Kotoko - 2003 League Champions

Waving white handkerchiefs to signify victory and chanting "Aba mu awie" and "Da na se", the teeming supporters of Kumasi Asante Kotoko remained rooted at the Kumasi Sports Stadium at the end of their match against city rivals King Faisal satisfied that their idol club had won this year's premier league for the first time in ten years.

Kotoko won the match 1-0 through Michael Osei's seventh minute goal when he connected home a perfect free kick from Charles Taylor.

Coach Abdul Razak shed tears of joy as the supporters carried him shoulder high for good work done.

With two more matches to go Kotoko has taken a comfortable lead on the league table and optimistic that the league trophy was already in their possession.

Kotoko had been in the wilderness since the introduction of the premier league having played second fiddle to Obuasi Goldfields who won it for three consecutive times before archrivals Accra Hearts of Oak took over and won it for six consecutive times.

Today's victory over Faisal in their match which was regarded as the game that would determine the winner of this year's league therefore came as a real relief for the club and its teaming supporters.

In a tension packed match, it was Faisal who nearly had the opener in the second minute after referee Alex Quartey of Accra had whistled for hostilities to begin but goalkeeper Louis Quainoo came out to save the situation.

Kotoko immediately took over but Frank Osei fumbled after Charles Taylor has given him a pass in the fourth minute. A minute later, Frank Osei scored but the referee disallowed the goal.

From proceedings it was obvious that Kotoko could not be denied a goal as it came in the seventh minute. Kotoko had a free kick just outside the penalty box and Charles Taylor took a perfect one to Michael Osei who connected home the opener.

Kotoko continued to probe for more goals but Faisal defence warded off their chances.

Faisal nearly equalised in the 27th minute but Frank Osei headed out Godwin Ablordey's goal bound shot.

In the 31st minute, Kwadwo Poku rounded up the defence of Kotoko but his shot was parried to a corner by goalkeeper Quainoo and the resultant corner kick was wasted.

Faisal resumed the second half fighting like wounded tigers for the equaliser but the defence of Kotoko stood gallantly as Joe Hendricks was shown the yellow card for rough play on Kwadwo Poku in the 48th minute.

Coach Razak made two quick changes sending in Edmund Owusu-Ansah for Yusif Chipsah and Stephen Oduro for Frank Osei in the 51st and 56th minutes respectively.

The substitution completely changed the pattern of play of Kotoko with Stephen Oduro and Owusu-Ansah combining beautifully with Charles Taylor they put Faisal under severe pressure as Taylor tore the defence into ribbons on many occasions but goalkeeper Suraju made spectacular saves.

As the going became tough, Faisal brought in Ishaq Debrah for Kwabena Boateng in the 68th minute and also substituted Ablordey for Joe Agyemang junior in the 70th minute.

In spite of these changes, it was Kotoko who were still on top as they took complete control of the game mesmerising the defence of Faisal with inter-positional passes but they could not increase the tally.

Kotoko brought in Shilla Alhassan for Nana Arhin Duah while Faisal also sent in Kwabena Poku for Kwadwo Poku in the 80th minute but neither side could find the net until final whistle.

Accra Hearts of Oak returned to the Accra Sports Stadium after their three match home ban with a 2-0 victory over Real Tamale United (RTU) in their 28th week match.

By the victory, Hearts maintain their unbeaten run in the league as well as a clean record over the northerners who have not won any match against the defending champions in Accra since they joined the elite soccer division.

The Tamale lads were put under constant pressure right from the onset as Hearts created some decent chances but were unable to convert them.

In the first 20 minutes, the phobians were on top, but RTU made a break a through in the 21st minute when Gilbert Ayikade moved past a host of Hearts defenders but messed up with the opportunity to open the scores.

Though Hearts maintained their dominance, RTU on two occasions in the dying minutes of the first half came close but Ayikade and Joseph Adjei failed to utilise their chances.

