Football: Barclays league division one |03 March 2014

Côte d’Or, LightStars, La Passe make winning start

Côte d’Or made a bright start to the defence of their Barclays league division one title by thumping St Francis 5-0 at Stad Linite on Saturday while LightStars beat Northern Dynamo 4-2 and La Passe won the La Digue derby 2-0 against Anse Reunion.

Côte d’Or thump St Francis 5-0

Côte d’Or always had the measure of St Francis and in the eight minute Marcus Labiche should have opened the scoring as Malagasy Jean Tigana pulled a superb ball to him but he failed to hit the target.

Two minutes later, the Praslin side broke the deadlock as Gerard Basset fed Benoit Marie who exploited space to rifle a 30-metre shot which sailed past goalkeeper Andrea Libanotis to make it 1-0.

In the 13th minute, Côte d’Or scored again from Tigana’s free kick which was missed by three of his colleagues and even goalkeeper Libanotis who misjudged the flight of the ball for a 2-0 lead.

Four minutes later, Marie spread a pass to Basset who linked up with Tigana who was yards offside but assistant referee James Emile failed to signal. Tigana therefore skipped past goalkeeper Libanotis to score easily for a 3-0 advantage.

Tigana almost got his hat-trick in the 21st minute as he combined with colleague Patrick but goalkeeper Libanotis blocked his shot.

Basset also went close with a clear header in the 28th minute from Tigana’s corner but it came off the crossbar as St Francis rode their luck.

Eleven minutes later, Tigana was denied once again as he trapped a pass to volley at goalkeeper Libanotis who produced a flying save to stop him.

Côte d’Or added a fourth goal in the 41st minute from Malagasy Patrick’s teasing free kick which appeared to come off a defender though Labiche tried to claim it for a 4-0 half-time lead.

St Francis improved drastically in the second half and were denied a clear penalty in the 51st minutes as Stephen Dijoux was stopped by a high tackle by Côte d’Or goalkeeper Jean Paul Lesperance but referee Kierens Yocette turned a blind eye.

Côte d’Or also should have added to their score in the 54th minute as Tigana threaded a through ball to Basset but his lob flew wide.

Three minutes later the league champions extended their lead as Malagasy Patrick crossed the ball inside the penalty area. Labiche missed it but Basset was on hand to beat goalkeeper Libanotis for a 5-0 score.

St Francis though kept pushing forward despite the scoreline and in the 79th minute, substitute Miguel Tall picked out another substitute Stephen Barallon’s run but his header was pushed into corner by goalkeeper Lesperance.

St Francis had a second penalty appeal turned down in the 81st minute as Barallon bore on goal and was upended by captain Jones Joubert, but the official was not convinced.

Jones Larue also fluffed a gilt-edge opportunity in injury time from Barallon’s cut-back as they suffered a huge loss.

Despite the heavy loss St Francis coach Marc Mathiot was not too disappointed with his team’s performance.

“We have a lot of new players and we are trying to adjust. There is still a lot of work to be done as we conceded some sloppy goals,” coach Mathiot told Sports Nation.

As for Côte d’Or coach Ahmed Adbou, he said they are preparing for a tough season as they aim to defend their league crown.

“It was not an easy match despite the big win. Today we tried to change our team around and it worked well but we did not underestimate our opponents though we are pleased with the win,” coach Abdou said.

LightStars stun Northern Dynamo

Praslin outfit LightStars stunned Northern Dynamo 4-2 at the Amitié Stadium on Saturday.

Bertrand Lablache gave his team a 1-0 advantage and soon after Malagasy Mario Ravo got on the score-sheet for a 2-0 score at half-time.

Ravo completed his brace after the break to make it 3-0 and Kevin Prosper also scored for a 4-0 score.

Northern Dynamo though fought back and Marcus Maria won a penalty which he dispatched to reduce the arrears at 1-4.

Daniel Maillet further reduced the score but it was too little too late for Northern Dynamo as they lost 2-4 in the opening round of matches on the first weekend of the league.

La Passe defeat bitter rivals Anse Reunion

La Passe defeated 10-man Anse Reunion 2-0 in the La Digue derby on Saturday.

La Passe were awarded a penalty by referee Alistair Barra after Anse Reunion goalkeeper Jean-Paul Ah-Kong brought down Rashid Mohamed who is on his second spell with the team.

Ah-Kong was given his marching orders and Rashid Mohamed stepped up to fire the ball past substitute goalie Andrick Cathene for a 1-0 lead.

Renick Esther, who is also back at La Passe, sealed the win with a strike in the second half for a 2-0 scoreline.

R. J-L.