Football: SeyPearl Premier League |16 November 2019
Red Star Defence Forces outclass Victoria City
Red Star Defence Forces outclassed Victoria City 8-0 at Stad Linite on Thursday afternoon in a SeyPearl Premier League match as Seychelles striker Darrel Damoo and Malagasy Togo netted a hat-trick apiece.
Red Star Defence Forces made a bright start as they went ahead in the 5th minute from an inswinging free kick by Malagasy Tojo which flew past Victoria City goalkeeper Ritchie Dubel for a 1-0 lead.
However, the game then transcended into a frustrating affair for the army team as they were too slow in their approach and had only two clear-cut chances. In the 35th minute, Rashim Padayachy’s curling free kick was headed by Red Star Defence Forces’ captain Darrel Lesperance to defensive partner Laurel Ladouce but he could not force the ball past an alert goalkeeper Dubel from close range.
In the 43rd minute, Red Star Defence Forces wasted another decent opportunity from Marcus Maria’s sweeping cross but Darrel Damoo and Errol Bacco got in each other’s way as the first half finished on a narrow 1-0 score.
Red Star Defence Forces though turned on the style as they ripped apart their opponents with speed and clinical finishing as from the third minute in the second period as Damoo punished a stray pass by defender Serge Asba and he tucked home the windfall for a 2-0 score.
Damoo bagged his brace in the 53rd minute from Tojo’s well-weighted pass which beat the City offside trap and he shot past goalkeeper Dubel to make it 3-0.
In the 63rd minute, Red Star Defence Forces’ Marcus Maria picked up Aubrey Farabeau’s cross-field ball to elude his marker and unleash a stinging shot which grazed the post to roll into the net for a 4-0 scoreline.
Three minutes later, Tojo raced clear to shoot at goalkeeper Dubel who blocked the shot and the Malagasy player got a second bite of the cherry but missed the target but went down and referee Kerens Yocette pointed to the penalty spot for an apparent foul by goalkeeper Dubel. The diminutive forward sent the City custodian the wrong way from the penalty spot for a 5-0 scoreline.
Red Star Defence Forces were gifted a goal in the 69th minute when Farabeau’s deep cross was inadvertently deflected past goalkeeper Dubel and into the net by City defender Gino Naidoo for an own goal to make it 6-0.
In the 72nd minute, Red Star Defence Forces won a second penalty which was rather dubious as Maria went sprawling in the box from Ryan Louise’s challenge and the official pointed to the spot where Damoo rifled into the roof of net for his hat-trick for a 7-0 lead.
The army team wrapped up this emphatic victory with the icing of the cake in the 88th minute from Damoo’s searching ball to Tojo who left the City defence in his wake to slot the ball past goalkeeper Dubel to complete his hat-trick and an 8-0 triumph for the players of coach Cliff Nolin and their manager Philip Barbé was quite pleased with his team’s second half performance.
“We started well but after scoring, we slackened and our coaching staff had to make a few tactical adjustments for the second half which paid off to help us achieve a very good score,” Red Star Defence Forces manager Barbé told Sports NATION.
As for City coach Joel Decommarmond, who returned to the team after a short break, he was not happy with his team’s attitude and wants them to take things more seriously if they are to see a reversal in their results.
“We must adopt a more serious approach at this level or else we will continue to struggle and in this match, we did well in the first half but then we grew overconfident and were torn apart in the second half due to a lack of concentration and this is a humiliating loss,” the City coach explained to Sports NATION.
R. J-L.