Football: Barclays league division one - St Michel, La Passe, The Lions, Revengers win |06 October 2014

Barclays league division one leaders St Michel won 2-0 at Stad linite on Saturday to stay top as second-placed La Passe also registered a 4-1 win against LightStars. Revengers registered the biggest win of the weekend over St Francis on a 6-1 score and on Friday, The Lions defeated St Louis Suns 3-0.

St Michel stretch unbeaten run

St Michel made light work of La Digue-based Anse Reunion despite missing some of their key players through suspension.

The Anse Aux Pins-based team nearly got off to a flying start as they went on the attack from the kick-off as Malagasy Jocelyn Fenosoa weaved his way in the Anse Reunion penalty area to flash a pass across the face of goal but Leeroy Mathiot failed to connect in front of a gaping goal with goalkeeper Ricky Rose well beaten.

St Michel continued to dominate proceeding against their opponents who were trying to contain them with a packed defence but missed the passing of suspended Malagasy Hassan Aly to unlock the Anse Reunion defence.

St Michel though had a good chance to go ahead in the 25th minute from Nelson Laurence’s through ball to Gervais Waye-Hive but he delayed his shot allowing goalkeeper Rose to dive at his feet.

Two minutes later, Waye-Hive again failed to punish goalkeeper Rose as he dropped a hanging ball.
On the half hour mark, captain Alex Nibourette galloped forward to exchange passes with Jocelyn but his low shot flew narrowly wide.

Three minutes later at the other end, Anse Reunion’s Malagasy striker Fagnorena Farampin latched onto a loose ball but he could not direct his shot on target as he also injured himself and came off after the break.

St Michel though went close in the 35th minute after Malagasy Jean-Philippe Rasoloarimanga stole the ball from a defender to combine with Waye-Hive whose return pass set the Malagasy forward boring on goal as he beat the advancing goalkeeper Rose to the ball which then rolled out of play.

A minute later, Jean-Philippe made amends as he met Waye-Hive’s corner-kick with a towering header which found refuge in the net for a 1-0 lead.

In the 39th minute, St Michel went on a counter led by Jean-Philippe who fed Laurence who in turn played to Jocelyn who cut inside his marker to rifle at goalkeeper Rose who could only parry his shot.

In the 43rd minute, Jean-Philippe showed his pace as he raced clear to fire at goalkeeper Rose who saved his ground-level shot.

Two minutes into the second half former Norvil Gaspard had a great chance to score against his former teammates. After goalkeeper Rose failed to hold on to Joel Barbé’s centre and the lurking Gaspard pounced on the dropped ball but saw his close range shot deflected into corner.

A minute later, Jocelyn played a glorious pass to Jean-Philippe in acres of space and he thumped the ball at goalkeeper Rose who was equal to the task.
Anse Reunion showed more urgency in this half as they threw more players forward and in the 63rd minute, Roderick Rose centered to Yelvanny Rose but he failed to test goalkeeper Gino Melanie with his shot.

On 69 minutes, Anse Reunion should have drawn level from a long goal-kick which Yelvanny Rose flicked on to substitute Stenio Ernesta who had come on for Fagnorena. The young Anse Reunion attacker held off the challenge of St Michel defender Yannick Manou but could not get a clear shot on target.

St Michel were given a soft penalty in the 86th minute as referee Bernard Camille punished Don Fanchette for what he assumed was a block by the young Anse Reunion defender on Waye-Hive, a decision which was very frustrating for the La Digue team to accept.

As for St Michel, it was captain Nibourette who assumed responsibility of the spot kick and his low shot slipped through goalkeeper Rose’s fingers as he dived the right way but failed to stop the ball from creeping into the net for a 2-0 final score.

The St Michel camp was just pleased they bagged the points as their closest rivals La Passe had won earlier in the day.

“We did not perform to our usual level but it was vital to win all three points and even though we are not happy with the performance, we are satisfied with the result,” noted Andrew Jean-Louis, the St Michel manager as his team gave a debut late in the match to former La Passe defender Ramely Pascal.

La Passe brush aside LightStars

Second-placed La Passe brushed aside Praslin side LightStars on La Digue 4-1 on Saturday.

It was two former LightStars players who did the damage as firstly Renick Esther gave La Passe a 1-0 lead and minutes later Collin Esther also got on the score sheet to make it 2-0.

Malagasy Tholix Jean scored a third goal with a well worked free kick for a 3-0 lead at half-time.
In the second half, captain Achille Henriette added a fourth for a 4-0 advantage.

LightStars though were awarded a penalty late in the match for a foul on Malagasy Mario Ravo and it was his colleague Noelson Jeannot who took it and scored for a 4-1 final result.

Revengers register biggest weekend win over St Francis

Praslin side Revengers had to come from behind to register the biggest win of the Barclays league weekend fixtures as they romped to a 6-1 victory against St Francis on Saturday at home.

Surprisingly though Revengers were trailing at half-time as St Francis had stunned them with a goal by young striker Perry Monnaie for a 1-0 advantage at the break as he scored in the 27th minute.

Malagasy Evariste restored parity in the 53rd minute to make it 1-1 before three minutes later his countryman Roger Nambintsoa gave Revengers a 2-1 lead.

Kevin Prosper scored a third goal in the 66th minute for a 3-1 score and in the 80th minute Nambintsoa scored again to make it 4-1 only for Prosper also to complete his brace in the 83rd minute for a 5-1 score.

Marcus François completed the rout in the 84th minute for a 6-1 scoreline which is surely the biggest win in the top flight for the players of coach Basil Hoareau.

The Lions tear apart hapless St Louis Suns

Cascade-based The Lions ripped apart a hapless St Louis Suns 3-0 at Stad Linite on Friday afternoon.

However, the scoreline was rather flattering for St Louis Suns according to The Lions coach Gavin Jeanne who felt his team could even have doubled their tally if they had made the most of the many chances they created.

“It was a very good performance by my team where we played our best football and it was good entertainment value for the fans,” coach Gavin told Sports Nation.

As for his counterpart Patrick Cafrine, he admitted to Sports Nation that his team played poorly.
 
“It was surely our worst performance this season and the signs were not good. We must sort ourselves out quite quickly or else we will be in big trouble,” coach Cafrine said.

The Lions were rampant and broke the deadlock through Dave Max in the first half before Malagasy Herizo Razaparany made it 2-0 with a beautiful free-kick which flew past goalkeeper Joel Lesperance for a 2-0 lead at half-time.

St Louis Suns had to replace the injured Lesperance in goal and Jalyl Servina came on in goal in the second period but could not stop The Lions from scoring again as Collin Bibi sealed St Louis Suns’ fate to make it 3-0.

St Louis Suns were even awarded a penalty by referee Nelson Emile but Nigel Freminot’s spot kick was saved by goalkeeper Jerome Dingwall to compound a miserable afternoon for them as they have now lost four of their last five matches and have another tough league encounter on Wednesday when they face St Michel.

Meanwhile, the match between Côte d’Or and Northern Dynamo scheduled for Saturday at 6pm on Praslin was called off again.
The defending Barclays league champions Côte d’Or will now be in action this Wednesday when they meet La Passe.