League Day 6: Hearts Maintain Lead

Table/Results

Olympics 1 - 2 G'fields
Faisal 0 - 0 Maxbees
Hasaacas 1 - 2 Hearts
Dawu 1 - 1 BA United
Power 0 - 0 Mines Stars
Bofoakwa 0 - 1 Kotoko
Arsenal 1-0 Liberty
Okwawu United 1-0 RTU

Hearts maintain lead
Defending champions and league leaders Accra Hearts of Oak kept their unbeaten run in the Premier League when they trekked to Sekondi on Sunday to beat homesters Hasaacas 2-1 at the Gyandu Park in a match watched by a capacity crowd.

The match was action packed for most of the time as both sides displayed good football skills giving spectators their money's worth. The encounter was free from rough plays and other incidents that could mar the beauty of the game. Hasaacas, enjoying a massive home support dominated the early stages of the first half but had to contend with occasional pressures from Hearts.

Despite the pressure by the home side, Hearts gained control of the game from the 35th minute but could not find the opener until the end of the first half.

The tempo of the game increased in the second half as Hearts took total dominance and kept firing at goal from all angles. It therefore came as no surprise when centre forward Osumanu Amadu found the net for Phobians in the 67th minute. The rainbows again went 2-0 up through Don Bortey in the 86th minute after running through the defence of Hasaacas, but the Hasmal boys, undaunted, kept fighting and managed to pull one back through Maxwell Mensah with two minutes remaining.

Kotoko triumph over bogey Bofoakwa
An 87th minute goal scored by Nana Arhin Duah enabled Kumasi Asante Kotoko to run away with a lone goal victory over home team, Bofoakwa Tano, in their encounter at the Coronation Park on Sunday.

It was a perfect goal, which Goalkeeper Mohammed Alhassan had no answer to. Substitute Joe Okyere in one of his typical swerving moves eliminated two defenders and passed the ball on to Nana "Oboanipa" Arhin Duah to score for the Porcupine boys. But before the goal, both sides had played it hard with referee Charles Asamoah of Accra failing to stamp his authority on the game.

He only started showing the yellow cards when the match had degenerated into rough play. The first yellow card went to Godwin Ablordey of Asante Kotoko in the 15th minute of the first half. Kwasi Owusu of Bofoakwa also had his share of the of the yellow card before the first half.

Notwithstanding the rough play that characterised the game, the Porcupine boys were the first to come close to scoring in the second minute but Stephen Oduro wasted it. Bofoakwa's chances were thrown away by Charles Benson in the 8th and 12th minutes. Benson had yet a third chance in the 17th minute but his pile driver was saved by goalkeeper Osei Boateng of Kotoko.

In the 32nd minute Aziz Ansah's in-swinger was wasted by Nana Arhin Duah, while Bofoakwa's goalkeeper was on the ground. In the 43rd minute Nana Arhin Duah again failed to utilise a good chance created up-front, while Bofoakwa's Pasco Amponsah's close-range shot was beautifully saved by keeper Osei Boateng to end first half.

On resumption, Kotoko's newly-assigned European Coach, Ian Porterfield who was facing his second test since he was assigned, thought it wise to bring on Joe Okyere for Nana Frimpong. The change yielded good dividends as the fast and slippery Joe Okyere brought life into the attacking machinery of his side. Anytime he struck, the defence of Bofoakwa became jittery. It came as no surprise therefore when in one of such his moves, Joe Okyere gave a tailor-measured pass on to Arhin Duah who neatly beat goalkeeper Alhassan for the only goal for Kotoko.

Power F/C, Mine Stars fight to a standstill

Visiting Prestea Mine Stars played their hearts out to hold Koforidua-based Power F/C to a goalless draw game in their league match at the Koforidua stadium.

The scoreless game depicted the goal-shy pattern of the match in which the visitors adopted a more defensive posture with a lone man forward with occasional forays into their opponents? vital area. The Power boys, who on the other hand adopted an aggressive approach seeking the vital three points, wasted all the clear goal-scoring chances that came their way.

The Miners lost Isaac Owusu in the 44 minute for an off ball incident but was caught by Class One Referee Roger Osabu of Tamale. Power earned a series of cornerkicks in the latter stages of the game but failed woefully to utilise any of them including an 89th freekick just outside the 18th of their opponents. In their anxiety to win, Power exhausted their three substitutions while Mine Stars, with their 10 players, made two changes in the latter stages of the game but the score remained barren to the end.

Maxbees stretch Faisal at Kumasi

Suhum Maxbees played a determined game to hold King Faisal to a pulsating goalless draw in a sixth week premier league encounter played at the Kumasi Sports Stadium.

