Football: Barclays league division one - St Louis win again, La Passe surge back |20 August 2015

St Louis registered their second victory in the Barclays league division one as they breezed past Praslin side LightStars 3-0 at Stad Linite on Tuesday and La Passe also recorded a similar victory on Praslin at the Amitié Stadium against Revengers.

Melanie brace inspires St Louis

Roddy Melanie scored a brace to inspire St Louis to a 3-0 triumph on Tuesday for their second win in as many matches.

However, St Louis started on the wrong foot as their defender Damien Maria, who had been out of action for a long time, had to be substituted after only two minutes of play with a muscle pull and Yannick Julie came on in midfield pushing captain Bertrand Esther, the former LightStars skipper, back in defence alongside Nigel Freminot.

St Louis took the lead in the 17th minute. Nigerian Kazeem Sulaimon threaded a through ball to Melanie who beat the LightStars offside trap and although his teammate Kazeem Adeyeri was offside but was deemed not to be interfering with play in a bizarre offside rule, he raced clear and rounded goalkeeper Romeo Barra twice before slotting the ball into an empty net for a 1-0 lead.

Adeyeri tested goalkeeper Barra with a long range effort just past the half hour mark which he spilled but he recovered to clear the danger as St Louis dominated proceedings.

LightStars’ only chance in this half came in the 34th minute from Sergio Barra’s cross which goalkeeper Jalyl Servina failed to hold and it dropped to Malagasy Haja but the St Louis custodian did well to block the diminutive midfielder’s shot as the first half ended on a 1-0 score.

St Louis doubled their lead three minutes into the second half from another long range left foot strike by Sulaimon which crashed against the post and his countryman Adeyeri latched onto the loose ball to bury it into the net to make it 2-0.

LightStars tried to redress the balance as they brought on striker Bertrand Lablache to play alongside new Malagasy recruit Paul Bruyelle who was with The Lions early this season and also played for Côte d’Or last season.

But it was St Louis who scored again in the 76th minute somewhat controversially as the assistant referee was not well placed to award the goal.

It all started from a strong run by Adeyeri to ghost past defender Albert Rose before he centred to Melanie who headed goalwards. The ball did not appear to have crossed the goalline as it was hooked off by LightStars’ captain, Malagasy Noelson Jeannot, but surprisingly assistant referee Lusta raised his flag to award the goal although he was way off the line and referee Egbert Havelock duly obliged to make it 3-0.

Referee Havelock, who had had a decent match up to this point, then lost his way as he clearly did not blow his whistle for a blatant foul by substitute Ricko Julius on Adeyeri as he pulled his shirt in the 80th minute and minutes later failed to book another substitute Andrew Jean for a tackle from behind on the same Adeyeri.

Nonetheless, St Louis had done enough for a comfortable victory as they prepare for a tough away assignment on Saturday as they travel to La Digue to face La Passe.

“We were in total control in this match and our performance is improving as the players show more commitment. We have a tough match against La Passe where we must aim to avoid defeat as well as try to claim all the points. But for now I’m pleased with the team’s progress,” coach Patrick Cafrine told Sports Nation.

As for LightStars’ coach James Barra, he was disappointed with his team’s showing after a decent performance against Airtel Cup champions La Passe on La Digue last Saturday.

“We did not perform to the expected level as there were too many stupid mistakes which cost us dearly,” the LightStars coach said.

La Passe return to winning ways

Airtel Cup holders, La Digue-based La Passe returned to winning ways as they brushed aside Revengers to win 3-0 on Praslin on Tuesday afternoon led by a double strike by captain Archille Henriette.

La Passe had dropped vital points last week but after failing to break the deadlock in the first period, captain Henriette opened the scoring in the 56th minute before he doubled the score in the 68th minute for a 2-0 lead.

Stenio Ernesta made sure of the points with a third goal in the 83rd minute for a 3-0 victory.

The win pleased coach Bruno Saindini as he prepares for the next task on Saturday.

“It was a morale-boosting win before our difficult match against St Louis on Saturday. But I’m pleased with the win as we continue to improve our performance,” coach Saindini said.

As for Revengers coach Basil Hoareau, he was left to rue missed chances.

“We created quite a few chances in the first half but did not take them and were punished in the end.  We will now try to bounce back after two defeats when we play Dynamo this Saturday,” coach Hoareau told Sports Nation.

R. J-L.