Football: SeyPearl Premier league |17 February 2020
LightStars shatter Foresters’ unbeaten run
Praslin outfit LightStars came from behind to shatter Foresters’ SeyPearl Premier League unbeaten run with a hard fought 3-2 victory at Stad Linite, while on Friday evening, Red Star Defence Forces bounced back to beat St Louis 3-2.
LightStars break Foresters’ unbeaten run
Praslin side LightStars came from behind twice to shatter Foresters’ 14-match unbeaten run in a 3-2 triumph at Stad Linite on Saturday afternoon.
The onus was on the Mont Fleuri-based team to go for the win which would have propelled them to the top of the league albeit for 24 hours.
The players of coach Harold Hoareau made a solid start in the bright sunshine and Nigerian striker Kazeem Adeyeri nearly punished LightStars goalkeeper and captain Romeo Barra in the 12th minute when he charged down his clearance but the ball rolled agonisingly wide.
Adeyeri though got the better of goalkeeper Barra two minutes later from a quick throw-in by Collin Francourt to Brandon Labrosse who showed great skill to elude Ricko Julius in a tight spot before threading the ball to Adeyeri who beat goalkeeper Barra at his near post to make it 1-0.
In the 25th minute, captain Martin Williams floated a corner which Adeyeri retrieved and his shot on the turn inside the penalty area flew just wide.
Three minutes later, Malagasy Jean Tigana picked out Adeyeri, who looked offside but was not signalled, with a long ball but goalkeeper Barra was quick off his line to thwart the danger.
LightStars reshuffled their pack on the half hour mark and in came Bertrand Lablache in place of Heddy Esther to try and stop the wing play of their opponents.
Foresters though were still in the driver’s seat and in the 36th minute, Adeyeri beautifully chest trapped a long ball played by goalkeeper Kitson Cecile into the path of Labrosse who slipped a pass to Ryan Henriette who looked odds on to score but disappointingly shot in the side netting.
LightStars stunned high flying Foresters on the stroke of half-time when Chris Uranie played a teasing ball behind Foresters’ defence to Malagasy Paul Bruyelle who caught goalkeeper Cecile in no man’s land as he rammed the ball into an empty net for a 1-1 score at half-time.
Foresters though restored their lead four minutes into the second period as Tigana battled for the ball from a corner and he back heeled the ball to captain Williams whose inch perfect cross was met by Warren Mellie’s glancing header which went in via the crossbar for a 2-1 lead.
LightStars though levelled the score once again in the 58th minute somewhat controversially as Bruyelle was guilty of fouling defender Laurence Leon but referee Eldrick Adelaide failed to penalise him allowing the Malagasy striker to sprint to the bye-line and then cut the ball back to the onrushing Renick Esther who thumped it past goalkeeper Cecile to make it 2-2.
LightStars were now in the ascendancy and in the 69th minute Bruyelle collected a long goal kick from captain Barra to lay off to Lablache but he shot across the face of the Foresters goal.
Foresters responded a minute later as Adeyeri did well to skip past a couple of tackles to float the ball to substitute Francis Nourrice at the far post and his goal bound header forced a brilliant save from goalkeeper Barra.
LightStars set the cat among the pigeon in the 79th minute as Fabian Albert released Lablache down the right to race into the Foresters half and send a pinpoint pass to Bruyelle who held his nerve to blast the ball past goalkeeper Cecile who could not stop the ball from rolling over the goalline despite getting a hand to it for a 3-2 score.
Foresters threw caution to the wind to try and preserve their unbeaten league run as well as at least secure a point as they played with five forwards but their best chance came in the 93rd minute from Nourrice’s inch-perfect cross to substitute Leroy Corallie but his right foot swing completely missed the ball to fluff a great scoring chance inside the penalty area and thus causing his team to suffer their first league loss in 14 matches which was a big disappointment for coach Hoareau.
“I am bitterly disappointed with the result after we started well but then lost our focus and gifted our opponents their goals through lack of concentration and we tried to play with maximum attackers and should have at least got a draw but we failed to score a clear chance in the dying minutes so it was a bad result overall,” Foresters coach Hoareau explained to Sports NATION.
As for LightStars coach Ted Esther, who just returned from a short upgrading coaching course in Germany, he praised his players for battling back to win this encounter.
“We struggled to cope with our opponents in the first half but we made a few tactical adjustments to play a better second half and I’m pleased how my players fought back twice to level the score and then go on to win all the points in a good performance,” coach Esther said.
Red Star Defence Forces bounce back against St Louis
Red Star Defence Forces bounced back from defeat in their last outing to overcome St Louis 3-2 at Stad Linite on Friday afternoon in a SeyPearl Premier League encounter.
Red Star Defence Forces had parted company with their coach Cliff Nolin after their loss to St Michel in the Airtel Cup semifinal and it was Joel Lesperance who had taken over as their third coach this season after they parted ways with coach Nigel Freminot early in the season.
Red Star Defence Forces started strongly as they took a two-goal lead over losing Airtel Cup finalists St Louis courtesy of strikes by Malagasy Jocelyn Fenosoa and Darrel Damoo but Elijah Tamboo reduced the arrears before half-time for a 2-1 score.
Jocelyn netted his second to restore his team’s two-goal cushion at 3-1 but Tamboo also bagged his brace for a 3-2 score as St Louis could not fight back to suffer their fourth defeat in the league.
R. J-L.