Football: SeyPearl Premier League |14 December 2019

Red Star Defence Forces striker, Malagasy Tojo (with ball) struck a hat-trick to sink St Michel

Red Star Defence Forces halt St Michel’s bandwagon

Red Star Defence Forces halted St Michel’s bandwagon with Malagasy Tojo netting a hat-trick in a crushing 6-2 victory over the SeyPearl Premier League leaders at Stad Linite on Thursday afternoon in a highly fascinating encounter.

The onus was on St Michel to win and open up an eight-point gap at the top of the league standings but Red Star Defence Forces had a point to prove especially assistant coach Joel Lesperance who was deputising in the absence of head coach Cliff Nolin.

St Michel though made a better start to this eastern derby as Norris Bibi drove at the army team’s defence in the 7th minute but he delayed to cross and his shot was blocked by goalkeeper Danny Larue.

Two minutes later, St Michel created another clear chance from Malagasy Oliver Livakely’s superb through ball to colleague Francis but he faltered when face to face with the army team’s goalkeeper as he lost his footing.

Red Star Defence Forces broke the deadlock with their first chance when their former defender Travis Quatre gave the ball away and the ball was played quickly to Malagasy Tojo who unleashed a fantastic dipping shot from 25 metres out which sailed over a badly positioned goalkeeper Alvin Michel to make it 1-0.

St Michel had yet recovered when they conceded again from a spread out pass by Tojo to Darrel Damoo who galloped down the left to centre to Malagasy Clariel who had sneaked in behind captain Alex Nibourette’s back and he adjusted himself to shoot at goalkeeper Michel who spilled the ball and Tojo latched onto the loose ball to stab it home for a 2-0 lead.

St Michel reduced the arrears in the 22nd minute from Livakely’s second consecutive corner which glanced off the head of Red Star Defence Forces midfielder Rashim Padayachy at the near post to find refuge in the net for a 1-2 score.

Malagasy Evariste had two gilt-edge opportunities to level the score before the interval but his first was narrowly wide and his second was fumbled by goalkeeper Larue but Francis was signaled for offside as he tried to force the loose ball for a 2-1 score at half-time.

St Michel, who had left out their Malagasy playmaker Hassan Aly in the starting line-up for missing training, sent him on in the 55th minute to replace Evariste but it was Red Star Defence Forces who struck again on the hour mark from Tojo’s pinpoint corner which was met by a brilliant bullet Damoo header which crashed into the roof of the net to make it 3-1.

St Michel reacted by pushing defender Manou in attack and Nigel Hoareau filling the void in defence and they had a good spell as they pressed their opponents and found a lifeline in the 72nd minute from some cracking skill by Norris Bibi who went on a slalom run past three defenders and then smashed the ball past goalkeeper Larue to make it 2-3 for a beautiful solo goal.

St Michel then committed defensive suicide as they let in Tojo who latched onto a long ball to race clear and slot the ball past goalkeeper Michel in the 75th minute to complete his hat-trick as well as his 17th individual goal in the league for a 4-2 scoreline.

A minute later, Padayachy slipped a glorious through ball to the overlapping substitute Errol Bacco who bore on goal but his shot was blocked by goalkeeper Michel as Red Star Defence Forces threatened to ran riot with their speed in attack which troubled their opponents.

In the 84th minute, St Michel defender Julio Brown’s poor pass fell to substitute Marcus Maria who weaved his way on goal and let fly a low left foot shot which crept in at the far post beyond goalkeeper Michel’s reach for a 5-2 score..

St Michel though did not give up and in the 87th minute, Manou did well to make space and cross to Francis but the Malagasy striker could not direct a free header on target.

Red Star Defence Forces put the icing on the cake of a magnificent victory with the last kick of the game when Brown was dispossessed by defender Aubrey Farabeau who then headed on goal before unselfishly feeding Damoo who blasted the ball home for his brace and a very convincing 6-2 triumph which delighted their manager Philip Barbé who praised his players for a top class performance.

“We were determined to begin the second round of the league on a positive note especially as we started slowly in the first and we really wanted a win and the players performed beyond expectation to register a great win as we made the most of our opponents’ defensive mistakes which helps us to get back in the title race,” said Red Star Defence Forces manager Barbé.

As expected, St Michel manager Andrew Jean-Louis was very disappointed with the capitulation of his team especially in the second half to record a heavy loss.

“It was a poor performance especially in defence where we were ball watching and lacked focus but we also made the wrong gamble to push Yannick Manou in attack at 1-3 which left us lacking in pace in defence which was well exploited by our opponents with their speedy strikers but we will try to bounce back straight away,” St Michel Manager Jean-Louis told Sports NATION.

R. J-L.