Panther of Bangangte have lifted the 50th edition of the cup of Cameroon after snatching a 3-2 victory over Astres FC of Douala at on Sunday at the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium in Yaounde.
All proved to be in Panther’s favour when Astres were reduced to ten men just 12 minutes into the game as full defence man Eppe DIBOUNDJE was red carded for committing an arbitrary foul on one of Panther’s attackers. However the « Brazilians of Bepanda » ironically turned the statistics to their favour by slotting in the curtain raiser eight minutes later when defence man Mathias Sangou of Panther deflected an Astres free kick into his own net.
However the Panthers reacted immediately and levelled scores three minutes later through Djoumou Alain but the Brazilians again went in front before the stroke of half time through Rene Mimb. Upon resumption in the second half Panther proved threatening and orchestrated several raids in Astres 18 metre box which finally paid off at the 52nd minute when Wounkoue Mefire got the equalising goal for panther.
However Astres never really felt the pressure of being a man down as the beautifully weaved their game from their own half of the field but were rather unfortunate to have conceded a late goal just two minutes to the end of the game as Kako Rostand who had just made hid entry into the pitch slotted home the match winner for Astres 2, Panther 3.
Fans could go home satisfied with the beautiful football both teams exhibited to the delight of the head of state who presided over the finals.
