Football: Airtel Cup-St Louis, Foresters, LightStars register victories |16 August 2016

St Louis recorded a 2-0 victory over St John Bosco at Stad Linite on Saturday afternoon while on Praslin on the same day LightStars trounced Côte d’Or 4-1 whereas La Passe and Anse Reunion drew 1-1. On Friday evening at Stad Linite, Foresters gunned down Northern Dynamo in a 2-1 win in Airtel Cup group matches.

St Louis march past St John Bosco

St Louis marched past St John Bosco in a 2-0 triumph at Stad Linite on Saturday afternoon to lead the Mahé group with seven points after three matches.

St John Bosco started brightly against a reshuffled St Louis team who were without their star striker, Nigerian Kazeem Adeyeri who has traveled to Cyprus for trials with a view to securing a long-term contract. They took time to find their rhythm.

St Louis went ahead in this match in the 33rd minute from a Danny Madeleine free kick after he had been the victim of nasty foul by Malagasy Herizo Razaparany who was lucky not to be booked by referee Bernard Camille. Madeleine floated the free kick to Che Dorasamy who linked up beautifully with captain Mervin Mathiot to open up the Bosco defence allowing him to fire at goalkeeper Duane Romain who spilled the rather weak shot which crossed the goal-line to make it 1-0.

St Louis extended their lead in the 48th minute as Dorasamy combined with captain Mathiot whose misplaced pass still fell nicely to the unmarked Elijah Tamboo who blasted the ball onto the crossbar and into the net for a 2-0 score.

In the 55th minute, St Louis almost added a third goal as Dorasamy let fly a cracking 30-metre volley which came off the crossbar.

Two minutes later, St Louis again went close as Tamboo set up captain Mathiot who shot straight at goalkeeper Romain when it looked easier to score.

On the hour mark, Bosco nearly reduced the arrears as Graham Cafrine countered and his shot was blocked by St Louis defenders and it fell to Keddy Moustache but his drive was also charged down by a vigilant St Louis defence.

Captain Mathiot was guilty of another miss in the 66th minute as he was released by Tamboo but instead of hitting the target, he shot wide but it did not matter as they had already wrapped up the points much to the satisfaction of coach Nigel Freminot.

“We did not play as well as we are capable of as we had rested some players due to minor injuries and bookings but the objective was to win all the points to keep us in a strong position for the semifinal,” the St Louis coach said.

As for the Bosco coach Roger Labonte, he felt his team found it tough to negotiate two matches in a week.

“Our players found it difficult to cope with two matches in a week as they are not used to it and they had yet to recuperate but I do not wish to use this as an excuse for this defeat but we will get used to it,” noted coach Labonte.

LightStars stun Côte d’Or

LightStars avenged their 7-0 heavy loss to Côte d’Or last month in the league when they thrashed them 4-1 at the Amitié stadium on Saturday afternoon.

However, Côte d’Or club president Robert Payet was very disappointed with referee Egbert Havelock’s decisions which he was adamant caused their defeat.

Côte d’Or had taken the lead in the 2nd minute courtesy of Malagasy Jean Tigana who scored his third goal in two matches for a 1-0 lead.

However, Albert Rose equalised from the penalty spot for a 1-1 score and Malagasy Mario Ravo gave his team the advantage at 2-1 before Malagasy Jacquelin increased their lead at 3-1 close to half-time.

Andy Brioche secured all the points for LightStars for a 4-1 victory for the players of coach James Barra who gained sweet revenge over their neighbours.

La Passe and Anse Reunion share the points

Defending Airtel Cup winners La Passe shared the points with Anse Reunion in a 1-1 draw at the La Digue playing field on Saturday.

Yelvanny Rose had given Anse Reunion a 1-0 lead early in the second half but Marcus Labiche levelled matters for a 1-1 result.

Foresters bring Northern Dynamo down to earth

Foresters brought Northern Dynamo down to earth with a 2-1 victory at Stad Linite on Friday evening.

After a goalless first half, Foresters opened the scoring on the hour mark through Francis Nourrice for a 1-0 lead and in the 69th minute Andy Mougal made it 2-0.

Dynamo fought hard to redress the balance and in the 74th minute Aldo Dufresne missed a good chance to reduce the arrears.

Dynamo grabbed a consolation goal in the 88th minute when Rajomana’s free kick hit the Foresters’ wall but referee Nelson Emile surprisingly adjudged that it had been handled and he very harshly pointed to the spot for a penalty which was duly dispatched by the same Malagasy midfielder to make it 2-1 the final score.

Foresters coach Rodney Choisy was happy with the final result as his team gave themselves hope to make it to the semifinal with their first win in three matches.

“It was vital to win this match to stay in the race to qualify for the semifinal so I’m satisfied with the result,” the Foresters coach said.

As for Dynamo, sadly there was no one available to give an interview after they were brought down to earth following their draw with St Michel on Tuesday.

R. J-L