Dick to fire the ball at the near post which goalie Cécile could not stop from crossing the line to make it 2-1.

Four minutes later, Brutus was inches away from a second goal as he picked up a Taly pass after a free-kick by The Lions had broke down but goalie Cécile just managed to tip the ball from a lob onto the cross-bar.

After the resumption of play, Red Star picked off from where they had left off and in the 49th minute Brutus and Omath played a neat one-two but goalie Cécile put in a strong challenge to deny the former.

In the 53rd minute, Red Star extended their lead as Moustache was caught dithering with the ball and Brutus hassled for it and was brought down by the lanky defender in the box. Referee Boniface did not award him a penalty as the ball rolled to Voavy who tuck home a low far post shot to make it 3-1.

The Lions though rallied as they had a go at Red Star. On the hour, it was the turn of Red Star’s left back Allen Larue to be caught in possession by Akatsa who rifled past goalie Asba to reduce the score to 3-2.

In the 64th minute, Red Star must have breathed a big sigh of relief as Lespoir’s long range effort from a half-cleared ball flew just off target.

The Lions threw everything in attack and were caught out in the 88th minute as Taly broke forward to cross inch-perfectly to Brutus who from point-blank range looked odds on to score but goalie Cécile dived bravely and was hit in the chest by a powerful shot. He appeared to have passed out, forcing referee Boniface to stop play.

But goalie Cécile recovered after receiving treatment only to see his defender Berard Laurence sent off in the 91st minute for his second bookable offence.

Even with 10 men, The Lions kept pressing but there was not to be any fairy-tale ending as Red Star held on.

Red Star’s coach Mosa felt that his team played well in the first half after the early shock and was satisfied with victory after last week’s debacle against SMB.

As for The Lions’ coach Jean-Marc Benstrong, he said he was desperate for another win which would have improved their league standing.  He blamed individual mistakes for their defeat though he commended his team for their fighting spirit.

R. J-L.