Coton Sport lose match, still knock JSK out of Champions League

11/05/2008

JSK reached the end of the line in the African Champions League, despite their 2-1 win over Cameroon's Coton Sport on Friday. Meanwhile, play will resume on May 12th in the Algerian league.

By Lyes Aflou for Magharebia in Algiers – 11/05/08

[File] Coton Sport of Cameroon lost Friday's match against JS Kabylie but still managed to win on aggregate and will advance to the next round of the African Champions League.

Algerian club JS Kabylie was eliminated from the African Champions League on Friday (May 9th), on their return leg against Cameroon's Coton Sport. The Algerians won the match 2-1, but the score was not enough to win on aggregate after a 3-0 loss on the first leg in Garoua.

The Kabyles went all out on the offensive right from the start of the match, fielding three strikers – Derrag and Amaouche on the wings and Bensaid up front. The strategy was to apply pressure on the opposing defence and force them to make errors. The team was spurred on even further by an enthusiastic home crowd, who took the Stade du 1 Novembre by storm.

The Cameroonians, who responded with dangerous counter-attacks, gave way as early as the 6th minute, when an early goal by Bensaid sparked euphoria in the stands. JSK supporters began to entertain hopes of the four-goal victory their team needed to qualify, as promised by the club’s chairman after the first-leg match.

The Algerians created more scoring opportunities but were unable to capitalise on them due to a series of blunders near the goal. It was Coton Sport who scored next, equalising at the end of the first half, crushing the Kabyles’ hopes. The Cameroonians then got their act together with their only other scoring chance in the first half courtesy of Camilou, who had scored twice in the previous leg.

The equaliser completely deflated JSK’s fans, who soon began leaving the terraces in frustration after realising their team was locked in a losing battle. Their annoyance was due to their team’s lack of co-ordination and blunders by the strikers, but also to the vigour shown by the visitors, who proved that their comfortable 3-0 victory in the previous match had been fully deserved.

JSK scored their second goal at the end of the match on a penalty, but it wasn't enough. "JSK have to do better now in the CAF Cup, which they've already won three times before," said Kamel, a crestfallen supporter.

"Like all JSK supporters, I’m very disappointed that we’ve been eliminated," JSK Chairman Mohand Cherif Hannachi told the press. "In my opinion, the Tunisian referee wrecked our chances. I think everyone saw that the referee deprived us of two legitimate penalties during the first half. That for me was the turning-point of the match. I have to ask myself why JSK are always the victims of biased refereeing. During the first leg in Garoua the Malawian referee cut us down, and this one finished us off here," he concluded.

Coton Sport’s coach, Denis Lavagne, revelled in his team’s victory. "I’m delighted that we’ve qualified by beating JSK, who caused problems for us during the first 20 minutes of the match, which was played in a good atmosphere. My players didn’t panic after the early goal. They kept control of the match in an exemplary fashion before equalising at the perfect time, just before half-time. Camilou’s goal finished off the Kabyles, whose morale took a huge blow. The second half was a formality for us and we could even have taken the lead. Overall we played a good match and we thoroughly deserved to qualify," he said to the press.