Ghana Premier League corner: Is Hearts of Oak home and dry?

Accra Hearts of Oak went to the Lion’s Den in Dormaa and came back unscathed over the weekend and by that strengthened the belief to land the ultimate diadem that has eluded them in the past seven seasons.

I remember I quizzed in this same corner last week that if Hearts’ unbeaten away run could stand the might of the monstrous form of Aduana Stars or whether they will be crushed but the result after the game clearly shows that the away form of the Phobians is not a fluke if anybody had any doubt prior to the game.

Accra Hearts of Oak by this result have recorded impressive results at almost all the treacherous and slippery grounds in the league; Tarkwa, Cape Coast, Obuasi, Berekum,Techiman and Dormaa (12 points in total from a possible 18).

In the second round all these teams will trek to Accra with Hearts left to ponder on Wa and possibly Kumasi ( possibly because there is always an added impetus when the two teams clash; Kotoko and Hearts) and if competing teams have not taken anything from these results then they must be drinking palm wine on this rainy morning.

Lest I forget , it is early days yet I know you are saying but do not also write off this great of start of the Phobians and do not also forget they are still on top of the log with just 2 matches to end the first round .

Is Accra Hearts of Oak home and dry? I am asking again.

Anyways, let us get talking on the happenings in the Week 13 round of matches.

My first stop is most definitely at the Nana Agyemang Badu II Park where Aduana Stars met league leaders Accra Hearts of Oak. It was billed as the pick of the pack and it sure lived up to the billing. Yahaya “The Terminator” Mohammed went to sleep but one of the longest serving members of the team, Godfred Saka, the fiftieth goal getter of the ongoing season was in hand to give the Ogya boys the lead in the first half. But Cosmos Dauda kept the unbeaten away run of Kenichi Yatsuhashi intact after leveling the scores in the second half to end the game one goal apiece. So the status quo remained after the top two on the league log shared honors at Dormaa thus leaving Hearts of Oak on top of the log.

At the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, Coach MichaelOsei and his charges kept the Porcupine ship afloat when they secured a 1-0 win against Inter Allies FC through a spot kick converted by Amos Frimpong in second half. This win makes it four on the trot for Kumasi Asante Kotoko and needing one win to equal the longest winning streak (5 wins) set by Aduana Stars in the ongoing Ghana Premier League. With just two points separating Kotoko from the top two, the Porcupine Warriors will only have to keep winning and hope the two sides above them slip. Inter Allies FC are still without a win after sacking Coach Herbert Addo and they surely need to turn things around soon if they want to keep the premiership status

Ashanti Gold SC seems to love their marriage with drawn games since there are no signs they will be departing from that trend anytime soon. The Aboakese lads still failed to record a win at the Obuasi Len Clay Stadium when they hosted Wa All Stars in one of the Week 13 games. Ashanti Gold SC by this draw has increased their draw tally to 8 in the ongoing league. The last time they won a game before this weekend’s drawn game with Wa All Stars was on match day 8 when they beat their city rivals New Edubiase Utd by 2-1.

Justice Mensah opened the scores for Dwarfs in their Week 13 clash with Hasaacas at the Essipong Sports Stadium. His goal did not only give Dwarfs the lead but also became the 200th goal of the ongoing Ghana Premier League season. Well Justice Mensah’s 200th goal was all the Mysterious lads could savour since Hasaacas organized themselves to get back into the game. Eric Bekoe and Samuel Afful shone to give the Do boys their fifth win of the season. For Ebusua Dwarfs maybe the swift appointment of Kim Grant will do the trick

A post on the timeline of the face book account of Kurt Okraku, President of Dreams FC clearly shows the current state of the club if I am not misjudging him. The post reads “In two minds…Passion vrs reasoning. ……I need to decide which way to go. Good morning”. The imminent sack of the team’s Head Coach, C.K Akunnor has been in the media for the past two weeks with many believing the President of the club is just a trigger away from making it happen. The result over the weekend did not do CK Akunnor any good after his team surrendered a two goal lead by Lawson Bekui and Aaron Amoah to draw with CAF Cup campaigners, Medeama SC who leveled through Kwasi Donsu and Bismark Oppong. Keeping my fingers crossed to see if Passion will win over Reasoning in the words of Kurt Okraku.

West Africa Football Academy made sure they built on the midweek draw they secured at the Wa Park over the weekend against Techiman City FC at the Sogakope Park. Emmanuel Boateng gave WAFA the lead in the second half and the team ensured they protected the solitary lead till the final whistle of the referee. Techiman City FC have done badly for a first timer in the elite division. With a game in hand against Medeama SC they still have a chance of climbing up on the league log.

At Berekum, Berekum Chelsea managed to win the bragging rights against Bechem Utd when the two neighbours met in the local derby. Karim Abedi scored the only goal of the game in the second half after a howler by the Goalkeeper of Bechem Utd.




GOAL KING CHART

Yahaya Mohammed – 9goals

Latif Blessing – 9goals

Eric Bekoe – 7goals

Saddick Adams – 6goals

Samuel Tetteh of WAFA – 5goals



STATS ON PLAYERS

Justice Mensah over the weekend scored the 200th goal of the season.




HOW THEY STAND

Team MP W D L F A D P
Hearts of Oak 13 7 4 2 16 10 +6 25
Aduana Stars 13 7 2 4 19 9 +10 23
Asante Kotoko 13 7 2 4 13 9 +4 23
Wa All Stars 13 6 4 3 15 9 +6 22
Berekum Chelsea 13 6 2 5 12 9 +3 20
WAFA 13 5 4 4 14 8 +6 19
Dreams 13 5 4 4 13 17 -4 19
Techiman City 12 5 3 4 14 12 +2 18
Liberty Profes… 11 5 2 4 17 14 +3 17
Hasaacas 13 5 1 7 15 23 -8 16
Medeama 11 4 2 5 11 15 -4 14
Ashanti Gold 13 2 8 3 10 14 -4 14
Bechem United 13 4 2 7 8 15 -7 14
New Edubiase 12 3 3 6 9 13 -4 12
Inter Allies 13 2 5 6 14 16 -2 11
Ebusua Dwarfs 13 2 4 7 8 15 -7 10