Football: SeyPearl Premier League |19 October 2019
Foresters fire eight past Victoria City
Mont Fleuri-based Foresters fired eight goals past bottom club Victoria City as Martin Williams got a hat-trick on Thursday afternoon at Stad Linite to move menacingly to the top of the SeyPearl Premier League table.
Foresters opened the floodgates on a rainy day as early as the 2nd minute when Nigerian forward Kazeem Adeyeri picked up a pass form Martin Williams to thump the ball past Victoria City goalkeeper Ritchie Dubel to make it 1-0.
The goal set the tone for this match as Foresters swamped all over on their opponents and they added a second in the 16th minute after some great work by Brandon Labrosse to get the better of his marker before sweeping a cross to Leroy Corallie who scored with an exquisite flick for a 2-0 lead.
The players of coach Harold Hoareau went further up when City could not clear their lines and the ball fell to Williams just outside the penalty area and he let fly a thunderous shot which found refuge into the net for a 3-0 score.
Foresters were just superb in this half and in the 26th minute, Labrosse released Adeyeri who set up Corallie whose shot was blocked by goalkeeper Dubel and the rebound rolled to the feet of Labrosse but he could not hit the target from inside the penalty area.
Foresters though made it 4-0 in the 34th minute from an inch perfect cross by William which Corallie headed into the net for his brace and a 4-0 score at half-time.
City though showed more determination in the second period as they started well while Foresters had to replace Corallie who had a slight knock and Laurent Vel came on for the former St Michel striker who has now scored seven goals in four matches in the league since moving to this club after leaving Red Star Defence Forces.
Despite the early pressure from City, they were punished in the 62nd minute when defender Elijah Lespoir cleared the ball to Williams who rounded a defender and then beautifully lofted the ball over goalkeeper Dubel to make it 5-0.
Malagasy Jean Tigana should have extended Foresters’ lead in the 66th minute from a slip-up in midfield by City and with goalkeeper Dubel way off his line, the former Côte d’Or and Red Star Defence Forces midfielder saw his attempted lob come off the post
Six minutes later, substitute Francis Nourrice was guilty of a bad miss after Labrosse’s cross deflected off defender James David and sailed over goalkeeper Dubel and dropped to the feet of Nourrice but he inexplicably failed to tuck the ball home with the goal wide open.
City had a decent chance in the 74th minute to score a consolation goal as Jean Michel Vidot latched onto a through ball but he shot narrowly wide.
A minute later, City conceded a penalty when goalkeeper Dubel tripped Nourrice who had run onto Labrosse’s threaded pass and referee Egbert Havelock pointed to the penalty spot. Tigana stepped up to send goalkeeper Dubel the wrong way for a 6-0 scoreline.
City had another gilt-edge opportunity in the 79th minute as Vidot again raced clear but he shot straight at goalkeeper Kitson Cecile who saved easily.
Foresters scored a seventh goal in the 84th minute as Tigana chipped the ball to Williams who exchanged passes with Adeyeri to slice open the City defence before Williams stabbed the ball low into the net to complete his hat-trick and a 7-0 score.
Foresters put the icing on the cake for this biggest league win so far this season on the stroke of fulltime from another chip pass by Tigana into the path of Adeyeri who in turn lobbed goalkeeper Dubel to bag his brace and an 8-0 final score which delighted coach Harold Hoareau when he spoke to Sport NATION after the match.
“We started brightly in this match as we wanted to bolster our goals tally, but we slackened a bit in the second half as the players grew complacent but overall it is a good result and three important points,” Foresters coach Hoareau told Sports NATION.
As for his counterpart, Joel Decommarmond, he admitted that there is a wide gap between the two teams which is evident from the result.
“We have to accept that there is a gulf in difference between these two teams as we are battling to avoid relegation while they have top class players and are challenging for the league crown. But we tried our best with the players available and we will keep working hard to improve our results,” City coach Decommarmond said.
R. J-L.
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Published: 19-10-2019