Football - St Michel Mahé Premier League winners |13 May 2022
● Côte d’Or Inner islands leaders
St Michel are the winners of the Mahé Premier League, while Côte d’Or are the leaders of the Inner Islands Premier League with a handful of matches left to be played before the top three in each pool progress to play the SFF Premier League Championship.
Anse Aux Pins-based St Michel have picked up the most wins ‒ 11 ‒ out of 13 games, drawn one and lost another for a points tally of 34.
After edging St John Bosco 1-0 on Wednesday night at Stad Linite, St Michel celebrated winning the Mahé Premier League group last night when closest challengers Foresters lost 0-2 to Real Maldives.
In the event that Foresters had won their match last night, St Michel had to make sure they pick up at least a point in their last match against the same Foresters on May 21 to be sure of winning the Mahé Premier League.
What looked like being a tricky encounter as any faux pas on St Michel’s part would lead to Foresters gaining the upper hand, will not happen as reigning champions Foresters were beaten by Real Maldives last night.
Foresters stay second on the table with 28 points from eight wins, four draws and two losses from 13 games played.
Had Foresters beaten Real Maldives yesterday and win against St Michel on May 21, they would have finished level on points ‒ 34 ‒ with St Michel and the winners would have been decided on goal difference.
St Louis are occupying the third and last qualifying position in the Mahé Premier League with 23 points after collecting seven wins, two draws and three defeats.
St John Bosco (fourth on 15 points after 13 matches played), Red Star Defence Forces (fifth on 13 points after 12 matches played), Northern Dynamo (sixth on 13 points after 12 matches played), Real Maldives (seventh on 12 points after 13 matches played) and Pointe Larue Bazar Brothers (eighth on 1 point after 12 matches played) are already out of the race for the top three spots to earn qualification to play in the SFF Premier League Championship.
As the Mahé Premier League is an open league, the remaining five teams shall continue playing each other to accumulate points to earn the highest finish possible. The team who finish last will be relegated to the Championship league, while the one who take seventh position will meet the Championship runners-up in a two-legged playoff.
In the Inner Islands Premier League, which is being played over three rounds, Côte d’Or are leading the pack with 31 points after 10 wins, a draw and a defeat.
Having played a game more ‒ 13 ‒ La Passe are second on 30 points with 9 wins, 3 draws and a loss.
LightStars are third with 26 points out of a maximum 39 with 8 wins, 2 draws and 3 defeats.
Like in the Mahé Premier League, the top three teams in the Inner Islands Premier league are sure of progressing to the second phase of the competition as the other three cannot catch them. They will meet the top three from the Mahé Premier league for the SFF Premier League Championship competition.
Anse Reunion are fourth with 14 points after 12 matches played, Revengers fifth with 7 points after 13 matches and Santos sixth with 1 point after having also played 13 games. They will fight for a best finish possible after the top three teams have moved on to the next phase of the competition. The three teams will fight among themselves for a best finish possible.
No teams from the Inner islands Premier League will be relegated.
It is to note that Baie Ste Anne-based second subsidiary league side Santos have been granted dispensation to join the Inner islands Premier League.
Gerard Govinden