Football: Land Marine Cup-La Passe batter St Francis into submission |29 October 2008

Even that scoreline rather flattered St Francis as La Passe were superb in the first half and their passing was too much for St Francis to handle.

In the 10th minute, Achille Henriette and Rick Bibi exchanged passes and the former’s centre created havoc in the St Francis defence as the ball fell to Hamed Adrienne, whose shot was deflected for a corner.

Three minutes later, St Francis had a rare opportunity as Michel Payet picked out Roddy Monthy, who could not direct his shot on target from a good scoring position.

In the 19th minute, La Passe opened the scoring as Malagasies Asman Abdou and Eric Rajaobery linked up well before the latter set up Bibi, who lofted the ball over goalie Andrea Libanotis (1-0).

A minute later, Abdou and Bibi released Rajaobery, who eluded two tackles but his shot was charged down by Libanotis.

In the 29th minute, Rajaobery threaded a pass to Adrienne, who was brought down by Ronny Monthy but referee Gonzague Boniface was not convinced it was worth a penalty.

La Passe extended their advantage in the 33rd minute from Bibi’s cross to Abdou, who had sneaked into the penalty area to side-foot the ball past Libanotis (2-0)
Rajaobery should have added a third goal in the 35th minute as Adrienne laid the ball on a plate for him but his shot was parried by Libanotis, who was equally defiant a minute later from a cracking Kenny Nibourette volley, which he pushed out.

La Passe, though, were unstoppable and their relentless pressure paid off in the
40th minute as Bibi cut inside a defender to pick out the run of Henriette at the back post. Henriette volleyed the ball through Libanotis’ legs to make it 3-0 at half-time.

La Passe almost scored a fourth in the 46th minute as Abdou robbed a defender but his shot hit Libanotis in the face.

Abdou was again denied by Libanotis in the 59th minute as his fierce shot was diverted for a corner.

St Francis had a decent chance to reduce the arrears on the hour mark as Stephane Barallon controlled a crossfield pass to fire at goalie Vincent Euphrasie, who stopped his shot.

La Passe extended their advantage in the 66th minute. Rajaobery started the move to release Henriette, who centred to Abdou. He chest-trapped the ball into the path of Rajaobery, who thumped it past Libanotis (4-0).

La Passe rounded off the scoring in the 77th minute as the impressive Malagasy Bruno Saindina combined with Henriette, who crossed to Abdou. He drove the ball home after waiting in vain for Henry Ladouce to do so (5-0).

R. J-L.