FOOTBALL: Airtel Cup |12 March 2005
St Louis Suns bring La Passe down to earth, Cote D’or bounce back
St Louis Suns brought La Passe down to earth with a gutsy 2-1 win on Saturday at Stad Linite whilst on Friday, the defending Airtel champions Cote D’or defeated St Roch.
St Louis Suns book semi final berth
St Louis suns booked their semi final berth for the Airtel cup with a hard earned 2-1 win over group B runaway leaders La Passe on Saturday which was wildly celebrated by their fervent supporters.
St Louis suns came out for this encounter with all guns blazing whilst surprisingly their opponents were very poor as they lacked the desire and also badly missed their inspirational captain Achille Henriette.
St Louis suns threatened to break the deadlock as early as the 4th minute from Malagasy Falirina’s corner which was met by his colleague Clariel with a downward header which La Passe goalkeeper Dave Mussard saved easily.
La Passe had a half chance in the 11th minute after a rare mistake by St Louis suns defender Nigel Freminot to give the ball away to Malagasy Fagnorena who released Melvin Uranie but he shot wide.
St Louis suns were by far the better team as they controlled the match with La Passe struggling to find their rythmn.
In the 20th minute Falirina, who had a superb match, saw his free kick cleared back to him and he rifled a fantastic left foot volley which brought an equally top drawer flying save by Goalie Mussard to push the danger into corner.
In the 29th minute St Louis suns won a penalty after Falirina’s freekick was blocked by Geal Gesinghaus and referee Bernard Camille awarded a spotkick for a clear handball.
Defender Freminot stepped up but his soft spot kick was turned away by goalie Mussard to Falirina who was yards offside but assistant referee Elderick Adelaide was out of position as he had moved on the goal side for the penalty. St Louis suns therefore made the most of this windfall as Falirina squared to Kelly Nibouette who was also in an offside position and he tucked the ball into the net to make it 1-0. The La Passe players quite rightly protested this decision to the official but the goal still stood.
La Passe then slightly came into the match but could not match St Louis suns desire led by captain Denis Barbe who was just brilliant in this half as he drove his team forward.
St Louis suns scored a second goal in the 41st minute as Clariel picked up a pass from midfield to run at the La Passe defence before pulling his pass across goal to Elijah Tamboo who accepted this gift to easily tap in at the far post for a 2-0 score at half time which they richly deserved and brought joy to their supporters.
La Passe improved drastically in the second peroid as St Louis suns seemed to be content to sit back in defence and soak the pressure as their opponent threw everything at them
In the 56th minute defender Jean –Paul Marguerite went on a mazy run as he burst into the St Louis suns penalty area but a last ditch tackle by Marlon Asba denied the La Passe player.
Despite the La Passe onslaught, St Louis suns almost caught them on the counter in the 62nd minute as man of the match Falirina played a glorious crossfield pass to Clariel whose volley sailed agonizingly wide.
La Passe brought in all their substitutes in a desperate attempt to find a cutting edge but they could not create a clear scoring opportunity to trouble goalie Joel Lesperance who was well protected by the experienced Freminot at the heart of the St Louis suns defence who had a very good game.
In the 74th minute St Louis suns went mighty close to add a third goal from a cracking curling freekick from Falirina from 25 metres out which forced a good save out of goalie Mussard to tip over the crossbar.
St Louis suns though held on to inflict a first defeat on La Passe in this pool B as both team progress though to the semi final with the La Digue team as group winners. However it was a disappointing loss for La Passe who only last week had thumped Northern Dynamo to record the biggest victory in this competition but were rather flat on Saturday against a determined St Louis suns.
La Passe coach Marius Fanchette was not happy at all with his team’s performance when he spoke to sports Nation after the match.
‘We only have ourselves to blame as we underperformed in all departments and it was equally disappointing that we could not even manage to score a goal. We will have to go and work on our weaknesses before the semi final,’ coach Fanchette stated.
As for St Louis suns assistant coach Patrick Cafrine, he was pleased with the result.
‘We played very well in the first half and scored two goals which was part of our game plan. However we struggled in the second period as our opponent put us under a lot of pressure but we are happy that we stopped them from scoring.’ Cafrine said as his team celebrated their qualification to the semi final where they await to know their opponent in next week’s last round of matches.
Labiche hits hattrick to sink St Roch
Cote D’Or bounced back from last week’s loss with a convincing 5-1 victory over St Roch at Stad Linite on Friday.
Marcus Labiche inspired them with a hattrick in the first half as Cote D’Or maintained their challenge to qualify for the Airtel semi final to defend their title.
Cote D’Or though took sometime to break down St Roch and it was only in the 20th minute that Collin Esther tested goalkeeper Julio Toulon with a 25 metre shot.
Four minutes later, Cote D’Or opened the scoring as Labiche lobbed a ball over the defence to Dine Suzette who fired past goalie Toulon to make it 1-0.
St Roch responded a minute later as Roy Julie broke clear but he shot straight at goalkeeper Kitson Cecile who was back after a two match suspension.
In the 26th minute, Cote D’Or extended their lead as Labiche collected Collin Esther’s cross to shoot past goalie Toulon from inside the penalty area for a 2-0 score.
Cote D’Or made it 3-0 in the 29th minute after a good passing move by the Airtel cup holders Suzette linked up with Collin Esther whose centre was met by a rasping shot by Labiche to make it 3-0.
In the 33rd minute, Labiche returned the compliment to Collin Esther whose 25 metre shot forced a good save by goalkeeper Toulon.
Labiche completed his hattrick in the 35th minute as Cote D’Or’s Malagasy Patrick Rasaminana set him up from outside the penalty area and he thumped the ball into the roof of the net for a 4-0 lead.
Cote D’Or then seemed to lift their feet off the accelerator as St Roch tried to redress the balance.
In the 39th minute, Brian Dorby saw his well struck long range effort fly agonizingly wide of goalie Kitson Cecile’s goal.
In the 41st minute, St Roch’s Nelleri Maillet rifled another long range shot which was deflected into corner.
Cote D’Or started brightly in the second period and their Malagasy playmaker Jean Tigana was unlucky to see his strong shot from the penalty edge ricocheted off the foot of the post.
Two minutes later Labiche should have done better with a decent chance as he found space in the St Roch’s penalty area but he shot over the bar.
In the 63rd minute, Cote D’Or scored again as Tigana picked out Suzette with his cross and the former the Lions striker’s shot was blocked by a defender. But Suzette got a second bite of the cherry to score his brace and make it 5-0.
Nine minutes later Tigana was denied by a finger tip save by goalie Toulon who turned his lob over the crossbar.
In the 82nd minute, St Roch were awarded a penalty as their captain Malagasy Nestor Benahovy was brought down by defender Benoit Marie. Referee Kieren Yocette pointed to the spot and Benahovy picked himself to shoot at goalie Cecile who charged down his shot. But Benahovy latched onto the loose ball to drill into the net for a final 5-1 scoreline.
St Roch’s Brian Dorby was shown a second yellow card and followed by a red card after the match by referee Yocette for dissent.
Cote D’Or coach Ahmed Abdou told Sports Nation that his team’s target is still to finish top of Pool A and try to defend their title. Despite the win coach Abdou was not too pleased with this team’s performance as he felt they lacked concentration at times.
R-J.L