CFA 2
Round 24
Saturday 8th April 2006
EVREUX 2 RED STAR 0
Attendance 250 - referee : Olivier Esneu assisted by Thierry Laurent & Bastien Gueudry
Goals : Bienfait (34), Bouffay (66)
Booked : Hannoteaux (57), Mendes (90) - Liheouel (36)
Substitutions : Van Den Berghe by Grosset (53) Benamar by Mateus (62), Bouffay by Titry (80)- Sahridj by Abrioux 62), Bayou by Bouameur (79), Liheouel by Mboma 87)
EVREUX : LEMOINGNE (1), SALOMON (2), MAZE (3), GUILLOU (4), MENDES (5), HANNOTEAUX (6), DOMINGUES (7), BENAMAR (8), BOUFFAY (9), VAN DEN BERGHE (10), BIENFAIT (11) cap. Subs : PETITJEAN (12), TITRY (13), LECLERC (14), MATEOS (15), GROSSET (16) Coach : Michel HAMEL
RED STAR FC 93 : MAMA (1), LIHEOUEL (2), DIAWARA (3), ZORGANI (4), VITALIEN (5) cap., MAKRAT (6), BOUMEDANNE (7), BAYOU (8), DABO (9), SAHRIDJ (10), LETTAT (11). Subs : ABRIOUX (12), BOUAMEUR (13), M’BOMA (14), DINANE (15), BEDDIAF (16)
Coach : Eric SANTAMARIA
Red Stars' youngsters before the kick off
EVREUX PICTURE TELLS A STORY, DON'T IT ?*
After a crazy week in which coach Girard received his marching orders and the entire first team (as well as most of the reserves) walked out in support of their beleaguered mentor, it was back to footballing action at Evreux.
Any local supporters hoping to see the Red Star regulars would have been disappointed however, as the players' strike deprived them of seeing the CFA 2 promotion contenders. Instead coach Eric Santamaria was forced to field a side made up of six under 18s and five reserve team players. Of the players on view, goalkeeper Salifou Mama is a well-known face to Red Star fans and those which stuck by the club in the dark season of 2002-2003 will remember Samir Sahridj, whose career was very nearly ended by an ugly tackle in a CFA 2 game against Aubervilliers that season. One of the Diawara brothers continued the family line of playing for Red Star and in defence alongside was Harry Vitalien, captain for the day and Liheoul, who has already featured on the teamsheet for the first XI.
Red Stars' youngsters held out for nearly thirty five minutes until the defence finally cracked from a corner, Evreuxs' skipper Bienfait living up to his name managing to evade his marker and plant a firm near-post header past Salifou Mama. Red Star did their best on a greasy surface which received a torrential downpour minutes before the kick-off but despite some enterprising play failed to find an equaliser. Nabyl Lettat was caught just offside on two occasions. Evreux could not impose their experience on the game to score further goals despite the promptings of the lively Domingues, their best player on the day along with solid defender Guillou.
As Red Star improved for the second period, finding confidence, a second set-piece goal killed off their hopes. From a corner the unmarked Bouffay powered down a header into the Red Star net. Nevertheless Red Star didn't abandon hope and Boumedanne came very close in the last few minutes when unmarked, his lob over keeper Lemoigne slid agonisingly wide of the post.
At the end of the game Red Stars' youngsters received a standing ovation from their supporters, despite the defeat. Some sloped off without acknowledging the supporters but the majority showed their respect for the fans that hade made the relatively short trip.
At half time the journalist from France 3 TV was on the wrong end of some verbal abuse from the Red Star fans, no doubt due to the somewhat distorted view of events as reported by the media. Some heated exchanges took place between supporters and the journalist.
At the final whistle, defender Demba Diawara accepted to be interviewed by the television crew.
At the back of the stand several regular first-teamers had made the journey and watched their young colleagues in action. For the clubs' management, President of Red Star FC 93 Bruno Davoine was at the game accompanied by SASP President Damien Paturle.
Finally the staff at AllezRedStar.com would like to thank the officials and volunteers at the Evreux AC club for their hospitality and the welcome we received. Best wishes and good luck to Evreux AC for the future.
* With apologies to Rod Stewart
© AllezRedStar.com 2006