Football: SeyPearl first division league |31 August 2019

St Michel edge Red Star Defence Forces

St Michel got the better of bitter rivals Red Star Defence Forces in a hard fought 1-0 triumph at Stad Linite in a SeyPearl first division league match on Thursday afternoon watched by quite a large crowd.

This was a fiercely contested battle and St Michel had the upper hand from the kick-off and took the lead as early as the 7th minute from two corners lofted by Malagasy Oliver Livakely. The first corner was cleared by Errol Bacco but Livakely floated the second onto the head of Julio Brown who beat goalkeeper Audrick Hortense despite defender Andrew Onezia desperately trying to clear the ball as St Michel went ahead 1-0.

St Michel continued to boss this half though there was little goalmouth action as the players fought hard to cancel out each other and St Michel suffered a double setback when their captain, Malagasy Hassan Aly pulled up with a hamstring injury in the 39th minute and minutes later his midfield partner Nigel Hoareau also had to leave the pitch with Malagasy Francis and Nelson Laurence slotting in to maintain their team’s advantage at half-time.

Red Star Defence tried to bolster their attack with the entry of Marcus Maria in the second period to try and support Darrel Damoo but it was the players of coach Nigel Moustache who nearly stretched their lead in the 52nd minute when Jimmy Bijoux fed Livakely who played a neat one-two with Malagasy Evariste before he rifled at goal but the ball ricocheted off the crossbar as the army team rode their luck.

Three minutes later, Evariste curled a corner in the penalty area where Livakely headed across goal to Norris Bibi who looked odds on to score but defender Laurel Ladouce made a last gasp clearance.

Norris Bibi had another better chance in the 69th minute after some great skills by Livakely to elude two defenders to pull the back to him but his left foot shot was blocked by Ladouce.

St Michel though looked to have been denied a valid goal in the 77th minute when Evariste released Francis with a beautiful through ball and he out sped the defence to slot the ball home but the goal was bizarrely disallowed as assistant referee Gerald Pool had flagged for a suspicious offside decision in a match where referee Kerens Yocette struggled to keep abreast of this quite physical battle.

As for Red Star Defence Forces, who had struggled to create any scoring opportunities throughout this match, they had a half chance in the 93rd minute from Daniel Maillet’s deep corner kick was met by defender Michel Souris’ header but Yannick Manou cleared the danger as St Michel registered a rare win on the army team which pleased their manager Andrew Jean-Louis who praised his players for this gutsy performance.

“It was a very physical contest but we played well and managed to contain our opponents who failed to get a sniff of goal and it was very important to start the league campaign with a victory which we achieved against a tough opponent despite losing two key players in the first half,” manager Jean-Louis told Sports NATION.

As for the Red Star Defence Forces coach Nigel Freminot, he was extremely unhappy with his team’s performance as they failed to match their opponents who were more determined in every department.

“I’m very disappointed with my team’s performance as we never got going and even if we made some tactical switch at half-time, the players failed to respond to the challenge but I will assume responsibility as coach of this poor showing and the loss,” claimed coach Freminot.

R. J-L.