AS Gatineau, Montreal Centre Draw Even In Saturday Showdown

After two weeks of dominating wins over Boreal FC and Revolution FC that shot AS Gatineau out of relegation territory, Les Gatinois returned home this past Saturday to take on CS Montreal Centre in another test of skill against one of the league’s best.

Coming into Week Nine of the Ligue2 Quebec season, CSMC had been making a name for themselves as one of the stronger rosters in the newly-created second tier of Quebecois pro-am footy. Sitting at a 6W-1D-1L record – with the solitary loss coming by way of a forfeit due to an unregistered bench staffer – the Montrealers have torn through every one of their opponents and were only three points out of first place come Saturday’s meeting.

Their hosts on the other hand have faced a bit more of a turbulent season, as Gatineau bounced from the bottom third to the middle third of the table several times. Since Northern Tribune visited them last for their home opener against Union Lanaudière, Les Gatinois went on a three game point streak picking up two draws and a their first win over CS Braves d’Ahuntsic, albeit those came coupled with several disappointing losses as well.

All in attendance knew that it was due to be an entertaining affair as CSMC visited Le Terrain du Carrefour for their only time in 2025, but even the mixed martial arts fans present would have been elated by the intensity and aggressiveness on display. Within the first 45′ and there has already been more bookings than scoring chances, including a red card for ASG’s Alexis Vandenplas after he came in hard from behind on Montréal’s Léo Bouder.

Despite dropping to 10-men, Gatineau carried on dominating possessions as they had at the start of the first half, with several beautiful runs only being negated by an undisciplined front line who drew six offsides in the first 45. Amongst those chances that were not thwarted by CSMC’s offside trap was a 17′ rush down the left-field side by Ange Tanke Keuya, whose cross-box feed slipped through the legs of four defenders but trickled out of play on the far side with no one to receive it.

Switching into the second half and a tired, out-manned ASG fell back into a more defensive posture, allowing for the visitors to take the majority of the chances. And take they did, threatening keeper Anthony Dupuis on several occasions in which the man-advantage provided them an open body to nearly tap home the go-ahead goal.

Come the final 20 minutes of the match and the atmosphere had only grown in intensity and frustration as either side looked for the potential winner. Things ultimately boiled over in added time following a serious challenge by ASG’s #5 Mamadou Bah which led to the mass confrontation pictured above.

By the time referee Jeremy Laroche and Assistant Referee Laurent Cousineau were able to separate the players, an additional three yellow cards had been handed out between the two teams, bringing the total match bookings to nine. With the extra bookings in the referee’s book, the final whistle would come shortly thereafter, leaving the teams to split the points on a nil-nil scoreline.

Speaking after the game, CS Montréal Centre Head Coach Vincent Orsida spoke to his displeasure with his side’s inability to convert.

“We played a very serious game but what was revealing is that we didn’t work hard enough for the win,” said Orsida. “It’s all in the details… one red changes the game and a second red would have changed the game even more. Despite this, we needed to play harder.”

Oppositely, the Captain of AS Gatineau, Bila Dicko-Raynauld was impressed by his side’s resoluteness and unity in how they changed their play style after going down to 10 men.

“Right after the red card, we had to regroup and change our attack plan quickly. We had to adapt our mentality to a defensive mindset,” said the Captain. “Every game has a story and we didn’t want the red card to define this match… I think we played with solidarity and in a compact but complete manner.”

When asked about the change in tempo in the second half, Dicko-Raynauld believed that the building of their attack lacked due to the missing 11th-man despite his team’s good ball skill. “We just couldn’t hold onto the ball as much as we would have liked. As captain, I have to push everyone harder because when you got a red card, everyone has to give that 10% more to make up the difference.”

Both teams return to action next week with Gatineau hitting the road while Montréal Centre return to North Island for Week 10 in L2Q action. Les Gatinois will take on CS Boucherville on the south shore as the 2W-2D-4L Express look for three more points after going winless in their last five.

The Montrealers host the St-Jerome Ambassadeurs at the Complexe Sportif Claude-Robillard come Friday night. The Ambassadeurs will be seeking to bounce back after a heartbreaking two-nil loss to the league-leading Révolution FC last Saturday.

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[Author’s note: the interviews with AS Gatineau Captain Bila Dicko-Raynauld and CS Montréal Centre Vincent Orsida were conducted in French and then translated from French to English for the purposes of this article.]