Attendance : 1 500 (free entry) - referee : M. Dumoulin
Booked : Santos (77) - Tchana (7 & 25)
Sent off : Tchana (25)
RED STAR : Bousseliou, Sahridj, Carles, Kor, Santos, Hamdane, Lakrout (Fissirou71 ), Delaneuville (Ribeiro 65), Sylla (M'Boungou 60), Nemouthié, Doumbya. Coach : M. Ousfane
AUBERVILLIERS : Hadjara, Tchana, Dehoum, Poupeau, Bououden, Landre, M'Bock, Robert, Souloy (Si Larbi 81), Karchaoui
BACK TO BAUER....
Red Star made their much-vaunted return to the mythical Stade Bauer on Saturday, but the party spirit didn't extend as far as Aubervilliers just lying down and letting Red Star steamroller all over them. Worse than that, the whole thing could have been totally ruined by the attitude of certain people.
In truth Red Star should have buried a very poor Auber side, who to their credit defended admirably, despite the handicap of having to play for over an hour reduced to ten men following the sending off of a defender. In fact Auber came damn close to spoiling the party in the dying seconds, only Santos' presence on the line prevented disaster.
Truth be told, Red Star had enough chances to win the game ten times over - but ineptitude in front of goal let them down. In the first half Sylla should have had a hat trick, but missed the easiest of chances then had two good efforts go just wide. Red Star wasted a bucketful of good build-ups by going for the spectacular from between twenty and thirty yards out, or just simply by greediness and not wanting to pass the ball to a better-placed striker. Of course everyon wanted to score the historic first goal at Bauer, but then agan...
Red Star had numerical superiority following two yellows in rapid succession handed out to the defender Tchana - the first for booting the ball away at a free kick, the second for a late but not dangerous challenge on Julien Carles.
Entry was free at Stade Bauer - the fifteen hundred who turned up certainly made for a greate atmosphere, light years away from the sterility of Marville. But, once again certain people threatened to spoil the party. Firstly the sign at the entrance of the ground banning "cameras and other dangerous objects" from the stands - who in their right mind is going to lob a five hundred quid Nikon at the ref or the opposition ? The Red Star man on the door tried in vain to block our photographer from passing, but had to concede defeat in the face of a hostile crowd. Good. One-nil to the "real" supporters. Then, on entering the stands another shock - a banner hung behind the goal, just at the side of the players tunnel reading "Valck out" and signed "The true supporters".. a reference to the French webmaster of this site. No-one for miles around the banner - even the Kop boys, who have had run-ins in the past with M. Valck and who might have borne a grudge were stood with us - they had nothing whatsoever to do with the offending (and offensive) article. Totally pathetic, the banner - hardly good for the image of a "Friendly Club". One can suppose the people behind it...
So, in response the fans hung banners saying "Bras and Castejon resign" and suchlike made out of paper from the fences, only for one of the Red Star entourage come across and tear it down... then he took some photos of the crowd behind the banner - no doubt for a "rogues gallery"... even more pathetic...
In response the fans got behind the players and gave them support like they'd probably never had before - the noise was pretty impressive and must have encouraged the Red Star youngsters.
Red Star need a striker capable of putting away the chances and half chances. That is obvious. But, we will never knock the players - they only play to their limits, and their commitment to a hopless cause cannot be faulted. Let it be said.
One bright point - the debut of defender Andersson Kor - robust, he never put a foot wrong all game. Solid in the tackle, reasonably quick for his size, he could be the one to bring stability to the defence, who in reality were only threatened once.
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