Football: SeyPearl Premier league |02 September 2019
Foresters (in green) held Côte d’Or to a 1-1 draw
Côte d’Or held to 1-1 draw, LightStars and La Passe win
Defending SeyPearl league division one champions Côte d’Or had to come from behind to share a 1-1 draw with Foresters at Stad Linite on Saturday afternoon, while on La Digue, Malagasy Rhino netted a hat-trick as La Passe edged Anse Reunion 3-2 and on Praslin, Revengers and Au Cap drew 1-1. On Friday at Stad Linite, LightStars defeated Northern Dynamo 2-0.
Côte d’Or draw against Foresters
Reigning league champions Côte d’Or had to fight back from a goal down to earn a 1-1 draw against star-studded Foresters at Stad Linite on Saturday afternoon in front of a decent crowd.
Foresters gave a debut to their two foreign players, namely Nigerian striker Kazeem Adeyeri who joined from St Louis though the St Louis officials do not feel this transfer was legitimate, and also Malagasy Jean Tigana who has linked up with his former coach.
The eagerly anticipated match started off with the observance of a minute’s silence in remembrance of former Foresters goalkeeper Elvis Leopold who was laid to rest last week.
Foresters made a solid start to this match as their opponents were rather cagey but they still had the best scoring chances in a half where goal scoring opportunities were at a premium.
In the 16th minute, Marcus Rose ventured forward to send a teasing cross to the overlapping Oliver Bonté who was unmarked in the penalty area but he guided his header wide.
Côte d’Or had another chance in the 43rd minute when Nigerian Peter Adeshina released Ugandan Tony Kizito but he dragged his shot across the Foresters goalmouth from a tight angle for a 0-0 score at half-time.
The second half opened up for both teams and in the 48th minute, Collin Francourt combined with Adeyeri who went for goal instead of returning the ball to Francourt who was in a better goal scoring position.
Foresters though broke the deadlock in the 50th minute when Brandon Labrosse dispossessed Rose to feed Adeyeri who showed superb poise and skill to loft the ball over goalkeeper Jean-Paul Lesperance to make it 1-0.
Côte d’Or responded immediately and were unlucky not to level matters three minutes later from Adeshina’s corner which deflected to the feet of Bonté whose stinging shot from close range grazed the crossbar.
On the hour mark, Foresters’ Labrosse played a quick throw-in to Adeyeri who darted on goal before rolling the ball to another debutant, substitute Leroy Corallie but he surprisingly shot wide when he should have hit the target from inside the penalty area.
Côte d’Or though grew in ascendancy as this match panned out and in the 76th minute, Kizito saw his glancing header from Adeshina’s floated pass sail straight into the gloves of goalkeeper Kitson Cecile.
Kizito did better in the 83rd minute against his former teammates as his header from another cross by Adeshina after Foresters cleared a corner back to him, was headed low into the net to make it 1-1.
Foresters were under a lot of pressure in defence and in the 87th minute, Perry Monnaie linked up with Kizito whose fierce low shot rolled agonisingly wide of the far post with goalkeeper Cecile at full stretch.
Côte d’Or had a great opportunity to claim all three points in the 92nd minute when they were awarded a deserved penalty for a handball against defender Vanerick Michel as he tried to stop Kizito from getting past him. Referee James Emile and his assistant Dario Landrie were convinced of the infringement despite Foresters’ complaints. Adeshina took responsibility of the spot kick but he amazingly blasted it over the crossbar as the match ended in a stalemate which was quite a relief for Foresters coach Harold Hoareau when he spoke to Sports NATION.
“We started well and went ahead and had a second chance to score which would have helped us to a win. But our opponents also showed their strength as true champions as they came at us and in the end we were lucky to get a point, but we are a new team and still adapting but we are aiming for a good season as our new players adapt,” Foresters coach Hoareau told Sports NATION.
As for Côte d’Or coach James Barra, he was disappointed his team had not secure the win after a slow start.
“We made a cautious start to this match as we did not know what our opponents had to offer but then we dominated the second half and should have won,” coach Barra said.
Rhino hat-trick inspires 10-man La Passe
Malagasy Rhino bagged a hat-trick to inspire 10-man La Passe to a 3-2 victory over their bitter rivals Anse Reunion at the La Digue playing field on Saturday afternoon.
Rhino gave La Passe a 1-0 lead but Anse Reunion were awarded a penalty by referee Emile Fred and defender Don Fanchette converted the spot kick for a 1-1 score at half-time.
La Passe were reduced to 10 men when young Assad Abdou was given his marching orders early in the second half and Anse Reunion made the most of their numerical advantage to take the lead through Stenio Ernesta for a 2-1 score.
Rhino though had other ideas as he levelled the score with a cracking long range effort to make it 2-2 and in the dying minutes, the same Rhino fired home a brilliant free kick to help La Passe win this La Digue derby on a 3-2 score
Revengers and Au Cap share the points
Revengers scored late in this match to secure a share of the points with visitors Au Cap at Stad Amitié on Saturday afternoon.
Ghanaian Jonas Baffoe had given Au Cap a 1-0 lead at half-time but former Côte d’Or defender, Malagasy Zenith scored with a header from a corner deep in injury time for a 1-1 final scoreline.
LightStars down Northern Dynamo
Praslin side LightStars defeated Transitional league champions Northern Dynamo 2-0 at Stad Linite on Friday evening.
Chris Uranie netted his first goal in the league for the players of coach Ted Esther and their Malagasy striker, Mario Ravo added a second before half-time for a comfortable 2-0 triumph for the Airtel Cup winners.
R. J-L.