Maxbees, lying at the bottom of the league table with two points would have carried the day with at least a two-goal margin but failed to do so due to lack of marksmanship and purposefulness upfront. Masawudu missed a golden chance in the 14th minutes when he failed to connect home a beautiful cross from Wisdom Fofo and Mark Tonto in the 65th minute, with only goalkeeper Samuel Okyere in post for Faisal before him, also shot wide.
It was the monarchs who kicked off under the instructions of Accra based class one referee, J.A. Agbeko and pinned the visitors to their half for a couple of minutes with dangerous moves but the uncompromising defence of the visitor stood gallantly. The visitors sensing danger brought on Shaibu Issah for Wisdom Fofo in the 22nd minute. Maxbees goalie Nartey, limped from thereon and was substituted by Alex Ansah in the 28th minute. The match then became balanced, with both sides playing their best till the end of the first half.
On resumption Maxbees proved that they were a hard nut to crack in spite of their position on the league table by piling pressure on the homestears. They earned two cornerkicks in the 45th,and 49th minutes but failed to translate them into goals. The match seemed destined to end in a draw after Maxbees missed a glorious chance in the 76th minute Faisal's goalkeeper Okyere blundered.

Olympics lose fourth game on the trot to Goldfields

Accra Great Olympics have failed to shed the toga of defeat when they lost their fourth match on the trot to Obuasi Goldfields in their sixth week Premier League match at the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday.
Frank Awuah scored the two goals for the Obuasi lads when he capitalised on a defensive blunder on the half hour mark and sliced a low one past goalkeeper Samuel Addo for the opener. The young striker who graduated from the Goldfields Soccer Academy scored again in the 64th minute to restore their lead as he tapped in from four yards, after Addo had pushed back a powerful shot from Alfred Arthur.
Olympics got their goal when second string goalkeeper Edmund Attah on duty for Goldfields, punched a heavy delivery of a free-kick on top of the penalty area from John Codjoe and lurking Amui Quaye hammered it into the roof of the net to even scores in the 36th minute.
Goldfields outplayed their hosts and should have won with a wider margin but referee E.M. Alhassan and his second assistant, G.K. Deku both from Takoradi robbed them of many scoring opportunities and indeed disallowed a good goal scored in the 23rd minute by Frank.
Frank had dispossessed a defender of the ball and dribbled past three Oly players before squeezing it past Addo into the net. The referee disallowed the goal when he saw that his assistant's flag was up. Referee Alhassan did not deem it appropriate to consult his assistant even though he was convinced the goal was good and had pointed to centre spot.
Goldfields dominated the match from start to finish with pint-size Ofosu Amoah dictating the pace in attack as he waltzed through the Oly defence at will and shuffled well with Arthur Amoah and Owusu Agyemang to keep the entire home side chasing their shadows.
In defence, Tony Baffour led an impregnable formation in which skipper Eric Boakye and Solomon Laryea played above themselves to nullify any attacking methods the Olympics attackers formulated.
With about a quarter hour remaining, the ball was joggled by the Obuasi boys in the half of Olympics as they appeared content with the score line and unwilling to score. The pressure remained on the Accra team till the final whistle.

Arsenals pip Liberty at Berekum

Berekum Arsenals played a determined game to silence Liberty Professionals 1-0 at the Berekum Coronation Park on Sunday.
Entering the game with great determination, Arsenals made nonsense of the form guide and made Liberty look ordinary for a greater part of the game. The Arsenals defence was well-knitted and putting the brakes on the slippery Liberty forwards. Arsenals who opened fire right from kickoff struck perfectly in the 15th minute.
It was Richard Awuah who gave a neat pass to Adu Poku to register the only goal of the match. Liberty?s Samuel Addo was the only player to attract the referee?s booking for the afternoon in the 55th minute for rough play.

Dawu, B.A. United draw at Dawu

Brong Ahafo (B.A.) United put up a strong resistance to hold Dawu Youngsters to a 1-1 drawn game at Dawu on Sunday.
Dawu dominated play in the first 20 minutes of the game and found the net in the seventh minute through Paul Ofori. Cheered on by a partisan crowd, Dawu tried to increase the tally but could not penetrate the B.A. defence. The trend changed in favour of the visitors when a thunderous shot by Bawa Mohammed entered the net in the 35th minute for the equaliser

Okwawu pip RTU by a lone goal

Accra (Greater Accra) 16 May 2002 - Okwawu United pipped Real Tamale United (RTU) by alone goal in their rescheduled sixth week Premier League match played at the Accra Sports Stadium on Wednesday. Okwawu needed to win to satisfy their angry supporters after a string of poor performances.

They took control of the game from the start and created many good chances which they failed convert. In the 19th and 21st minutes for an example, Okwawu came close but Paul Amponsah and Osei Bonsu, wasted chances through wayward shooting, respectively.

Against the run of play, RTU nearly took the lead in the 37 minute through Alhassan Weah's daring effort as he stretched to beat advancing Dauda Fatawu in post but the ball missed the target by few centimetres. Success nearly crowned Okwawu's first half efforts when in the 43rd minute when Amponsah's volley from 30 metres rebounded off the goalpost to end the half.

On resumption, Okwawu pushed more men forward and played mostly in the half of RTU, who looked contented with the barren score line. Deservingly Okwawu opened the score in the 68th minute through Isaac Asante, who found himself unmarked in the box of RTU to fire a grounder beyond Dauda for the only goal of the match. The goal forced RTU out of their defensive shell but it was too late as Okwawu maintained their composure at the back to register their second win of the season.