Football St Louis triumph in President’s Cup |05 March 2018
2017 league and cup champions St Louis narrowly defeated La Digue side and SFF Cup finalists Anse Reunion 1-0 at Stad Linite on Saturday afternoon to claim their first ever President’s Cup.
President Danny Faure was present for this season-opening match along with the Minister for Youth, Sports and Culture Mitcy Larue, the deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Nicholas Prea as well as the chairman of the Seychelles Football Federation Elvis Chetty.
After the usual protocol during which Minister Larue and SFF chairman Chetty met the players, this match kicked off in front of a decent crowd on a hot afternoon.
St Louis’ Roddy Melanie had the first real opportunity as early as the 2nd minute from Malagasy Herve’s through ball allowing him to skip past Anse Reunion goalkeeper Ricky Rose but the angle was too tight as the danger was eventually cleared by the retreating Anse Reunion defence.
There was huge controversy in the 7th minute when Anse Reunion’s Ugandan Bayerno Kanakuma hacked down Travis Laurence with a dangerous tackle which left him in a pile in the middle of the pitch. Karl Hall stopped with the ball at his feet but amazingly referee Emile Fred did not blow his whistle and waved play on as Tanzanian Rashid Gumbo picked the ball from Hall and carried it forward to release Yelvanny Rose whose initial shot was pushed out by St Louis’ Malagasy goalkeeper Michel but Rose rifled the rebound against the post before Jude Nancy booted the ball out of play.
The St Louis players were furious as they circled referee Fred and he then decided to book Bayerno which was really incomprehensible for the official’s judgment.
St Louis had another gilt edge chance in the 13th minute when Malagasy Tahiry linked up with his countryman Herve who set him up but he miscued his shot from five metres out.
In the 25th minute, St Louis’ captain Bertrand Esther lost the ball to Warren Bibi who fed Randy Emile but he shot tamely at goalkeeper Michel from close range.
The double winners had their best chance in the 26th minute from Hall’s flick header to send Elijah Tamboo on a free run but he fired high and wide in a good scoring position.
Anse Reunion though should have put the cats among the pigeons on the stroke of half-time from Dieter Constance’s well-weighted pass to Randy Emile who was unmarked but he saw his strong shot ricochet off the post for a 0-0 score at the interval as St Louis rode their luck.
St Louis appealed for a penalty two minutes into the second half when Roddy Melanie and Hall played a neat one-two and Melanie got entangled with Anse Reunion defender Don Fanchette but referee Fred was not convinced it was worthy of a spot kick.
St Louis’ skipper Esther again made an almost costly mistake in the 53rd minute at the other end as his stray pass was pounced on to by Warren Bibi who fed Emile whose shot was blocked by a vigilant goalkeeper Michel.
The Anse Reunion defence notably Roderick Rose gifted St Louis a clear chance in the 56th minute when he let in Elijah Tamboo whose near post shot was charged down by goalkeeper Ricky Rose and he collected the rebound to tee up Laurence whose stinging shot from the edge of the penalty area was tipped over by goalkeeper Rose.
St Louis got a lucky breakthrough in the 71st minute when Anse Reunion skipper Eddy, who had done a good job on Hall, was receiving treatment on the sideline. Laurence lofted a pass to Hall who was given all the time in the world to chest trap the ball and turn to volley sweetly into the net for a 1-0 score much to the relief and joy of the St Louis fans.
As for Anse Reunion skipper Eddy, he was replaced five minute later through injury and his replacement Ugandan Ahmed Bulega had a glorious opportunity to level the score on the stroke of full time but he fluffed his line with only goalkeeper Michel to beat as St Louis were victorious to lift the first trophy on offer this season.
President Faure, Minister Laure, deputy Speaker Prea and SFF chairman Chetty helped with the presentation of medals and cups to the two teams after the final whistle as the St Louis supporters celebrated their first President’s Cup crown in their history.
Sports NATION wishes to congratulate St Louis on their maiden President’s Cup win.
WHAT THEY SAID AFTER THE MATCH
Michel Renaud, St Louis coach: “We took things too easy in the first half but we managed to improve after half-time as we raised the tempo of our play and it was important to win to boost morale for the new season though we did not play to our expected level.”
Bertrand Esther, St Louis captain: “We were in control of the match for long periods except for a few errors that almost gifted our opponents the lead. But we are pleased to have won this cup and it will put us in a good stead to try and defend our titles this season and we are ready to fight for more titles this season.”
Samuel Amice, Anse Reunion manager: “This match was in our hands after a good first half but we failed to take our chances which proved costly in the end. But overall it was a good match but luck was not on our side as well as our finishing which let us down. But we hope to build on this performance as we try to rebuild our team after a lot of movement of players.”
Eddy Ranjoriamihaja, Anse Reunion captain: “It was a tough match where we could have won if we had been more prolific in front of goals but we did perform quite well and it was an honour to play in this curtain-raiser match.”
Elvis Chetty, SFF chairman: “I would firstly like to congratulate St Louis on their cup success in an interesting match between two good sides and it was a tight affair as it could have gone either way but in the end there could be only one winner.”
R. J-L.
