Football: Land Marine Cup final-Cadeau clinches cup for St Louis Suns in extra-time |08 November 2010
It was the last match of the football season but the first half of the encounter was a forgetful one as it was very poor, devoid of goal-mouth action.
La Passe were without their inspirational Malagasy captain Bruno Saindina and goalkeeper Vincent Euphrasie through suspension, while St Louis Suns were at full squad.
La Passe’s midfielder Geal Jessinghaus tested St Louis Suns’ goalie Joel Lesperance in the fourth minute with a free-kick and he was equal to the task.
However, the match then transcended into a midfield battle as both teams tried to find their rhythm.
It was only in the 40th minute that La Passe had another decent chance which fell to Malagasy Fredo but his shooting was wayward.
The second half saw a drastic improvement in the quality of play by both teams.
In the 50th minute Achille Henriette curled a corner to the far post towards captain-of-the-
In the 65th minute, St Louis Suns almost broke the deadlock from captain Trevor Poiret’s corner which goalie Dave Mussard came out for but missed and Jonathan Bibi headed goal-wards. The goal-bound header was cleared on the goal-line as La Passe rode their luck.
Four minutes later, La Passe had an even better chance as Marcus Labiche pounced on a long ball which both Jean-Paul Aglaé and David Dorby failed to clear. Surprisingly Labiche lobbed wide of Lesperance’s post which was a major let-off.
Substitute Gary Radegonde also had a great opportunity in the 71st minute as Malagasy Eric Rajaobery flashed a pass across goal to him but with the goal at his mercy he shot wide.
In the 75th minute, Henriette cut inside defender Serge Asba and his fierce shot was parried by Lesperance.
St Louis Suns almost stole the victory in the 87th minute from a quick counter. Denis Barbé released Fabien Cadeau who flicked his header into the path of captain Poiret whose thumping shot on the run hit the underside of the bar and rolled out to Cadeau whose volley was smothered by La Passe custodian Mussard.
The match had to go into extra-time and in the 93rd minute Poiret saw his strong shot come off a post.
St Louis Suns finally broke the deadlock in the 98th minute as Barbé picked out Cadeau with a lofted pass which he glanced past Mussard with a nice header for a 1-0 lead, sending the St Louis Suns supporters into wild celebrations.
As La Passe pressed for an equaliser, St Louis Suns should have killed off the contest in the dying minutes of the second period of extra-time as captain Poiret pounced on a defensive error. He raced clear but fired just over, but his team held on for their first title since their merger with Sunshine in 2007.
St Louis Suns coach Marc Mathiot was delighted with the victory, especially after returning to the team this year and playing with an all-Seychellois line-up.
Coach Mathiot said that his team lacked rhythm in the first half but improved in the second period.
Cups and medals were presented to the two teams by Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vincent Meriton and Land Marine representative Dave Prea in the presence of Seychelles Football Federation (SFF) chairman Suketu Patel and other SFF officials.
The St Louis Suns spectators went into wild celebrations as their team lifted the much coveted trophy.
R. J-L.