Football: Barclays League Division One-La Passe breeze past SMB |10 November 2008

SMB had welcomed back defender David Dorby, who had been out for their last four matches, but he could not inspire them to victory over La Passe.

La Passe opened the scoring midway in the first half as Malagasy Asman Abdou released Hamed Adrienne, who raced through to fire at goalie Steven Morgan, who parried his shot. Adrienne got a second bite of the cherry to score against his old club for a 1-0 lead.

SMB bounced back three minutes later as Marcus Labiche’s cross came off Verna Rose.  Referee Bernard Camille quite rightly pointed to the penalty spot and Kevin Quatre stepped up to send goalie Dave Mussard the wrong way to level matters at 1-1.

On the half-hour mark, Labiche linked up with captain Colin Laporte, whose low shot flew just wide of Mussard’s left hand post.

In the 31st minute, Abdou combined with colleague Eric Rajaobery to rip open SMB’s defence but Morgan produced a great block to deny Abdou at point-blank range.

The two Malagasy players were at it again in the 44th minute as Rajaobery chased a long ball to send in an inch-perfect cross to Adbou, whose diving header found refuge at the back of the net for a 2-1 half-time score.

La Passe extended their lead in the 64th minute as SMB’s Rodney Straven’s back pass was pounced onto by Stephen Morel, whose shot was charged down. Malagasy Bruno Saindina latched onto the loose ball to blast it into the net to make it 3-1.

Three minutes later, Achille Henriette thumped a fierce shot which Morgan could only parry.

SMB should have reduced the arrears in the 69th minute as Yannick Julie threaded a pass to Labiche, who shot wide with the goal begging.

Five minutes later, Labiche was again guilty of a bad miss as he shot across goal when he was in the clear.

La Passe sealed their victory in injury time as Abdou dispossessed substitute Nelson Emile to square the ball to Henriette, who rammed it home with a cheeky back-heel for a 4-1 win.

St Louis Suns and LightStars share the spoils

St Louis Suns were once again frustrated by Praslin-based LightStars as they drew 2-2 at Stad Linite on Saturday.

St Louis Suns had to win to improve their chances of a runners-up berth, but for the second year, which started full of promise, they had a disappointing finish, settling for third position.

As for LightStars, apart from their shock defeat by Red Star in the Land Marine Cup, it has been a decent season as they have completed their campaign in fourth position.

On Saturday, St Louis Suns got off to a good start and in the 22nd minute, Trevor Poiret found space on the right to lay the ball on a plate for Yannick Charlette to tap into the net for a 1-0 lead.

Three minutes later, former LightStars’ Congolese striker Jonathan Mbanze cut inside a defender but goalie Denis Fideria saved his shot.

LightStars stunned St Louis Suns in the first minute of the second half as Joel Esther overlapped to fire an unstoppable shot from outside the penalty area and the ball flew past goalie Eugene Valentin to level the score at 1-1.

St Louis Suns kept pushing forward and in the 58th minute, captain Jonathan Bibi tried his luck from long range which went agonisingly wide.

Four minutes later, St Louis Suns got their reward as Poiret chased a long ball to elude his marker Shaun Barbé to centre to Charlette, who side-footed Fideria to make it 2-1 in a carbon-copy of St Louis Suns’ first goal involving those two players.

LightStars though hit back in the 65th minute as Congolese Magnifique Ndikumana drove forward and after a good build-up, he released Malagasy Patrick Rasaminanaya who got the better of Steven Constance to centre to his colleague Vincent Randriamanantena. The St Louis Suns defence remained static as the Malagasy striker headed the bobbling ball but Valentin produced a great save by parrying the ball.

Randriamanantena pounced on the loose ball to head home to equalise at 2-2.
In the 77th minute, St Louis Suns had a decent chance from a Poiret corner which was met by Bibi’s towering header which missed the target by a few inches.

St Louis Suns huffed and pulled but had to be content with a point against a team they have failed to beat in the three league encounters, sharing two draws and one defeat as they completed their league campaign.

R. J-L.