Football: Division One League-SMB continue revival with draw against St Michel |31 May 2006

SMB scored two goals late in the match to stay unbeaten in four matches, bringing to eight the number of points they have collected out of a possible 12.

The match was a fiercely contested affair, especially in the second period where SMB gave St Michel a run for their money as they held on to their unbeaten run by the skin of their teeth.

Despite the absence of coach Ralph Jean-Louis and manager Brian Uranie, both banished from the bench, St Michel started brightly. Philip Zialor, revolving in midfield, was creating space for his team to manoeuvre. They took the lead in the 10th minute from Malagasy Leonni Nastinan’s high cross which Zialor fought for with defender Terence Kilindo. Alex Nibourette attacked the hanging ball to head it past goalie Antoine Dubel who was glued to his line for a 1-0 lead.

Nine minutes later, St Michel went close as Zialor’s superb pass released Nibourette who shot agonisingly wide.

SMB slowly crept into the match but Stephen Léon, who was so impressive in the 3-0 win for SMB in their last match against Red Star, could not produce the same form as he was bothered by a leg injury which eventually forced him out in the second half.

In the 25th minute, St Michel’s Garry Robert was caught in possession by Terry Chang-Tak-Hue but his attempted lob was easily collected by goalie Nelson Sopha.

St Michel were gifted an opportunity in the 32nd minute as Robert pounced on a loose ball to feed Zialor who set up Nibourette who shot in the side-netting. He injured himself in the process and had to be replaced by Marcel Labiche.

SMB re-organied their attack in the second half and they looked a different side as they were more prominent going forward. In the 48th minute, Serge Asba’s teasing cross was met by Joseph Marcelin’s header, but it was too soft to trouble Sopha.

Two minutes later, SMB were on level terms as Marcelin held off Lorenzo Mathiot from a cross-field pass to rifle off the post and into the net.

The second period was being played at a frantic pace and in the 63rd minute Shawn Barbé pumped a long ball forward to Colin Laporte who headed across goal.
St Michel almost punished SMB with a swift counter in the 66th minute but SMB’s captain David Dorby produced a magnificent last-ditch tackle to stop Zialor from scoring.
St Michel’s defender Denis Belle then let in Laporte whose control let him down in the 71st minute.

St Michel regained the lead a few minutes later as they broke quickly and forced Brian Dorby to commit a foul. Instead of stopping play to register the booking, the referee allowed the ball to run with Nastinan collecting it on the left and his teasing cross was headed powerfully by defender Terrence Kilindo who held his head in disgust after having beaten his own goalkeeper.

SMB though were not discouraged as Asba’s shot on the turn in the 77th minute from captain Dorby’s free-kick rolled across the goal.

St Michel must have thought they had broken SMB’s resistance in the 84th minute.

Nastinan spotted goalie Dubel off his line and with the ball bouncing from 35 metres out, the Malagasy’s audacious lob sailed over the hapless custodian for an embarrassing goal that extended St Michel’s lead to 3-1.

Zialor should have buried SMB as Neddy Rose threaded a pass to him in the 86th minute, but after drawing the goalkeeper out he placed his shot off target.

St Michel were made to pay for the miss in the 88th minute. Substitute Roddy César chased a hopeful ball and managed to steal it from another substitute Joel Barbé who had replaced the injured Mathiot for St Michel. Former St Michel midfielder César rounded goalie Sopha to hit the foot of a post and Laporte was on hand to tap in the loose ball to reduce the score to 2-3.

The match was almost over but SMB had other ideas as the stage was set for a grand finale. In the first minute of injury time, goalie Sopha had to be quick off his line to thwart Marcelin.

Minutes later though, SMB were not to be denied as their perseverance paid dividends. Marcelin hassled for the ball in the penalty area to hook in a cross and defender Kilindo was there to head home to redeem himself from villain to his team’s hero for a 3-3 final score.

SMB’s fans and players were ecstatic as they had grabbed a point from the jaws of defeat in a fascinating encounter.

St Michel’s assistant manager Andrew Jean-Louis felt that his team’s complacency cost them the points though he praised SMB for their determination.

As for SMB midfielder Laporte, he said that his team had showed a lot of spirit to rally from such a deficit to secure a draw. He attributed their good second half performance to a few tactical adjustments at half-time.

R. J-L.