La Passe demolish Dynamo-. Labiche scores hat-trick |22 August 2011

Unfortunately the crowd was very few on Friday to witness a very entertaining match between Côte d’Or and St Roch which ended 4-3.

On Saturday, La Passe thumped Northern Dynamo 6-1 and on Praslin, LightStars edged The Lions 3-2.

Labiche scores hat-trick

La Digue-based La Passe ripped apart Northern Dynamo 6-1 inspired by a hat-trick by the young and skillful Marcus Labiche at Stad Linite on Saturday.

La Passe had won all their matches in Pool A but they never relaxed as they went all out to claim another emphatic victory on Saturday.

They opened the floodgates in the ninth minutes as Gary Radegonde headed Malagasy Valerie Rakotoarinosy’s pass into the penalty box as Jerry Azemia failed to clear. Labiche hassled for the ball and as goalie Jules Monnaie came out he nicked it into the net to make it 1-0.

Dynamo should have equalised a minute later as Marcus Maria set up Malagasy Asman Todisoa but his control let him down with only goalie Vincent Euphrasie to beat.

La Passe continued to dominate as Labiche headed into Monnaie’s gloves in the 14th minute and three minutes later Malagasy Valerie took too long to shoot at goal and the danger was cleared.

In the 39th minute, Yelvanny Rose cut the ball back to Malagasy Hassan Aly whose blistering shot was pushed into corner by Monnaie.

La Passe added a second goal in the 42nd minute as Dynamo failed to clear a free-kick and the ball dropped to Malagasy Valerie whose 20m shot looked an easy catch for Monnaie but it slipped through his fingers and went through his legs for an embarrassing goal (2-0).

Dynamo tried to apply the pressure in the second half and in the 48th minute Malagasy Todisoa shot in the side-netting a decent chance after Maria had laid the ball to him.

In the 52nd minute Francis Moumou floated a free-kick to Collin Tirant whose powerful header brought a good save out of Euphrasie.

Four minutes later, Labiche extended La Passe’s lead as he held off a defender to shoot at the near post past Monnaie (3-0).

In the 58th minute, Malagasy Aly did well to turn his defender and flash a centre across goal to Yelvanny Rose but he missed an easy tap-in.

La Passe went further ahead in the 72nd minute as substitute Collin Bibi turned and fired a dipping shot past Monnaie (4-0).

Yelvanny Rose made it 5-0 in the 76th minute as he thumped a fierce shot past Monnaie.
Dynamo’s captain Steve Henriette almost reduced the arrears in the 80th minute with a crisp shot which crashed against the foot of the post.

Labiche completed his hat-trick in the 81st minute with a strong shot which crashed into the roof of the net for a 6-0 scoreline.

Dynamo were gifted a consolation goal in the 88th minute from a poor back pass which Maria latched onto and drilled past Euphrasie, but it was too little too late in a crushing 1-6 defeat.

Coach Marius Fanchette who was deputising for Bruno Saindini, said that it was a good performance from his players and was happy with the result.

Côte d’Or dig deep for victory

Praslin side Côte d’Or had to dig deep to come from two goals down to defeat St Roch 4-3 in a thrilling match at Stad Linite on Friday evening.

Côte d’Or should have opened the scoring in the first minute as Malagasy Patrick Herimirina centred to Shelton Arrisol who had only goalkeeper Terrence Lesperance to beat but he miscued his shot.

In the third minute, St Roch’s Nerick Athanase should have done better after Marvin Pierre picked him out with a cross.  Though he was clearly offside which was not signaled, Athanase headed softly at goalkeeper Kitson Cécile.

Athanase missed another clear chance in the eighth minute from Pierre’s superb through ball which he shot across goal.

The St Roch team though made amends in the 16th minute as Klaus Pragassen curled in a teasing free-kick and captain Daven Belle, who again looked suspiciously offside but was not flagged, guided the ball across the line for a 1-0 lead.

Côte d’Or should have equalised midway in this half as Malagasy Valentin Mazinot centred to Marlon Sophola who had only goalkeeper Lesperance to fire past but allowed the St Roch custodian to block his shot.

In the 26th minute, Athanase collected the ball with the goal to his back but with a turn of speed he left a couple of defenders in his wake before slotting the ball past Cécile to make it 2-0 as Côte d’Or protested that the player had controlled the ball with his hands as he received the 20m pass.

Côte d’Or had to throw everything in attack as Collin Esther tried to inspire his team after his return from a broken leg.

In the 36th minute, Malagasy Nicolas Dore Simori pounced on captain Belle’s mistake but he took the wrong option and blew a great chance.

Côte d’Or though were given a lifeline in the 44th minute as Malagasy Herimirina latched onto a loose ball from 25 metres out and let fly a fierce drive which crashed into the roof of the net to reduce the deficit to 2-1 at half time.

The Praslin side came out in the second half with all guns blazing and were duly rewarded in the 47th minute as captain Belle brought down Simori and referee Kierens Yocette pointed to the penalty spot. Malagasy Simori picked himself up to blast home the penalty.

In the 50th minute, Côte d’Or threatened to take the lead as Rick Bibi capped a good move to thump a rasping shot which Lesperance pushed onto the cross bar.

However, St Roch ripped apart Côte d’Or with a quick break in the 53rd minute as Steven Télémaque drove forward to find Athanase with a pinpoint cross and the St Roch stiker scored with a brilliant diving header to restore his team’s lead at 3-2.

There was to be more drama in this match as in the 78th minute Rick Bibi drilled a shot which Lesperance parried but Simori failed to convert the rebound as the St Roch goalkeeper did well to stop the Malagasy.

In the 83rd minute, Côte d’Or drew level as Steve Esther sent a long ball to substitute Hubert Ernesta who brought the ball under control to shoot low past Lesperance for a 3-3 scoreline.

A minute later, Côte d’Or completed a remarkable comeback as substitute Selvin Jeanne pumped a long ball to Malagasy Herimirina who unselfishly laid the ball to colleague Simori who made no mistake at close range for a 4-3 score.

St Roch’s captain Belle could have levelled matters once again in the 89th minute as Côte d’Or’s defence backed off but he failed to hit the target as the Praslin side secured victory from an unlikely position.

The win has boosted Côte d’Or’s chances of qualifying for the semi final of the Airtel Cup from pool B where St Michel are the runaway leaders.

The victory pleased Côte d’Or’s Malagasy coach Ahmed Abdou whose aim was a win at all cost.

LightStars edge The Lions

LightStars edged the Lions 3-2 on Saturday on Praslin.

Kevin Prosper gave the Praslin side the lead which was cancelled out by Gervais Saminadin who is on loan from Foresters.

However, Malagasy Mario Ravo restored LightStars’ lead just before half-time.

The Lions’ Randolph Lablache equalised in the second half but LightStars scored in the dying seconds as The Lions’ captain Jones Joubert turned the ball past his own goalkeeper Jerome Dingwall as he tried to clear Rennick Esther’s cross to gift LightStars a 3-2 victory.

R. J-L.