Seychelles lose 2-0 in opening match of the Indian Ocean club football tournament
File Photo: La Passe players on their training ground on La Digue, Seychelles' third most inhabited island. (La Passe FC/Facebook)
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(Seychelles News Agency) - The Seychellois football club La Passe lost 2-0 to Jeunesse Sportive St Pierroise of Reunion in their opening match of the L’Union des Fédérations de Football de l’Océan Indien (UFFOI) tournament on Wednesday.
St. Pierroise’ Joel Leconte gave his team the lead in the 8th minute and Jean-Michel Fontaine made it 2-0 just before the end of the first half from the penalty spot.
La Passe’s technical adviser Marius Fanchette told SNA his team did not play up to their usual standard.
“We did not play to the best of our ability in the first half which was mostly controlled by the visitors,” said Fanchette, adding that “we conceded a goal early in the match and this affected our performance,”
Fanchette said his players were able to recover in the second half of the match.
“In the second half, we played better, although we did not concede any goals we were unable to score,” he said.
For St. Pierroise of Reunion, a French department in the Indian Ocean, this is their second victory in the Pool B of the tournament after they defeated Cercle de Joachim from Mauritius 4-1 on Monday.
The UFFOI Tournament 2016 is made up of clubs who won their respective championships for the 2014-2015 season, and La Passe qualified after they won the Seychelles Airtel Cup competition last year. The teams are divided into two groups -- Pool A and B.
The Pool B matches are being played in Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, from October 4-8 and the other group -- made up of the champions from Madagascar, Mayotte and the Comoros -- will be playing in another tournament after which the leaders of both groups meet in the final.
La Passe -- a team based on the Seychelles third most inhabited island, La Digue, will be playing their last match against Cercle Joachim of Mauritius on Saturday at 3 pm at the Stade Amitie on Praslin.
Fanchette says they are aiming for a better result.
“We have another match on Saturday which we are going to take very seriously and aimed for a better result, if not a win.”
