Football: PillayR Group Cup final St Michel overcome 10-man Dynamo to claim title |05 December 2016

St Michel came from behind to overcome 10-man Northern Dynamo 3-2 in a pulsating final at Stad Linite on Saturday to claim this debutant PillayR Group Cup.

The two teams were greeted before the match by Youth, Sports and Culture Minister Idith Alexander, National Sports Council chief executive Giovanna Rousseau as well as the Seychelles Football Federation (SFF) chairman Elvis Chetty in a match which was attended by the youth and sports principal secretary Fabien Palmyre as well as by both members of parliament for the two districts namely, Clifford André for Anse Aux Pins and Regina Esparon for Glacis. A minute’s silence was observed before kickoff in memory of members of Brazilian football team Chapecoense who died last week in a plane crash in Colombia.

The match

Attended by a very good crowd in a beautiful weather with bright sunshine, the match started in explosive fashion as Dynamo, who came into this final as slight favourites after their recent fantastic record against St Michel, drew first blood.

It all started from an error in the 4th minute by Nelson Laurence, playing in central defence alongside Yannick Manou, who failed to clear the ball which was pounced on by Gambian Musa Njie who fired at goal but goalkeeper Alvin Michel blocked his shot. Njie though collected the loose ball to pull it back to Malagasy Rajamana who tucked the ball into the net to give his team a 1-0 lead.

St Michel had to raise their game as Dynamo slowed the tempo instead of going for a second goal.

St Michel should have levelled matters on the half hour mark from Norvil Gaspard’s inch-perfect cross after marauding forward but Malagasy Jocelyn Fenosoa missed a clear header with the Dynamo defence caught ball watching.

St Michel continued to push for an equaliser and in the 41st minute Leeroy Corallie linked up with Jocelyn whose shot was saved by Northern Dynamo goalkeeper Franck Moutoni.

The Anse Aux Pins-based team were on level par on the stroke of half-time from Malagasy Hassan Aly’s long ball which Dynamo’s Aldo Dufresne had it covered but his overhead clearance was blocked by Corallie’s head and the ball sailed over the stranded goalkeeper Moutoni for a 1-1 score.

The second half

Dynamo brought on Marcus Maria for Kieren Dufresne in the second half to give more punch in attack but it was St Michel who nearly scored in the opening minute as Jocelyn latched onto a through ball to bore on goal but he delayed his shot and Dynamo captain Warren Mellie caught up with him to produce a great last ditch tackle to deny a golden opportunity.

St Michel took the lead in the 48th minute following a lapse in concentration in the Dynamo defence from Gaspard’s long throw-in which captain Mellie missed and there was Corallie lurking in his back to volley the ball into the roof of the net to make it 2-1.

St Michel were now in control and in the 51st minute, Jocelyn forced goalkeeper Moutoni to tip over the crossbar his wicked free kick.

On the hour mark, the busy Ghanaian Emmanuel Nuhey weaved his way forward and his cross-cum-shot clipped the crossbar with goalkeeper Moutoni struggling to reach the ball as Dynamo rode their luck.

Dynamo suffered a major setback in the 69th minute when Gaspard released Jocelyn in a swift counter but he was hacked to the ground by Darren Gonsalves who had been booked minutes earlier for bringing down Neil Confiance.

The St Michel crowd were baying for a sending off and referee Nelson Emile obliged as he dished out a second yellow and Gonsalves was given his marching orders though the Dynamo camp was furious with the officials as they were adamant Jocelyn was in an offside position when he received the ball which was not signaled by assistant referee Hensley Petrousse.

The goal though revived Dynamo and they should have drawn level in the 75th minute from Maria’s inswinging corner which fell to the unmarked Ted Cupidon who had just come on but he could not direct a free header on target.

Dynamo though levelled the score in the 77th minute as Njie and Rajamana exchanged passes to open up a flat-footed St Michel defence and when Njie threaded a pass to Rajamana he made no mistake to stick the ball past goalkeeper Michel for his brace and put the score at 2-2.

St Michel though hit back five minutes later from the best move of this enthralling encounter as Waye-Hive filtered a pass to Jocelyn who looked suspiciously offside which was not spotted and he raced to the bye-line and dragged the ball back to Nuhey on the edge of the penalty area before unleashing a raking low shot which found refuge in the bottom corner of the net to make it 3-2.

St Michel then used their experience to wind down the clock and could even have grabbed a fourth goal in the 87th minute from Jocelyn’s rasping shot but goalkeeper Moutoni was equal to the task, but St Michel had managed to fend off the challenge of their bogey team this season to win their third title after surrendering their league crown to Côte d’Or.

There were jubilant scenes on the pitch and in the stands as St Michel celebrated a hard-earned cup win while Dynamo were left crestfallen in a match which had started well for them but for the second year running they come out on the losing end.

The cups and medals were handed to the two sets of players and management by Ramu Pillay of the main sponsor and SFF chairman Chetty.

Sports NATION would like to seize this occasion to congratulate St Michel on another cup triumph.

R. J-L.

What they said after the match

Elvis Chetty – SFF chairman: “It was a fantastic match where both teams played their hearts out to win but I must congratulate St Michel, the winning team.”

Ramu Pillay – chairman of PillayR Group: “It was a very exciting final and we saw that it was really worthy to sponsor this competition and this is what our company is all about to help youngsters to develop their sport potential and we are pleased to announce that we will continue to sponsor the development of sports in this country.”

Andrew Jean-Louis – St Michel Manager: “It was a match of high intensity where we conceded early due to slackness in our defence as we took things too lightly, but we had a good second half and we had to work hard against a very combative opponent who ran out of steam though I must praise them for giving us a tough match in an exciting final. I must also congratulate my players for rising to the challenge to win this trophy.”

Clive Delorie – Northern Dynamo manager: “I’m very disappointed to lose this final as we scored early but then dropped our level and our midfield did not perform well with too many mistakes. The officials were also harsh on my team and I will contest the sending off which is not justified though we matched our opponents when we were down to 10 men.”