Football: National Champions League |06 June 2023
FORESTERS 鈥�. National Premier League champions
Foresters crowned champions
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For锚t Noire-based Foresters are the champions of the inaugural National Champions League organised by the 91香蕉视频 Football Federation, after upsetting Praslin side C么te d鈥橭r 2-1 at home in the do-or-die match, at Stad Amiti茅, on Saturday.
Despite playing away in front of the C么te d鈥橭r crowd, Foresters were not intimidated and it took them only four minutes to open the score through Warren Mellie, following a corner by Ryan Henriette which the C么te d鈥橭r defenders failed to clear.
Foresters kept their feet on the pedal and throttled themselves closer towards being named champions when they doubled their lead in the 24th minute.
It all started from an assist, again from Henriette, this time to Brandon Labrosse who broke the C么te d鈥橭r defensive line and netted to give Foresters a two-goal cushion.
Just before half-time, the Praslin side re-constructed their play and from a good coordination they managed to reduce the score in the 44th minute of play through Malagasy Casavwavi from an Ian Vel assist.
Intensity rose higher in the second half as C么te d鈥橭r were searching for the equaliser, while Foresters were carefully holding on to their lead but they failed to score from their offensive plays.
The score remained unchanged at the final whistle which officially crowned Foresters as champions, leaving the fans and players of C么te d鈥橭r in disbelief.
Champions Foresters concluded the league campaign on 28 points from eight wins, four draws and two losses out of 14 matches played, while C么te d鈥橭r, who still have one match to play 鈥� against PTL Bazar Brothers 鈥� are still occupying the runners-up spot, having so far collected 23 points from six wins, five draws and one loss out of 13 matches played.
Foresters鈥� head coach Harold Hoareau noted that they started the match very well even though C么te d鈥橭r managed to reduce the lead.
He congratulated his team for keeping a good defensive form which allowed them to contain C么te d鈥橭r.
鈥淲e needed only a win to secure the title and the team delivered exactly that,鈥� said coach Hoareau, who further noted that Foresters are a force in 91香蕉视频鈥� football, especially after winning two league titles in three years.
To conclude, coach Hoareau noted that the road to their title win was not easy as there were many setbacks, but they kept moving forward to achieve their target.
On the other hand, head coach Basil Hoareau of C么te d鈥橭r said his team made great improvement as last year they finished last among the inner islands team.
鈥淭his season we were contenders for the league which was not the case the previous season. This is a great improvement as a team,鈥� said coach Basil Hoareau who added that their objective for the next season is to come out strong and aim for the league title.
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Neil Sirame
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