GHAPOHA Lift WAFU Cup

Accra,(Greater Accra) 19 Oct. Two late first half goals were enough for Tema GHAPOHA Readers, reduced to 10 in the 60th minute, to beat Juennesse Sportive Tenere (JST) of Niger 2-0 in the WAFU Cup final second leg soccer match played at the Accra Sports Stadium today to lift the trophy for the first time. GHAPOHA, the third club after Sekondi Hasaacas (1982) andKumasi Cornerstone (1987) to win the WAFU championship title in the country, scored through inside left and skipper Dan Edusei (45th) and Central defender Richard Nii Noi, two minutes inside injury time in the first half. But GHAPOHA, winning the title in their first attempt on 2-1 aggregate, having lost the first leg 0-1 in Niamey, Niger two weeks ago, did not have it on a silver platter. They had to fight tooth and nail in the dying minutes to survive an onslaught by JST, who never give up hope till the last whistle. Mr Dieng Ousseynou, Chairman of WAFU and Nana Sam Brew Butler out-going Chairman of the Ghana Football Association jointly decorated the players with gold medals and later presented the trophy to skipper Edusei. It was JST who kicked off after the pre-match inspection led by Colonel George Brock but it took the two sides over 10 minutes to settle down. The visitors relied on fast breaks and long passes to their two dangermen, right winger Saibou Abdoul-Magid and midfielder Tahirou Saley, who gave the defencemen of GHAPOHA lot to worry about in vital area. The harbour boys took control of the game mid-way in the first half and could have scored not less than four goals but they wasted all the chances through erractic shooting upfront. In the 22nd minute, with only goalkeeper Jean-Conlar Louis beat, left winger Robert Amoako header off target. JST nealy caused a surprise two minutes later when a two-man move between Saley and Saibou split-opened the Ghapoha defence but Saibou's final effort went off target. Saibou, in the 34th minute, hit the inner side of the upright with a powerful strike from a freekick outside the penalty area but the rebound was wasted. GHPOHA repulsed the challenge and when it all looked like the first half was going to end in draw, Edusei and Nii Noi scored a goal each in three minutes for the Tema boys to take 2-0 half time lead. Striker Isaac Botchway picked the ball outside the centre circle, raced to the "18" and lobbed it to Edusei at the far right corner of the box for him to head home the first goal on the stroke of half time. Cheered on by the fairly large crowd, Botchway again sent a similar lob to overlapping Nii Noi who also nodded it in two minutes inside injury time. But GHAPOHA had to play with ten men for well over 30 minutes when Nii Noi was shown the red card for intensionally stepping on the head of an opponent. From then on GHAPOHA came under severe pressure but veteran goalkeeper Edward Ansah and his defencemen were able to weather the storm till Burkina Faso FIFA referee Banao Seyddu whistled off the match. Lined-up (GHAPOHA): Edward Ansah, Ricahrd Darko, Jeddy Botchway/Alex Awuah, Kofi Amposah, Ricahrd Nii Noi, Michael Ofori, Joseph Mills/Dan Turkson, Ben Kwame, Isaac Botchway, Dan Edusei, Robert Amoako. Juennesse: Jean-Conlar Louis, Issoufou Harouna, Seydou Haboubacar/Moussa Tekoura, Djobo Kpari Bassirou, Tahirou Saley, Aminou Saibou, Saibou Abboul-Magid Adamou Ibrahim, Amebleame Kossy, Garka Abdoulaye/Abdoulaye Paraisso, Abdoul Hagid.