Football: Barclays league division one-Anse Reunion go top, St Michel and St Francis lose unbeaten run |10 May 2010
On Friday St Louis Suns ended St Francis’ unbeaten run and on Praslin on Saturday, LightStars earned only their second win.
It was an eventful weekend of football as the first round drew to a close.
St Louis Suns 1 ... St Francis 0
St Francis had surprised everyone in the top flight as they had not lost in their first six matches and victory against St Louis Suns on Friday would have propelled them to the top of the eight-team standings.
St Louis Suns had decent chances in the first half, but Ryan Antat was wayward in front of goal.
St Francis almost shocked them on the stroke of halftime as Radley Monthy tested his former Red Star colleague, goalkeeper Joel Lesperance, with a 35m dipping shot which he tipped over.
The second half was action-packed and controversial. In the 62nd minute, St Louis Suns’ Nadim Lucas saw his curling free-kick crash against a post as St Francis rode their luck.
A minute later at the other end, St Francis’ Radley Monthy pounced on St Louis Suns’ captain Jonathan Bibi’s mistake but Serge Asba did well to block his shot.
In the 69th minute, controversy loomed large as Andy Mougal raced clear from an offside position, which was not signalled, and bore on goal. Ronny Monthy brought him down and referee Jean-Claude Labrosse awarded a penalty.
This infuriated the St Francis camp. Trevor Poiret stepped up but his low shot grazed the foot of the right post as St Francis survived and probably justice was done.
St Louis Suns continued to press forward and seven minutes later Mougal threaded a ball to Fabien Cadeau who was in a good scoring position, but was stopped by a bizarre offside decision.
St Louis Suns were gifted a goal in the 83rd minute as St Francis’ goalie Andrea Libanotis was caught in possession by Mougal. St Francis claimed a foul on their custodian but it was not signalled, allowing Mougal to race clear and shoot into an empty net for a 1-0 lead.
Two minutes later, St Francis’ Evans Esther set up Roddy Monthy but he missed the target.
St Francis were reduced to 10 in the 88th minute as Ronny Monthy was sent off for verbally abusing assistant referee Darryl Padayachy.
This incident turned the nature of the match as it became ugly and five minutes later St Louis Suns’ Jean-Paul Aglaé quite stupidly lashed out at Stephen Barallon with a high challenge. Referee Labrosse brandished a straight red card to Aglaé.
St Francis tried to get an equaliser in the five minutes added time as they bore forward. In the 92nd minute, referee Labrosse was at fault as he decided not to punish a blatant foul on Serge Asba but seconds later awarded St Francis a free-kick on St Louis Suns’ penalty area.
Radley Monthy floated the free-kick in a crowded penalty area and Malagasy Robert Edmond headed goal wards and midfielder Brian Dorby dived to push the ball out with his hand.
Assistant referee Darrel Monthy raised his flag and after consultation with the referee, a penalty was awarded. This created a confusing atmosphere and in the impending mêlée, Asba and Dorby was shown the red card. This really angered the St Louis Suns camp.
After some peace was restored, Edmond took the spot-kick but Lesperance produced a great save to deny him and inflict a first defeat on St Francis.
St Roch 0 ... Anse Reunion 2
How time have changed for Anse Reunion in this first round as they started off catastrophically with a 7-0 thrashing by St Michel on the opening day but have ended on a high as they lead the standings with 16 points.
Probably this defeat was a wake-up call but on Saturday, they made a slow start against a determined St Roch side who were desperate to put some points on the board.
There were very few scoring opportunities in the first period but St Roch almost took the lead in the 51st minute from a high ball which goalie Ricky Rose failed to clear. The ball fell to Nelson Renaud whose fierce shot crashed under the crossbar before the danger was cleared.
A minute later, Mervin Pierre rifled a thundering shot which was touched into corner. St Roch were dominant and in the 54th minute, Steven Télémaque eluded a couple of defenders but his cross flashed across goal with no one to connect.
In the 57th minute, Anse Reunion countered with a long ball which Philip Zialor flicked to Malagasy Milison Niasera who looked suspiciously offside. He raced on goal but shot wide with the goal at his mercy.
On the hour mark, Télémaque again troubled Anse Reunion but there was no one to finish the good move.
In the 65th minute, St Roch’s captain Daven Belle’s mistake let in Milison who pounced on the loose ball to bury it past goalie Richard Lesperance for a 1-0 lead.
A minute later, Zialor was clean through but his attempted lob sailed wide. In the 67th minute, Belle’s poor goalkick was latched on by Zialor but again he missed the target.
In the 71st minute, St Roch’s Pierre centred to Nerrick Athanase whose diving header was just wide.
On a counter, Milison released Roderick Rose but his shot was blocked by goalie Lesperance.
In the 80th minute, St Roch’s Richard Javotte was shown a second yellow card by referee Jourdan Benstrong as he failed to move in a wall. Zialor took the impending free-kick which crashed against the crossbar and Milison pounced on the loose ball to beat Lesperance for a 2-0 score.
In the 83rd minute, Zialor went close but was again denied by Lesperance.
La Passe 2 ... St Michel 0
Defending league champions La Passe had lost two games on the trot and could not afford a third against St Michel.
La Passe though maintained their good record against the former champions as Melvin Uranie opened the scoring in the 33rd minute in a very physical match.
Substitute Stephan Morel ensured La Passe all three points with a goal late in the match to make it 2-0 as St Michel suffered their first league defeat.
LightStars 3 ... Northern Dynamo 1
Praslin-based LightStars registered only their second league win – a 3-1 victory against visitors Northern Dynamo.
It was Dynamo who took the lead through Malagasy Asman Todisoa, but Andrew Jean equalised for a 1-1 halftime score.
Jean completed a brace in the second period to give LightStars the lead at 2-1 before Malagasy Mario Ravo secured the points with his team’s third goal.
R. J-L.