Football: Barclays league division one-St Louis Suns thrash St Roch, Anse Reunion stun La Passe, St Francis shock LightStars |22 March 2010

St Louis Suns v St Roch

The scoreline does not reflect events on the field as St Louis Suns felt harshly treated on many occasions by the officials, which helped the score to remain at five as it could and should have been wider.

St Louis Suns deployed a strict offside trap early on, which St Roch fell into several times as they tried to get the upper-hand.

Nevertheless, once St Louis Suns got into their stride, they looked dangerous in attack. In the 15th minute, Fabien Cadeau – who looked offside but it was not signalled by assistant referee Walter Spiro – broke clear on the left to lay the ball on a plate to Andy Mougal, who miscued his shot which hit a post.

Eight minutes later, the industrious Trevor Poiret put in a superb cross to Yannick Charlette, who missed an open goal.

St Louis Suns finally broke the deadlock with a comical goal as Jonathan Bibi played a long ball forward over the St Roch defence.  Goalie Terence Lesperance raced out to clear the danger but the ball bounced over him, letting in Mougal for an easy tap-in (1-0).

St Roch almost levelled matters three minutes later as substitute Nerrick Athanase slipped a pass to Daven Belle, who sprang the offside trap but goalie Joel Lesperance produced a great block to deny St Roch the equaliser.

A minute later, Belle had another great chance as he sneaked in behind the St Louis Suns defence to meet Dave Malcouzane’s deep cross but he could not direct his header on target.

In the 35th minute, St Louis Suns went close to increasing their lead as Charlette lobbed the ball into the path of the overlapping Poiret, but St Roch captain Denis Belle put in a great tackle to stop the midfielder from scoring.

A minute later, Poiret showed some great footwork to centre to Mougal, who failed to score with the goal at his mercy from five metres out.

On the stroke of half-time, Fabien Cadeau robbed a defender of the ball to square to Charlette, who was brought down by Terry Créa but referee Jean-Claude Labrosse did not blow his whistle – much to the disgust of the St Louis Suns players and fans.

In the 53rd minute, Cadeau raced clear to beat the advancing Lesperance before cutting the ball back to Poiret, who rammed it into an empty net. But their celebration was short-lived as assistant referee Darryl Padayachy raised his flag for offside.

Three minutes later, St Louis Suns had to replace goalie Lesperance after he was caught by a late Roy Julie tackle. Former SMB custodian Elvis Leopold made his debut for the central Mahe side.

In the 62nd minute, St Louis Suns produced a superb passing move with some one-touch football to open up St Roch as Damien Maria crossed to Cadeau, who side-footed into the net (2-0).

Two minutes later, St Louis Suns were awarded a soft penalty as Poiret latched on to a long ball and appeared to clash with defender Malcouzane and went down in the box. Referee Labrosse pointed to the penalty spot and Poiret sent Lesperance the wrong way (3-0).

In the 69th minute, St Louis Suns had another good goal disallowed after substitute Ryan Antat saw his long-range shot pushed out by Lesperance. Antat pounced on the loose ball to bury it in the net, but assistant referee Padayachy had strangely raised his flag for an offside.

In the 81st minute, St Louis Suns showed some good football as Jonathan Bibi linked up with Poiret who fed Antat. He held off a defender to score St Louis Suns’ fourth goal (4-0).

Three minute later, St Louis Suns sealed the victory as Cadeau centred to Mougal, who twisted and turned. The ball broke to Antat, who blasted into the roof of the net (5-0).

In the 89th minute, Charlette had a decent chance to put his name on the scoresheet as he brilliantly eluded a defender but he flashed his shot across goal to sum up a miserable afternoon for him although his team collected a morale-boosting victory.

Anse Reunion v La Passe

Anse Reunion had had a difficult two weeks, especially after their 7-0 whitewash against St Michel – their heaviest ever defeat in the league – and the impending departure of coach Vojo Gardasevic this week.
However, coach Juel Ah-Kong and his assistant Nigel Hertel got the perfect response as Philip Zialor opened the scoring in the first half.
Malagasy Eric Rajaobery levelled matters for the defending league champions.
But Yelvanny Rose secured all three points for Anse Reunion, giving his team a morale-boosting victory over their bitter rivals La Passe, who suffered another blow as Achille Henriette had to be replaced with a badly bruised leg.

St Francis v LightStars

LightStars only had themselves to blame for this defeat against St Francis, who showed good fighting spirit and in the end fully deserved their first victory in the top flight.

LightStars had got off to a perfect start with Collin Esther opening the scoring in the first minute as he shot past goalie Andrea Libanotis in a scramble in the penalty area (1-0).

However, they failed to build on this good start as they allowed St Francis to dominate possession and grow in confidence.

In the 14th minute, St Francis threatened as Harry Libanotis fired a strong shot which goalie Basil Esther could only parry.

Two minutes later at the other end, St Francis failed to clear a cross which fell to Malagasy Mahffa Tolajanahary, who shot agonisingly wide.

On the half-hour mark, St Francis’ Roddy Monthy picked up a long pass to cut inside a defender before shooting at Esther, who pushed out the shot.

In the 32nd minute, Evans Esther chased a through ball which LightStars’ Mervin Bristol tried to cut out but he rolled on it and went down to let in the St Francis midfielder.

Surprisingly, referee Julien Sanders blew for a foul, denying Evans Esther a clear chance which was rather a harsh decision by the official.

In the 56th minute, LightStars’ Malagasy striker Mario Ravo, who had a quiet first half, produced a superb cross to colleague Rajoniaina Rakotomanga, who had the goal at his mercy but missed the target when it looked easier to score.

St Francis, though, continued to press and in the 58th minute, Libanotis released Stephan Barallon, who forced a great save out of Esther.

In the 76th minute, St Francis’ Michael Payet latched on to a through ball but his shot was blocked by Basil Esther, who was quick off his line.

A minute later, St Francis equalised from an Evans Esther freekick inside the LightStars’ penalty area. Captain Randy Onezime sneaked in at the far post to rifle past goalie Esther (1-1).

In the 79th minute, St Francis rattled LightStars as Libanotis floated a freekick in the penalty box and there was substitute Robert Edmond to head powerfully into the net (2-1).

LightStars tried to redress the balance and in the 88th minute, Collin Esther played a glorious ball over the defence to substitute Ernesto Doway, but his shot was off target.

In injury time, Doway did better as Collin Esther rolled a free-kick in his path and he let fly with a stinging shot which Libanotis tipped over the bar to preserve his team’s first win in the first division.

St Francis were worthy winners, a victory which was well celebrated by the ardent fans as they had worked hard to come from behind to register three vital points.

R. J-L.