St Michel, Côte D’Or win opening match |20 January 2014

Barclays league champions Côte D’Or and cup winners St Michel won their opening match in the champions cup competition which kicked off at Amitié and Stad Linite fields on Saturday.

St Michel was always going to be favourites for this encounter against third division champions  Rude Boyz and it was not strange to see them dominate possession from the word go as they gave their new recruit Ugandan Emmanuel Olupot his debut in defence.

In the 9th minute Malagasy Hassan Aly released Nigel Hoareau who was on a good scoring position but a defender blocked his shot.

Four minutes later, Aly again linked up with Hoareau who set up the overlapping Alex Nibourette but he blazed his shot over the crossbar.

St Michel had total control of the ball as Rude Boyz were pinned back in their own half.  It was no surprise when the first division side opened the scoring in the 16th minute as Aly played the ball to Nibourette who was galloping down the left and he pulled the ball back to Nelson Laurence, who was playing as a striker, and he scored easily from close range to make it 1-0.

From the restart, Rude Boyz’ Marcus Esparon went on a mazy run as he ran at the heart of the St Michel defence but his shot lacked sting to trouble goalie Gino Melanie.

St Michel though continued to threaten as they sent wave after wave of attack on an overworked Rude Boyz defence.

In the 32nd minute Hoareau threaded a pass to Laurence who rounded goalie Sandy Victor but the angle was too tight as he shot in the side netting.

A minute later Laurence collected a pass on the penalty edge and his strong shot produced a good low save by goalie Victor.

St Michel made two substitutions in the second half as Gervais Waye-Hive and Leeroy Mathiot who is back from a loan spell with The Lions came on for Yannick Manou and Nigel Hoareau.

Waye-Hive’s introduction proved inspirational and in the 51st minute he centred to Nibourette whose goal bound shot was blocked by an alert goalie Victor.

Two minutes late substitute Mathiot exploited space in the Rude Boyz defence to elude a defender and fire past goalie Victor for a 2-0 lead.

St Michel kept piling on the pressure as they looked for goals galore and in the 63rd minute goalie Victor fumbled Aly’s shot into corner. Aly floated the corner to Waye-Hive whose shot was deflected into substitute Mathiot’s path who blasted into the roof of the net for a 3-0 advantage to complete his brace.

St Michel were tearing Rude Boyz apart at will and three minutes later they scored again as Waye-Hive latched onto a through ball.  Waye-Hive’s shot was blocked by goalie Victor but he could not stop it from crossing the goalline for a 4-0 score.

The Airtel cup winners had numerous opportunities to add to Rude Boyz’ misery but Waye-Hive and Mathiot wasted clear chances as they had to be content with the 4-0 score line.

St Michel manager Andrew Jean-Louis told Sports Nation that they were expected to win this match against a lower league opposition.  Manager Jean-Louis said that it was a good competitive match for his team as they continue their preparation.

“A win is good to boost our morale and we had plenty of chances to score and we hope that we can improve in all departments in our next match,” manager Jean-Louis stated as he felt his team were also a bit rusty in their first outing this season.

As for Rude Boyz manager Anil Jacques, he accepted that St Michel were a class above them.

“St Michel were much better than my team and it was a really tough match but we are grateful that we have been given the chance to play in this competition which will help us in our preparation for the second division league,” the Rude Boyz manager revealed.

Cote D’Or – Revengers

This Praslin derby match between the first division and second division league champions Revengers on Saturday at the Amitié pitch was marred by heavy rain.

However Côte D’Or had the edge over their rivals as defender Benoit Marie made it 1-0 early in the second half after a goalless first half.

Côte D’or’s new recruit, former St Francis midfielder Ryan Antat, opened his account for his new team to wrap the score at 2-0.

Côte D’Or coach Ahmed Abdou told Sports Nation that he was pleased with his team’s performance as well with this competition which he said was beneficial to his team’s preparation.

As for the Revengers coach Basil Hoareau he said he was not too disappointed with his team’s showing as they had only eight days to prepare for this match.