Football: African under-17 qualifiers - Seychelles under-17 selection succumb to Uganda |16 June 2014

The Seychelles under-17 selection succumbed to Uganda on a 2-1 score at Stad Linite on Saturday afternoon in a preliminary round match in the African under-17 qualifying match.
Before the kick-off the two teams were presented to the Minister for Social Affairs, Community Development and Sports Vincent Meriton and the Seychelles Football Federation (SFF) vice-president Roch Henriette.

The Ugandans were the better side from the start as they pressed our team who struggled to find their rhythm and gave away the ball too easily.
In the 14th minute, the dominant Ugandan team went close from Alex Komakech’s floated corner which was met by Bashir Asiku’s towering header but the Seychelles goalkeeper Japhet Bijoux saved at the far post.

The Ugandans broke the deadlock in controversial circumstances in the 20th minute though, as the Seychelles team hooked the ball out so that Musa Mukalazi, who was on the floor injured, could receive treatment.

Surprisingly, the Ugandan team did not return the ball from the throw-in and Komakech centred to Charles Sebutinde whose downward header found refuge in the net for a 1-0 lead.
This incident infuriated Seychelles head coach Gavin Jeanne who made his feelings known to the Ugandan bench but Malagasy referee Andofetra Rakotojaona awarded the goal.
The Ugandans were now in total control and in injury time Samuel Kato tested goalkeeper Bijoux with a long range free-kick which he just managed to tip over.
From the resulting corner from Julius Poloto Shaban, Mohamed and Asiku got in each other’s way as they wasted a free heading opportunity.

The Ugandan side continued to exert pressure as their superiority was clear in the second half and in the 62nd minute goal scorer Sebutinde pounced on a poor goalkick by Bijoux and was brought down by Colyn Francourt for a clear penalty but the Malagasy official turned a blind eye, much to the frustration of the Ugandan bench.

After soaking much pressure, the Seychelles team scored a wonder goal in the 72nd as they countered and Darian Hoareau unleashed a fantastic shot which sailed over goalkeeper Erick Kibowa to level the score at 1-1 and delighted the decent crowd that had turned up to support our young team.

Sadly though, our local boys conceded from the restart as the Ugandan pushed forward and Poloto crossed to Pius Obuya who easily tapped in to re-establish the Ugandan’s lead at 2-1.

Once again the Seychelles camp was not happy with the Ugandans for not displaying sportsmanship as Yannick Lesperance was injured and on the floor during the build-up but they continued to play.

The Seychelles team could not recover from this blow as tiredness began to creep into the team and they had to use all three substitutes as they began to suffer from cramp.
As for the Ugandans, they kept pushing forward and Mohamed should have done better in the dying minutes as he shot narrowly wide as he bore on goal.

The Seychelles head coach Gavin Jeanne told Sports Nation after the match that he was disappointed with the opponents’ lack of fair play but commended his team’s effort.
“Our opponents are technically and physically superior to my team but I’m disappointed that they did not show fair play today.  My team need to work on their level of fitness which was a concern in this encounter,” coach Jeanne said.

As for the Ugandan head coach Mathius Lule he was obviously pleased with the result and sympathised with the Seychelles team.

“We tried our level best to win this match and I’m pleased that we dominated and this is a result of our good preparation.  I do admit though that my players should have shown more fair play for the first goal. Overall though I’m satisfied with the result against an opponent who is lacking in technical and tactical9 ability,” the Ugandan coach said.
The Seychelles under-17 selection will travel to Uganda for the return leg in a fortnight.

R. J-L