Football: SFF Cup - Red Star Defence Forces sneak past battling St Francis |21 September 2017
Red Star Defence Forces survived a tough battle to see off the challenge of second division outfit St Francis on a 3-2 score in a fascinating encounter in the fourth round of the SFF Cup on Tuesday afternoon at Stad Linite.
The army team came out strongly in search of an early goal to rattle the feathers of struggling second division side St Francis who still have two survivors from their time in the top flight in the shape of the twin Monthy brothers ‒ Roddy and Ronny.
In the 4th minute, Malagasy Sydo Jean Albert, who looked suspiciously offside which was not given, set up Carlos Mondon who delayed his shot and then fouled goalkeeper Jude Barra before putting the ball into the net and the goal did not count.
After some early pressing by Red Star Defence Forces, they got the goal they craved for in the 12th minute after some excellent work by Collin Francourt who eluded two defenders and lofted an inch-perfect cross which was met by Sydo’s glancing header which flew past goalkeeper Barra for a 1-0 lead.
The teammates of captain Michel Souris were now in control though St Francis tried to find a way back in this match but fell further behind just past the half hour mark due to a goalkeeping error to gift their opponents a second goal.
It started from a short corner kick which Sydo played to his countryman Michel Nambintsoa who returned the pass and when Sydo centred, goalkeeper Barra fumbled and there was Lucas Allisop lurking to punish him and stab the ball into the net to make it 2-0 at half-time.
The Baie Lazare-based team though were a different proposition after the interval and got a goal to cut the deficit in the opening minute from Ghanaian defender Anthony Manison’s fiercely struck free kick which goalkeeper Andrick Hortense could only turn into corner. The resultant corner was floated by substitute Benfica Young and it dropped invitingly to the same Manison who scored with a spectacular overhead kick for a 1-2 score-line.
The goal galvanised the second division side and they should have drawn level in the 49th minute from a long ball which captain Roddy Monthy flicked into the path of Nigerian Ezekiel Friday who was in acres of space but he shot straight at goalie Hortense when he should have hit the target in a good scoring position.
Red Star Defence Forces’ Nambintsoa was guilty of a bad miss in the 55th minute when Sydo did all the hard work and laid the ball on a plate to him but he shot over the crossbar with the goal at his mercy.
His teammate, Malagasy Jocelyn Fenosoa showed him the way to goal in the 64th minute, two minutes after coming on as a substitute as he collected a pass from the same Nambintsoa on the edge of the penalty area and he rifled a brilliant low shot which found refuge in the bottom corner for a 3-1 lead.
St Francis still persisted despite the two-goal deficit and in the 73rd minute the first division team’s goalie Hortense had to produce a good one-handed stop to deny Friday’s chip sailing over him after he was released by Shane Esparon.
In the 82nd minute, St Francis appealed to referee Gerald Gonthier for a penalty when goalkeeper Hortense appeared to block Young but the official was not convinced and in the impending mêlée, both Young and Achille Farabeau saw their goal-bound shots cleared on the goal-line as the army team rode their luck.
St Francis scored a second goal they duly deserved with the last kick of this pulsating cup tie from a free kick on the edge of the penalty area and Manison let fly a cracker which rocketed into the roof of the net for a fantastic goal to make it 2-3 the final score as Red Star Defence Forces survived a tough opponent to qualify for the quarterfinals of the SFF Cup.
In other matches, St John Bosco beat Tigers 11-0 and Real Maldives edged Beau Vallon 3-2.
R. J-L.