On resumption, Hearts introduced Nasiru Ghani for Eric Nyarko in attack and it paid off as the substitute bought more strength into the team as they created but missed three chances within nine minutes.

After an intensive pressure on the visitors, Lawrence Adjei picked a ball from Kwame Antwi in the vital area of RTU and powered it into the far angle for the first goal in the 58th minute.

In search of more goals, Hearts invaded the RTU defensive third and pinned the visitors to their own area for a long spell.

On the few occasions when the visitors managed to enter the back line of Hearts, Amankwah Mireku, Dan Quaye, Antwi and Kwabena Boafo saved the situation for their side thereby keeping Keeper Eben Dida Armah virtually on holiday throughout the game.

In one of their moves upfront, Ghani was fouled in the vital area of RTU and it resulted in an indirect free kick, which was converted by defender Dan Quaye in the 67th minute after picking a short pass from Adjei.

Both teams made substitutions to strengthen their teams after the two goals but it did not make any impact on the game, as the score line remained the same until Koforidua based referee Samuel Kwarteng brought proceedings to an end.

Okwawu Lose

Supporters of Okwawu United who could not stand the defeat of their club at the hands of Power FC in the 28th week premier league match at the Koforidua Sports Stadium went after the match officials at the end of the match and engaged the police in an open fight before they were restrained.

The fans were of the view that, the referee had cheated them in the game hence their attempt to heckle him.

Earlier, some of the supporters of Okwawu had thrown plastic chairs into the inner perimeter as a mark of protest against the trend of officiating

Okwawu who are suffering from managerial crisis as well as some poor runs in the league coupled with some deductions from their point build up had their plight worsened in the 52nd minute by Douglass Nkrumah whose shot beat Fatau Dauda in post for the only goal of the match.

Power could have won the game by two goals but wasted a penalty in the 23rd minute through Wisdom Agblezo.

This was after skipper George Tutu of Okwawu had brought down an attacker of Power in the "18" yard box.

Okwawu United put in much effort to redeem the goal but failed to take advantage of their chances.

During added time, Okwawu nearly had a gifted goal when a cross from Kobi Boateng was deflected toward goal by Bello Mohamed of Power, but his colleague Samuel Owusu responded quickly to the situation by heading the ball out after keeper Abubakar Suleman had been beaten.

Oly Beat Mines stars

At Cape Coast, a goal scored by substitute Winfred Dormon in the 80th minute enabled Accra Great Olympics to beat Mine Stars 2-1 in their premier league match played at the Cape Coast sports stadium.

After a goalless first half in which both teams failed to give good account of themselves, Accra Great Olympics plunged into a serious attack and in the process earned a spot kick when a hard pressed defender of Mines Stars brought down inside left Amui Quaye who was in a position to score in the vital area.

Class one referee Francis Osei Nsiah who handled the match awarded a penalty to Olympics for Amui Quaye to score from the resultant kick in the 64th minute.

Four minutes later, outside right, George Biara, levelled up when Olympics goalkeeper, John Adjetey, failed to make a first time save from a shot delivered by inside right Kwabena Kankam in the 69th minute.

The game then became a ding-dong affair until the 80th minute when Dormon rounded up two Mines Stars defenders in a row and scored the match winner.

Lions Mull Stay Cool

Visiting Stay Cool Professionals succumbed to a 3 -0 drabbing in the den of Kpando Heart of Lions in their Kinapharma Premier League match played at the Kpando Sports Stadium.

The first goal of the match came in the 11th minute when Tetteh Yugauard in post for Stay Cool accidentally threw the ball unto the path of Lion's Eric Atikpe to open the scores.

Lions doubled the scores in the 71st minute through Lawson Bueke in a goalmouth scramble.

In the 82nd minute, Martey Moro managed to score the third through a free kick just outside the penalty box after a foul on Awal Mohammed.

Bofoakw Draw

Bofoakwa Tano on Sunday played a goalless drawn game with visiting Obuasi Goldfields in their second round Kinapharma league match at the Coronation Park in Sunyani.

