Football: Barclays league division one-St Roch add to St Louis Suns’ misery, La Passe draw |18 April 2011
On the same day on La Digue, Northern Dynamo held La Passe to a goalless draw and on Praslin Anse Reunion defeated Côte d’Or 1-0. On Friday, Praslin-based LightStars fought back from three goals down to win a thrilling 12-goal thriller 7-5 against 10-man St Francis at Stad Linite.
St Francis v LightStars
This LightStars/St Francis encounter is one of the most extraordinary matches so far witnessed in the top division and in some ways eclipsed Newcastle’s fight-back against
The match started in explosive fashion as St Francis took the lead in the first minute of play from Alpha Baldé’s cross which deflected off LightStars’ defender Fabien Albert past goalie Romeo Barra for an own goal (1-0).
LightStars had hardly recovered a minute later when Baldé added a second as he converted Malagasy Rakotomanga’s cross (2-0).
LightStars were out of sorts and in the 15th minute, Yves Zialor held off his marker to fire at the LightStars goal but his shot came off the post. A minute later, Baldé set up Rakotomanga whose 25m left footer crashed against the crossbar as LightStars rode their luck.
LightStars were gifted a good chance in the 19th minute as Harry Libanotis lost possession to Malagasy Loe Lahimpira who released colleague Elvis Mario Ravo who shot straight at goalie Damien Edmond.
LightStars were given a lifeline in the 24th minute as Ravo burst clear and was pulled down by defender Elderick Adelaide. Referee Eddie Maillet had no choice but to send him off and awarded a free-kick just on the edge of the penalty area.
Free-kick specialist Andrew Jean, who is fast creating a name for himself, produced one of his trademark kicks to blast the ball into the roof of the net (2-1)
St Francis though restored their two-goal advantage a minute later as Baldé sent a perfectly weighted pass to Rakotomanga who sped down the line to cut the ball back to Zialor who side-footed it past goalie Barra (3-1).
In the 33rd minute, LightStars again reduced the arrears as Kevin Prosper’s dipping shot sailed over Edmond for a 3-2 half time score line.
If the first half had been entertaining, the second was just breathtaking, especially for the fans, with goals galore.
St Francis scored a fourth goal in the 53rd minute as Baldé superbly eluded a couple of defenders to lay the ball on a plate to Rakotomange who easily tapped in against his former team (4-2).
Four minutes later, the same Rakotomange should have scored again as he latched onto a through ball but just failed to lob Barra.
St Francis established a three-goal advantage in the 68th minute as Baldé filtered a pass to Zialor who was bundled over by Damien Suzette and referee Maillet pointed to the spot. Baldé hit the target to make it 5-2 and LightStars looked down and out of sorts, but it was not the case when they began their fightback in dramatic fashion.
In the 76th minute, Ravo latched onto a through ball and Edmond surprisingly stood still allowing the Malagasy striker to glide past him to tap into an empty net, probably fearing contact which might have resulted into a penalty.
The score now read 5-3 and two minutes later, LightStars edged closer to an incredible feat as Malagasy Malamo Ducaud played a superb ball into the path of Malagasy Loe who beat the advancing Edmond (5-4).
LightStars’ bench was now urging their players to go at St Francis who had their backs to the wall as they looked tired and disorganised.
In the 84th minute, St Francis’ Robert Edmond was penalised for a high tackle on Malagasy Loe which resulted in a penalty. Substitute Ernesto Doway took the spot kick, burying his shot into the net to complete a remarkable comeback (5-5).
However, LightStars were not finished as they took the lead for the first time in the 87th minute as Ravo pounced on a loose ball to bore on goal before setting up colleague Loe who slotted the ball low into the net (6-5).
Seconds later, Ravo again found space in St Francis’ defence but his attempted lob was saved by Edmond.
LightStars sensationally scored on the stroke of full-time to complete a fantastic achievement as Malagasy Ducaud rolled the ball into the path of substitute Renick Esther whose low shot found refuge in the net for an incredible 7-5 victory in a match which enthralled the small crowd at the Stad Linite.
St Roch v St Louis Suns
St Louis Suns started brightly as they pressured St Roch and in the fifth minute captain Trevor Poiret chased a long ball to shoot across goal.
In the 10th minute, St Roch’s goalie Eugene Valentin gifted St Louis Suns a goal as he inexplicably collected the ball then rolled it to Poiret who was lurking and he punished him to make it 1-0.
St Roch’s Daven Belle almost gave away another goal in the 24th minute as he played the ball to Poiret whose fierce shot was parried by Valentin. Elijah Tamboo pounced on the loose ball but with the goal at his mercy, he blazed over the crossbar from five metres out and it then proved to be a costly miss.
St Roch should have reduced the deficit in the 37th minute in a rare attack as Stephen Télémaque got the better of Nadim Lucas to centre to Nerick Athanase but his close range flick ended in the side-netting.
In the second half, St Louis Suns brought on Fabien Cadeau to add more punch to their attack and in the 55th minute they produced a good move as captain Poiret weaved his way forward to cross to Cadeau who drilled his shot wide.
St Roch slowly grew in confidence and in the 64th minute Marcus Emilien raced through and appeared to be brought down by St Louis Suns’ reserve goalie Andrew Renaud but referee Gonzague Boniface was not convinced.
Two minutes later, St Roch went agonisingly close as Athanase latched onto a defensive mistake to cross to Télémaque but he failed to hit the target with a free header.
Poiret brought a good save out of Valentin in the 56th minute with a curling free-kick before his team fell apart.
In the 76th minute, Télémaque was brought down by David Dorby as he collected an Athanase pass and this time referee Boniface pointed to the spot. Substitute Brian Ravinia scored from the spot kick to level the score at 1-1.
Thee minutes later, St Roch took the lead from Athanase’s teasing free-kick and Daven Belle was there to head the ball which went in off the post to make it 2-1.
St Louis Suns were in disarray and in the 83rd minute, Malagasy Nestor Benahovy floated a corner to substitute Kenneth Khan but he somehow headed wide.
St Roch though put the final nail in the St Louis Suns coffin on the stroke of full-time as Télémaque waltzed his way to the bye-line to cross to Athanase who side-footed past Renaud to seal a great 3-1 win for his team.
La Passe v Northern Dynamo
La Digue-based La Passe dropped vital points as they were held to a disappointing goalless draw by visitors Northern Dynamo on Saturday.
Côte d’Or v Anse Reunion
Anse Reunion edged Côte d’Or on Praslin on Saturday thanks to a strike by Malagasy hitman Jean Estel Baransuice.
Côte d’Or had the chance to share the spoils but Malagasy Valentin Mazinot saw his penalty kick saved by goalkeeper Paul Ah-Kong.
R. J-L.