Football: Seychelles Football Federation (SFF) Cup Final |22 August 2020

Foresters’ Brandon Labrosse poses a threat to Côte d’Or in today’s final

Foresters face Côte d’Or in today’s Cup Final

SeyPearl league champions Foresters go head to head with Côte D’Or today in the SFF cup final that will be played at Stad Linite with kick off at 4pm in a match that will be broadcast live on TV to benefit football enthusiasts due to the fact that sport is now held behind closed doors in the post Covid-19 era.

It will be D-day for the Mont Fleuri-based club as they attempt the league and cup double only achieved by two other clubs since the return of club football here more than 25 years ago as history beckons for the players of coach Harold Hoareau.

Coach Hoareau has finally come good after missing out on the title with Red Star-Defence Forces last season but has made the great leap to lead his team to glory in the league and will be thirsty for more success after experiencing the winning feel he so dearly deserves for all his hard work and devotion for football over the years which has sadly not been much appreciated and recognised.

Nonetheless coach Hoareau enjoys this low profile to his work but rather lets his knowledge of the game speak on the field through the performance of his team and today he will pit his wits against one of the long serving coaches in the premier league in the shape of coach James Barra who himself will be under pressure to deliver a trophy to this top Praslin club or else he will find it difficult to keep this post if he fails to deliver this trophy to make up for losing the league crown.

Coach Hoareau has assembled a formidable force at Foresters and managed to lure Nigerian Kazeem Adeyeri from St Louis along with former Côte d’Or playmaker Malagasy Jean Tigana who has been one of the best players during this campaign in local competition and he will surely be all hyped up to put one over his colleagues from Praslin though he will need more support from Adeyeri who has not been in the best of form since the return of football after the corona break.

However Foresters have other match winners such as the exciting Brandon Labrosse and their speedy winger Ryan Henriette who was unstoppable against La Passe in the semis to cap a great performance.

But on the other side, Côte d’Or have not lost to the new league champions this season and are the more experienced side coming into the final and have classy players that can hurt their opponent such as Collin Esther if he is given space as well as Malagasy Charles Rakoto with his bags of tricks while Kassah has blistering pace that can be of concern to Foresters rearguard which is not renowned for their speed but rely on good judgment by their central defender Warren Mellie.

The clash between the new league champions and the outgoing champions, as they are also the two top teams at the end of the league, makes it the ideal final and therefore this match can turn out to be a cracker to close the season as both teams have a lot at stake in this encounter and let’s hope the best team triumph!

R.J-L