Vieux Fort South are one win away from promotion to Tier 1 of the Saint Lucia Semi-Professional Football League, after beating Roseau Valley 2-1 in the Eliminator at the Dennery Playing Field on Sunday evening.
Roseau, a team on the up in recent years, had the better of the early exchanges. But Vieux Fort South, vying to return to the upper echelons of domestic football, soon got into the running.
There was precious little between the two teams in the first half. Roseau got three straight corners, whilst Vieux Fort South had some decent passages of attacking play, especially towards the end of the first 45.
At halftime, however, every attack had been blunted, and the contest remained goalless.
The game truly sparked into life in the second period. Stephan Valty and Hemaiael Charlery had combined to lead their team to 23 goals, the most by any team in the league phase.
On the other hand, Obafemi Poyotte had anchored a team that was one of the first to wrap up qualification for the playoffs, with a solid supporting cast led by Noah ‘Lucky’ Nicholas.
The Vieux Fortians would prove the more resilient force.
In the 60th minute, Poyotte attempted to finish off a move started by Nicholas in the midfield, forcing the Roseau custodian to parry the ball. Shayan Lionel tucked into the rebound, and Vieux Fort South were off to the races.
With 10 minutes left in the piece, Poyotte took it upon himself to secure the victory for Vieux Fort. Forcing his way into the box past two defenders, he netted his sixth of the campaign to put matters beyond doubt.
With the victory, Vieux Fort South advances to Qualifier 2 on Wednesday, where they will play Anse La Raye. The winner of that match will face South Castries in the final. Both finalists will move on to Tier 1 next season.
Vieux Fort South head coach Jamil Joseph told St Lucia Times that two influential figures in southern football were uppermost in the team’s thinking on Sunday. Coach Emmanuel Bellas and manager Shenel St Louis both recently underwent medical procedures.
“Today’s game is a game of a lot of significance,” Joseph said. “Because today we were playing for coach Bellas and our manager just to keep them in high spirits, that was our plan today – fight, play, and win for them, to keep them in high spirits.
“Our game plan was to keep our pressure immediately. So the players went out and do exactly what was practiced in training, high pressure when we get the ball, attack them. Our midfield getting forward with the forwards and the same thing with the back. So we were not giving them no chance to settle on the ball. High press from the start and we continue the same way to the end of the game.”
