Football: Barclays League division one-Foresters turn the tables on Red Star, St Michel go top |17 September 2007
In the first round, Anse Aux Pins-based Red Star had thrashed Foresters 4-1 and therefore it was sweet revenge for the boys of technical advisor Terence Barbé over Ulric Mathiot whom he had promised to spoil his first match in charge. Mathiot has temporarily taken over from Malagasy coach Mosa who has taken a two-week break.
Red Star started brightly and in the third minute, Bernard St Ange battled for the ball with Foresters’ Malagasy captain Robert Edmond and there was a half-hearted call for a penalty as it looked like the former Red Star defender almost lost the ball to the Seychelles midfielder.
In the sixth minute, St Ange did superbly to elude two defenders to centre in the box but there was no one to convert a great opening.
Ten minutes later, Red Star duly went ahead from a bad mistake by Foresters’ goalie Christopher Bibi. It all started as Malagasy Taly chased a long ball from defender Mickey Songoire and goalie Bibi raced out of his goal to try and tackle the danger. Taly lobbed ‘keeper Bibi and Joel Barra who was in the penalty area accepted the gift to tap into an empty net for a 1-0 lead. Captain Edmond, who was instrumental in Foresters’ triumph, was furious with his custodian for this costly mistake.
Foresters had to raise their game and in the 28th minute, they were given a life-line by referee Jourdan Benstrong who penalized Ted Radegonde for handling the ball as he tried to tackle Quatre. Foresters though wrongly entrusted the spot kick to young Aaron Jean who was under enormous pressure and it was reflected in his effort which goalie Andrew Valentin easily saved.
Red Star had a glorious opportunity to add a second in the opening minute of the second period as St Ange picked out Elvis Julius in acres of space but the diminutive midfielder hurried his shot.
In a swift counter-attack Norvil Gaspard got the better of Mickey Songoire to cut the ball back to Kevin Quatre whose decent shot was spilled by goalie Valentin but he managed to gather it at the second attempt.
Foresters were the better side early on as their new recruit, Ghanaian midfielder Ibrahim Pupampulu, was proving his worth.
In the 57th minute, Quatre held the ball well before threading a superb cross-field pass to Gaspard who went past Songoire who clipped him in full flow in the penalty area. Referee Benstrong once again pointed to the penalty spot and this time substitute Francis Nourrice stepped up to blast the ball into the roof of the net to level the sore at 1-1.
Both teams were desperate for the points though clear goal scoring chances were rare.
In the 71st minute, Foresters took a decisive step towards victory from a long free-kick by Edmond to Jean who headed the ball in the air and goalie Andrew Valentin raced out to try and punch away the danger but the young striker headed it over him a second time. The ball sailed into the net for a 2-1 score despite captain Nigel Freminot’s and Malagasy Guy Raberante’s desperate attempt to clear the danger. Jean’s over-celebration cost him a booking.
Red Star thought they had equalized in the 73rd minute through a sweet volley by St Ange but their celebration were short-lived as referee Benstrong had already blown his whistle for what he considered to be “distracting an opponent”. Red Star protested but the official stood by his controversial decision.
As the clock ticked away Red Star kept pushing for an equaliser but Foresters held firm to defend their victory despite tired legs.
At the final whistle they had cause to celebrate a deserved victory over the once mighty Red Star.
St Michel take lead in style
On Saturday, St Michel moved to the top of the league standings with a very impressive 4-1 win over Northern Dynamo.
Northern Dynamo though were no easy pushovers with their all-action approach and the return of star player Malagasy Asman Abdou.
St Michel were prominent in attack and Don Anacoura twice had decent chances but he failed to hit the target especially in the 12th minute when he flashed Alex Nibourette’s inch-perfect cross agonizingly wide
In the 25th minute, Anacoura made amends as he chased a deflected ball in the penalty area and surprisingly goalie Jules Monnaie came racing out and caught the St Michel striker who went sprawling to the ground. Referee Gonzague Boniface pointed to the penalty spot and also booked the Northern Dynamo custodian. Captain Godfrey Denis stepped up to take the penalty and sent ‘keeper Monnaie the wrong way but his shot hit the foot of a post.
Northern Dynamo responded in devastating fashion on the half-hour mark as Francis Moumou exchanged passes with Abdou to carve open St Michel’s defence allowing the Malagasy to fire past goalie Nelson Sopha via the post to give his team a 1 -0 lead.
St Michel took only four minutes to establish parity as Malagasy Pascal slipped a pass to the overlapping Alex Nibourette who scored a cracking goal with the ball crashing into the roof of the net to level at 1-1.
St Michel moved up a gear in the second period and they almost blew their rivals apart as they produced some brilliant brand of football epitomized by Nibourette who tore into Northern Dynamo’s defence at will.
In the 54th minute, Pascal picked up a quickly taken free-kick to produce a pin-point cross for Philip Zialor who powered a thumping header in a crowded penalty area past goalie Monnaie to make it 2-1.
Seven minutes later, St Michel went further ahead from Nibourette’s high cross which Northern Dynamo captain Ronny Hoareau completely misjudged, allowing it to sail over his head to the lurking Malagasy Pascal who graciously volleyed into the bottom corner for a 3-1 lead.
It was relentless pressure from the boys of manager Brian Uranie as Zialor dictated the pace of the game from midfield and they created many goal-scoring opportunities which were wasted by some wayward finishing.
In the 81st minute as St Michel poured forward they almost got caught from Colin Marie’s through-ball to substitute Evans Thelemaque who exploited space on the left to test goalie Sopha who was equal to the task.
St Michel capped a superb all-round performance by putting the icing on the cake in the 85th minute. It was again Nibourette who created the goal for substitute Nelson Laurence whose initial shot hit a post before he bundled the ball over the goal-line to seal a 4-1 victory.
Manager Brian Uranie was very pleased with his team’s performance though he acknowledged it had not been a very easy match.
The result propelled St Michel to the top of the table with a two-point advantage over St Louis Suns and SMB who are locked on 22 points.
R. J-L.