The visitors from New Caledonia started strong against their Champagne-based opponents with Brice Dahité lobbing the keeper five minutes into the match after a tidy one-two play with Bertrand Kai.
High pressing and swift counter-attacks kept the pressure on the Epernay defence for the first 45 minutes with the host side forced to work hard to keep a clearly dominant Hienghène at bay.
There was then little the Epernay keeper could do as Kai sent a bullet of his own into the back of the net to give Hienghène a comfortable two goal lead going into the break.
Kai, injured a week ago during a domestic Super Ligue match, struggled throughout the match but create several more opportunities for his side to score, and was unlucky not to covert.
With one foot in the 8th Round, Hienghène still had 45 minutes to defend their lead but unfortunately the tempo they had set in the first period fell away after the half-time break allowing their opponents back into the match.
A controversial penalty and the sending off of defender Yohann Mercier in the 51st minute sent Hienghène into a spiral as substitute Maxime Deruffe scored from the penalty spot.
Hienghène coach Felix Tagawa was then sent off from his bench, and that was swiftly followed by the Deruffe’s second goal, which brought the two sides in line at 2-2.
Bouka Moutou of Epernay received a second yellow in the 73rd minute, and with it his marching orders, but the pain for Hienghène still wasn’t over.
Another controversial decision from the referee resulted in the sending off of defender Roy Kayara who was deemed to have brought down Deruffe in the Hienghène penalty area. The penalty was converted by Narjob Farssane in the 78th minute.
One of the final actions of the game was the expulsion of yet another of Hienghène’s players in the last minute of additional time.
Having watched his side go from a 2-0 lead to a 3-2 loss in the space of 45 minutes, Hienghène president Jean-Pierre Djaiwé couldn’t hide his disappointment, lashing out at the state of the refereeing as he and his players were left wondering what could have been.
For more on New Caledonia football visit www.fedcalfoot.com
Additional reporting courtesy of www.lnc.nc

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