Football: Seychelles Football Federation (SFF) Cup |16 January 2024

Action from the Northern Dynamo/LightStars match (Photo: Neil Sirame)

Northern Dynamo makes comeback win!

Northern Dynamo are in the next round of the Seychelles Football Federation Cup following a 4-2 triumph over LightStars in extra-time last Saturday at Stad Linite after a 2-2 tie at the end of 90 minutes of play.

Glacis-based Northern Dynamo surprised LightStars and took the lead early in the first half when LightStars player Jerron Jourbert scored in his own net from a set piece.

LightStars equalised through their Malagasy player Andri Rikkot whose header hit the back of the net.

Maintaining their attacking form, LightStars doubled their lead when Joubert made amends for his earlier blunder to score in the 28th minute to give his team a 2-1 lead which they held on to until half-time.

In the second half, LightStars kept creating more chances but they failed to put the match to bed as they could not convert from inside the six-yard box.

Northern Dynamo duly punished them with an 87th minute goal to tie the match at 2-2 – a score which remained until the end of normal time, thus forcing extra-time to decide the winners.

In the first minute of extra-time, Northern Dynamo took the lead for a second time in the game after Raj scored from a rebound (3-2). Without allowing their opponents to catch their breath, Northern Dynamo kept pressing forward and a minute after taking the lead, Errol Bastienne added a fourth goal (4-2) to close the scoring for his team who picked up the win and a place in the next round.

Speaking to the media, Northern Dynamo head coach Asman Todisoa said he is very happy with the win and that they are able to move to the next phase of the tournament.

“In general, the game was not bad even though we started on the wrong foot. After we spoke to the players, they went out there and changed the game completely,” said Todisoa.

On the other hand, LightStars coach Ted Esther said they played against a Northern Dynamo team who were better than them.

“Even though we were leading in the game I was not convinced we were going to win. We were naïve in defence. It is heartbreaking to be leaving the competition early, but this is football,” said Esther.

Neil Sirame