Football: Union des Fédérations de Football de l'Océan Indien (UFFOI) Girls’ U-17 tournament Four defeats in as many matches for Seychelles |21 December 2019
The final standings The Seychelles team
The Seychelles Under-17 girls’ selection concluded their Mauritian adventure at the Union des Fédérations de Football de l'Océan Indien (UFFOI) Girls’ U-17 tournament which ends today without a single point after four matches played.
Our girls conceded four defeats in as many matches played at the five-team tournament which was played on a league basis.
Other than Seychelles, the tournament which took place at the St François Xavier stadium in Port Louis featured hosts Mauritius, Reunion, Comoros and Mayotte. In their opening match against Mayotte which was also the tournament’s inaugural match, the young Seychelles selection managed to take the lead in the 21st minute through Avril Ally, before Mayotte levelled matters in the 35th minute of play through Yousrah Boinamri to conclude the first half on a 1-1 draw.
Mayotte however managed to score their winner in the 59th minute through Koulthoum Hamidouna to snatch all three points.
In their second encounter, the girls were up against hosts Mauritius and they found themselves behind in the 39th minute when Nadielle Leveille opened the score, putting the Dallons 1-0 up.
Seychelles managed to hold their defensive line, preventing Mauritius from scoring to conclude the first half with the one goal deficit.
Inspired by their good enough performance in the first half, Seychelles came out stronger in the second period, shocking the hosts with an equaliser from Pria Joseph in the 47th minute.
The Seychelles defence however finally cracked late in the second half, allowing Mauritius to score three goals, including a brace from Anne-Laure Minerve.
Minerve’s first goal came in the 63rd minute for a 2-1 lead, before Jerusha Ramasawmy put Mauritius 3-1 up with another goal in the 81st minute. Minerve completed her brace in the 87th minute, adding a fourth goal for the hosts for a 4-1 home victory.
Seychelles’ third match of the tournament was scheduled against Reunion and to the surprise of everyone, our local selection failed to turn up, handing their opponents a victory by walkover.
According to Lewis Madeleine who is leading the delegation, Seychelles had to pull out of the match due to injuries and sickness in the team.
He added that some of the players were not allowed to play by the organisers as they were below the minimum age limit. An issue which is regarded as unintelligent since the local football federation received the age criteria along with the registration documents.
Some of the players also suffered from dehydration.
In their last match yesterday, Seychelles played against the Comoros and suffered yet another defeat. Our girls lost their match 1-3.
They are presently carrying the weight of the five-team league table without a single point.
Roland Duval