CFA round 9
Saturday 11th October 2008
RED STAR 1 LE HAVRE RESERVES 1 (1-1)
Atendance : 1 100 - referee : Cédric Bossuges assisted by Malik Mebarki & Bruno Manouelian
Goals : Negreche (35) - Naboumane (18, pen.)
Booked : Donzelot (18), Delaneuville (84) - Hanin (45 + 1), Rakotoharisoa (90)
Substitutions : Ayad by Yosri (81) - Dagrcamendes by Abale (46), Bouaola by Rakotoharisoa (67), Chalali by El Baillal (75)
RED STAR FC 93 : PINOTEAU (1), DONZELOT (2), EKWALLA-ESSAKA (3), METE, cap. (4), FOURNEUF (5), MATINGOU (6), ONGMAKON (7), DELANEUVILLE (8), NEGRECHE (9), ZAHIRI (10), AYAD (11). Subs : YOSRI (12), CIRELLI (13), DIAGOURAGA (14), NDIAYE (15), BERTRAND (16). Coach : CICCOLINI
LE HAVRE B : VANHAMEL (1), MARY (2), HANIN (3), POLICE (4), FRANQUEVILLE, cap. (5), LEBOURG (6), NABOUMANE (7), BOUAOLA (8), DACRAMENDES (9), CHALALI (10), FONTAINE (11). Subs : ABALES (12), RAKOTOHARISOA (13), KANABIYIK (14), EL BAILLAL (15), BOUCHER (16). Coach : LIPKA
Red Stars' youngsters add their voices to Red Stars' support
UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OJECTS
At around seven o'clock CET your correspondants' attention was drawn from a rather uninspiring match to a strange object floating high in the evening skies over the northern Paris suburbs. With the aid of a reasonably powerful telephoto lens, your correspondant, the groundsman at Stade Bauer and two stewards still were having difficulty identifying the suspected UFO, gathering height as it flew over Bauer. The last explanation was a cluster of inflatable baloons lost by some unfortunate balloon seller probably mourning the loss of a sizeable portion of his assets... Whatever, this activity proved to be far more interesting that the match of football going on several hundred feet below, in Saint-Ouen. "Come in numbers to the match - bring a friend" announced the club in the week leading up to the game. Unfortunately the encounter between two of the oldest clubs in French football failed to live up to the billing and petered out into a dull 1-1 draw.
Red Star had weathered out an early Norman onslaught to dominate proceedings before slipping behind to a penalty on twenty minutes. A fine shot from long distance was met by an equally fine stop by Red Stars' Xavier Pinoteau. As the ball dropped, two Le Havre players and a Red Star man followed up and in the resulting chaos, a penalty was awarded, rather harshly it appeared from long distance. Did the two Havrais get in each others' way ? Was a shirt tugged ? Was someone bundled over ? In any case, Donzelot went into the book and the ball into the net from the boot of Naboumane (0-1).
To their credit Red Star got back into the game straight away, a couple of shots zipped over the bar and Le Havres' defence had to work for their money. Fifteen minutes later Red Star were rewarded for their endeavours. A slick build up led to Taïmmy Negreche driftng into the visitors' penalty area. A nice one-two with the lively Jamel Zahiri, then a somewhat tame shot from NEGRECHE that managed to escape the grasp of Vanhamel and into the net, to the joy of the home supporters. (1-1).
From then on Red Star huffed and puffed their way forwards without really making any impression on the Le Havre defence. In fact Vanhamel didn't have a shot to deal with for the rest of the first half. Several attempts flew harmlessly wide or were blocked by a defender. Half time came as something of a relief, hoping that the next forty five minutes would bring better fayre. As it was the UFO incident dominated the drab proceedings on planet Earth.
So what about Red Star version 2008-2009 ? Initially it had to be said that the standard of play was higher than last seasons, at least in terms of technical ability. Red Star moved the ball around nicely, players made space and there was movement off the ball. Everything appeared to be coming down the right hand side, however and at one point one was left wondering if Red Star were afraid of going near the empty terracing on the popular side.
The players... the outstanding player, candidate for man of the match was defender Solyho Mete. It beggars belief how FC Nantes could have let this boy go. Captain for the day, he was exemplary and gave a faultless performance, whether it be in defence, or as a striker, a role he played for the last twenty minutes. Messrs Fourneuf and Delaneuville have played at a higher level and it shows - they have made progress since leaving Saint-Ouen and it is good to see them back again. Yoann laboured a bit in the closing stages, but then again he had worked his socks off earlier in the game. The defence didn't give that much away, and the underrated Luc Ekwalla-Essaka turned in a quietly confident performance. Pinoteau stood in for Yoann Djidonou and did what he was called upon to do, and came close to stopping the penalty. Jamel Zahiri was at the heart of movements going forwards, Taïmmy Negreche finally found the net but as effectively a lone striker Maxime Ongmakon had one of those games and will be glad to forget this one. Big Frank Matingou played a good first half, but Yacine Ayad had a tendancy to drift in and out of the game, and tonight his crossing from the right just wasn't up to scratch. Pity.
A lot of work to be done, Red Star still aren't out of it, a good run will put things on track. Six points behind Viry isn't insurmountable, especially as the two sides meet at Bauer in November. On the other hand Racing are only four points behind. This is a topsy-turvey division with only maybe Viry having a good run at the moment. Red Star need to start scoring goals and quick - seven goals from nine games is pitiful. The defence is fine, one of the best in the league, but let's get some scored at the other end please !
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