Football: First Division League-St Louis register biggest league win |29 September 2006

The Lions, in their final match in the top flight, struggled to field a team of eleven with not even a reserve player.

Therefore for St Louis, it was not a matter of if but rather of when they would score against The Lions. St Louis took time though to find The Lions’ measure and were almost stunned in the 25th minute as Allen Louise burst through but with only goalie Eugene Valentin to beat he shot wide.

It was the wake-up call St Louis needed to sting them into action. In the 31st minute, Achille Henriette eluded a tackle to set up Jonathan Bibi whose low shot flew past goalie Don Larue for a 1-0 lead.

Four minutes later, The Lions’ Kenyan player, Ezekiel Akatsa, almost embarrassed goalie Valentin with a wonder 40-metre strike which hit a post and the goalie’s back before rolling into corner.
 
St Louis went further ahead in the 41st minute as Trevor Poiret teased Dereck Forte into bringing him down in the penalty area and referee Jourdan Benstrong pointed to the spot. Malagasy defender Ralida stepped up to easily score for his second successive penalty in two matches.
 
The second half was a one-sided affair and it took St Louis only two minutes to extend their lead as Poiret linked up with Henriette who fed Tony Morel who flicked the ball past a bemused goalie Larue.

In the 51st minute, The Lions opened St Louis’ defence as Hendrick Labrosse picked up a clearance from a corner in his own half to leave the St Louis defence in his wake, but he could not match his pace with a similar finish as he shot wide.

Three minutes later, Jones Joubert released the impressive Poiret who spread a superb cross-field pass to Kenneth Khan who drew the ‘keeper from his line and shot from a tight angle to make it 4-0.

St Louis had realised by then that The Lions’ goalie was not up to the task as they pelted him with shots from all angles. In the 63 rd minute, Henriette put his name on the score-sheet with a curler to bring the score to 5-0.

Goalie Larue, who had a miserable afternoon, suffered further humiliation in the 69th minute as he was booked for hacking down Henriette in full flight to concede a penalty. The custodian must have uttered insults to referee Benstrong as he was awarded a second yellow and was sent off.

Forte took over in goal but he could not stop goalie Valentin’s spot kick for a 6-0 lead.
St Louis though never let their foot off the gas as Khan cut inside a defender to fire a near post shot past stand-in goalie Forte in the 76th minute (7-0).

A heavy downpour almost caused the match to be stopped but as the rain subsided, Khan completed his hat-trick in injury time as his mis-hit shot still found refuge in The Lions’ net (8-0).

Deep in injury time, substitute Ranes Vel completed the rout with an easy tap-in from close range to bid The Lions farewell.
R. J-L.