Football: SeyPearl Premier League |10 October 2019

The Côte d’Or team

Côte d’Or coast past 10-man Au Cap

2018 league champions Côte d’Or bounced back to coast past 10-man Au Cap with an emphatic 6-1 triumph at Stad Linite on Tuesday afternoon in a rescheduled match in the SeyPearl Premier League.

This match was almost postponed once again due to heavy downpour before the kick-off which made the pitch waterlog but the two teams had to wait for 30 minutes as the officials inspected the pitch and deemed it suitable for kick-off at 6pm with the reigning league champions eager to get back into action to try and put behind them the drubbing in the Confederation of African Football (Caf) Champions League to South African giants Mamelodi Sundowns in their previous match.

Côte d’Or broke the deadlock in the 19th minute from Collin Esther’s ball into space to Ugandan striker Tony Kizito who controlled well before pulling the ball back on the edge of the penalty area to Malagasy Jonas whose fierce low shot flew past goalkeeper Terence Mondon for a 1-0 lead.

Two minutes later, Kizito missed a clear chance to get on the scoresheet from a superb cross by Malagasy Kassah Voavy but he was too casual in his approach and the danger was cleared.

Au Cap thought they had a strong case for a penalty in the 25th minute when Ghanaian Jonas Baffoe’s free kick fell to Medrick Jean-Baptiste whose shot was blocked and in the impending mêlée, Baffoe latched onto the loose ball but appeared to be pushed in the back by Collin Esther as he went down in the penalty area but referee Kerens Yocette allowed play to go on.

Baffoe should have done better for Au Cap in the 34th minute when Sean Romain released him but his control let him down under pressure from Côte d’Or captain Benoit Marie.

The Praslin side extended their lead in the 41st minute as Collin Esther raced clear from 30 metres out and he rode a couple of tackles before stabbing the ball home to make it 2-0.

Au Cap conceded again on the stroke of half-time when they were down to 10 men as Marlon Sinon had left the pitch to fix his boots and Côte d’Or put a string of passes together involving Marcus Rose to Jonas who raced to the bye-line and sent in a teasing cross across the Au Cap goalmouth which Kizito tucked home to make it 3-0 at half-time.

Au Cap made two substitutions early in the second half and they should have cut the deficit in the 52nd minute from Baffoe’s cross to Marcus Louys whose shot was spilled by goalkeeper Neddy Lesperance and substitute Tyron Thomas latched onto it but amazingly fired wide.

Four minutes later, Au Cap reduced the scoreline though from a clearly offside goal as assistant referee Hensley Petrousse failed to flag. It all started from a neat build-up by the eastern Mahe club and when Thomas released Marlon Sinon, he was yards offside but as it was not indicated, he burst clear to rifle the ball past goalkeeper Lesperance for a 1-3 score.

Côte d’Or hit back immediately as they scored in the 57th minute from Collin Ester’s pinpoint free kick into the penalty area and Kassah rose higher to steer his header on target for a 4-1 score.

Au Cap were reduced to 10 men in the 69th minute when referee Kerens Yocette took a bit of time to make this big call as Collin Esther was floored but he allowed play to go for a while before blowing his whistle and then issued a straight red card to Baffoe who was alleged to have elbowed the Côte d’Or midfielder in the face and the reigning footballer of the year had to be replaced by Dine Suzette with a cut above the eye.

Au Cap still kept pushing forward though they were a man down and should have added a second goal in the 72nd minute from a quickly taken free kick by Jean-Baptiste to send Thomas galloping on goal but with only goalkeeper Lesperance to beat, he inexplicably blasted the ball wide when it looked easier to score.

The players of coach Roger Labonté had another decent chance in the 82nd minute when Jean-Yves Joseph was given too much space and his cross-cum-shot came off the crossbar with Côte d’Or riding their luck.

Côte d’Or though killed off the contest with two late goals with Suzette smashing home a loose ball in the 82nd minute after Nigerian substitute Peter Adeshina had set up Jonas whose stinging shot was fumbled by goalkeeper Mondon and Suzette punished him to make it 5-1.

On the stroke of full-time, another substitute, Perry Monnaie linked up with Adeshina who filtered a pass to Kassah who raced through to round goalkeeper Mondon and slot the ball into an empty net for his brace and a 6-1 scoreline though coach James Barra was not entirely pleased with his team’s performance in this match.

“This was not a performance we expected from the players as they did not apply what we had worked on and they missed too many easy chances but we have to be content with the three points,” Côte d’Or coach Barra told Sports NATION.

R. J-L.