Football: Barclays League division one-La Passe, St Louis Suns United score five |25 June 2007

LA DIGUE-BASED La Passe hit Red Star for five goals – 5-1 – on Saturday in a home fixture and on the same day at Stad Linite, St Louis Suns United thumped Northern Dynamo 5-0. Last Friday at the same venue, St Michel dropped points against Praslin-based Light Stars in a 1-1 draw.

Ten-man Light Stars hold St Michel

St Michel got off to a perfect start against Light Stars. In the 12th minute, captain Godfrey Denis lofted a free-kick inside Light Stars’ penalty area and as two defenders hesitated to clear the danger, Jeffrey Brutus sneaked in to rifle a fierce shot past goalie Denis Fideria for a 1-0 lead.

St Michel then dominated proceedings and in the 34th minute Don Anacoura picked up a Dereck Agathine throw-in and his deep cross-cum-shot almost embarrassed goalie Fideria as the ball sailed over him but to safety.

Two minutes later, Anacoura missed a sitter from captain Denis’ quickly taken free-kick which put him in the clear but his attempted lob flew wide.

St Michel continued to tear apart Light Stars’ defence and in the 38th minute, Anacoura released Malagasy Pascal whose thunderbolt was tipped over by goalie Fideria. Malagasy Pascal was guilty of a bad miss in the 43rd minute. After exchanging passes with Brutus, he blazed the ball over the bar.

Early in the second half, St Michel saw their coach, Ralph Jean-Louis, sent to the stands by referee Gonzague Boniface for making his frustration known regarding some decisions.

In the 59th minute, Pascal pounced on a defensive error to centre inside the penalty area and in the impending mêlée, the ball broke to Brutus who looked destined to score but was denied by goalie Fideria.

Two minutes later, Fideria again saved his team after Pascal collected Nelson Laurence’s deep cross but the Light Stars custodian stopped his shot.

In the 76th minute, Light Stars were reduced to 10 men as Kenyan Moses Wanyoike was sent off for a foul on Agathine as it was his second booking.

The expulsion though spurred Light Stars as they equalized a minute later. Substitute Hugh Jeanne filtered a through pass to Kevin Prosper who beat St Michel’s offside trap and lobbed goalie Nelson Sopha to make it 1-1.

In the 78th minute, St Michel rode their luck as skipper Denis was caught in possession by substitute Darren Omath and as he bore on goal, he was brought down by the St Michel skipper. Referee Boniface was too far from the action to award Light Stars a penalty.

At the other end, St Michel should have regained the lead in the 79th minute as Pascal latched on to a long ball but goalie Fideria parried his strong shot.

Light Stars were happy to hold on to a draw with their new Kenyan striker Charles Otundu watching in the stands.

Captain Bertrand Esther told Sports Nation that “we did not play well but we are pleased with the result. The sending-off of Wanyoike spurred the team on.”

St Louis Suns demolish Northern Dynamo

St Louis Suns produced a superb team performance to register the biggest win of the league campaign so far against a subdued Northern Dynamo who were celebrating the feast of their patron – Saint John the Baptist.

St Louis Suns United opened the floodgates in the sixth minute as Congolese striker Jonathan Mbanze pounced on a defensive mix-up to rifle past goalie Jules Monnaie for a 1-0 lead.

In the 11th minute, Jude Nancy released Achille Henriette whose cross was half-cleared to Fabien Cadeau who blazed the ball over the bar.

Northern Dynamo found it difficult to find a rhythm to their play but had a half-chance in the 17th minute as Steven Télémaque latched on to a poorly cleared cross by Jonathan Bibi but he could not direct his shot on target.

St Louis Suns United, for their part, were displaying a good passing game helped by a superb performance by Michael Ernest in the midfield holding role. Ernest almost set up a goal in the 33rd minute as he dispossessed Colin Marie to play to his captain Denis Barbé who released Cadeau but the latter’s rising shot was tipped over by goalie Monnaie.

St Louis Suns United should have scored a second goal in the 43rd minute after a sweeping counter-attacking move led by Henriette who ran all the way from his half with the ball to feed Mervin Mathiot but the latter allowed goalie Monnaie to block his shot.
The two captains – Barbé and Ronny Hoareau for Northern Dynamo – were yellow-carded at the start of second half for taking too long to return to the pitch.

Northern Dynamo tried to raise their game and in the 50th minute Malagasy Asman Abdou should have levelled the score as St Louis Suns United’s defence was caught napping. As he looked for his strong left foot, St Louis Suns United’s goalie Eugene Valentin was quick off his line to block the danger.

Six minutes later, Evans Télémaque forced Nancy into a mistake but he shot across goal.
St Louis Suns United though rode the storm and extended their lead in the 58th minute as Nancy released Henriette who beat the Northern Dynamo offside trap and the midfielder’s cross was half-volleyed by Cadeau with his weaker right foot into the bottom corner for a 2-0 lead.

Henriette again created another goal for St Louis Suns United in the 76th minute as he cut across midfield to set up Steven Constance who bore forward and unleased a cracker which hit the underside of the bar and assistant referee Jason Damoo flagged to validate the goal (3-0).

St Louis Suns United were all over Northern Dynamo. Cadeau curled a free-kick which goalie Monnaie spilled in the 79th minute but the lurking players could not convert.
In the 81st minute, captain Barbé, who had one of his best games for his new team, led a counter-attack to then slip a pass to substitute Nerick Athanase who bore on goal but was brought down by Steven Henriette. Referee Benstrong turned a blind eye to the penalty call.

Three minutes later, St Louis Suns United made it 4-0 as Achille Henriette latched on to a loose ball after a mêlée in the Northern Dynamo penalty area. His low shot was deflected by Northern Dynamo’s captain Ronny Hoareau to wrong-foot goalie Monnaie.

In the 88th minute, St Louis Suns completed the rout as Cadeau rode two tackles to centre to Athanase who instinctively rammed the ball home to round off an impressive 5-0 score-line.

Coach Cliff Nolin, whose cousin Michael Mancienne, who is on the books of English Premier League club Chelsea, was in the stands watching, told Sports Nation that he was very disappointed with the team’s performance.

As for St Louis Suns United’s coach Marc Mathiot who will be slightly worried with the injury to Mbanze who had to be transported to hospital, he said the defeat to SMB had been a wake-up call as it had made the players more determined.

Mathiot added that he was very pleased with the performance.

La Passe thrash Red Star

La Passe bounced back from two defeats to thrash Red Star 5-1 on La Digue.
Ironically, Red Star were the better side in the first half as they opened the score through Joel Barra who had to be replaced later through injury.
But the second half was an anti-climax for Red Star as they were torn apart. Julius Adrienne started their downfall as he levelled matters in the first minute of the second period. Kenny Nibourette gave his team the lead at 2-1.

Tanzanian Rashid Mohamed, who is on his second spell with La Passe, extended their advantage from the penalty spot and Adrienne scored a second personal goal which came off a defender.
Tanzanian Mohamed completed the scoring with his brace to make it 5-1.

R. J-L