The match could aptly be described as the poorest encounter since the resumption of the second round of the league as the performance of both sides was nothing to write home about, whilst the sense of judgement of Referee Elvis Nii Adjei was suspect.

This situation made the few spectators who watched the match to leave at the end of it all with drab and disappointing faces.

The only interesting part of the 90-minute encounter was when adroit dribbler Ofosu Amoah of Goldfields entered in the second half and he thrilled the spectators with his characteristic delightful ball control movements.

Earlier in the first half Emmanuel Nkrumah of Bofoakwa missed a ninth minute goal chance when after receiving a pass and without any opponent in sight he woefully shot over the bar.

Goldfields nearly took the leader in the 15th minute but a hard-pressed Bofoakwa defender timely intercepted and passed the ball to goalkeeper Ransford Cudjoe to grab.

Some supporters and players of the Obuasi team thought the goalkeeper should not have used his hands to catch the ball but were disappointed when Referee Nii Adjei interpreted that the keeper's action was in conformity with the rules of the game since the defender used the thigh and not the foot.

The referee also ignored several infringements that should have attracted the yellow card and instead gave verbal cautions which also accounted for rough-house-tactics most of the players adopted to add to the disappointment of the spectators.

As if he was pricked to ensure that sanity prevailed, the referee for once flashed the yellow card in the 42nd minute against Emmanuel Nuhey of Bofoakwa for rough play.

Goldfield's Ofosu Amoah also tasted a similar fate for a similar offence and despite substitutions made, neither side could find the net till the final whistle.

Bofoakwa Tano on Sunday played a goalless drawn game with visiting Obuasi Goldfields in their second round Kinapharma league match at the Coronation Park in Sunyani.

The match could aptly be described as the poorest encounter since the resumption of the second round of the league as the performance of both sides was nothing to write home about, whilst the sense of judgement of Referee Elvis Nii Adjei was suspect.

This situation made the few spectators who watched the match to leave at the end of it all with drab and disappointing faces.

The only interesting part of the 90-minute encounter was when adroit dribbler Ofosu Amoah of Goldfields entered in the second half and he thrilled the spectators with his characteristic delightful ball control movements.

Earlier in the first half Emmanuel Nkrumah of Bofoakwa missed a ninth minute goal chance when after receiving a pass and without any opponent in sight he woefully shot over the bar.

Goldfields nearly took the leader in the 15th minute but a hard-pressed Bofoakwa defender timely intercepted and passed the ball to goalkeeper Ransford Cudjoe to grab.

Some supporters and players of the Obuasi team thought the goalkeeper should not have used his hands to catch the ball but were disappointed when Referee Nii Adjei interpreted that the keeper's action was in conformity with the rules of the game since the defender used the thigh and not the foot.

The referee also ignored several infringements that should have attracted the yellow card and instead gave verbal cautions which also accounted for rough-house-tactics most of the players adopted to add to the disappointment of the spectators.

As if he was pricked to ensure that sanity prevailed, the referee for once flashed the yellow card in the 42nd minute against Emmanuel Nuhey of Bofoakwa for rough play.

Goldfield's Ofosu Amoah also tasted a similar fate for a similar offence and despite substitutions made, neither side could find the net till the final whistle.

In another league match played at Berekum, local Arsenals licked visiting relegation-haunted B.A. United 1-0.

In another league match played at Berekum, local Arsenals licked visiting relegation-haunted B.A. United 1-0.

Other Results

 Lions       3 - 0    Stay Cool 
 Hearts      2 - 0  Real Tamale United
 Mines Stars 1 - 2   Olympics 
 Power FC    1 - 0  Okwawu United
 Kotoko      1 - 0  King Faisal 
 Liberty     1 - 0    Hasaacas 
 Bofoakwa    0 - 0  Goldfields 
 Arsenal    1 - 0  Brong-Ahafo United

league Table