League Day 7: Results/Reports

Results of some of the Kinapharma league matches played at various centres today:-

Accra: (Sat) Stay Cool One (1) Hearts of Oak One (1)
Accra Great Olympics One (1) Bofoakwa Zero (0)
Sunyani: B.A United One (1) Liberty Three (3)
Kumasi: King Faisal Zero (0) Hasaacas Zero (0)
Kpando: Lions One (1) Power Zero (0)
Matches involving Kotoko vrs Okwahu, Goldfields Vrs RTU, Minestars vrs Arsenal have been postponed to dates to be announced later by the Ghana Football Association.

Stay Cool hold Hearts

Defending League Champions Accra Hearts of Oak failed to transpose their superior performance against Accra Great Olympics in President's Special Challenge Cup last Tuesday into another victory when they were held to a one all drawn game by less fancied Stay Cool Professionals at the Accra Sports Stadium on Saturday in a seventh week league match.

The Phobians paraded a different set in the game as the likes of Bernard Don Bortey, Emmanuel Osei, Lawrence Adjei and Kwame Antwi were absent thus taking some bite off the attack and strength from the defence.

The Stay Cool lads, who used the Accra Sports Stadium as their home ground, capitalised on the lack of coordination between Hassan Mohamed and Dan Oppong in central defence for Hearts, which resulted in free kick at the edge of the box.

Veteran Asamoah Dzifa rose above the Hearts defence to head home from the free kick in the tenth minute for the first goal.

Hearts responded with a series of attacks and in the 31st minute Emmanuel Osei-Kuffours' free kick was headed home by Amankwah Mireku for the equaliser to end of the first half.

Kenneth Sarpong on resumption turned a defender of Stay Cool inside out and with had only keeper Alex Agyapong to beat, surprisingly shot wide. Hearts continued mounting intense pressure on Stay Cool with Laryea Kingston, Awudu Adama, Sarpong and Massawudu Mumuni making incursions upfront but they could not find the net.

At the latter stages of the game Hearts threw in everything to secure the full three points to anchor them at the top of the league table but to no avail.

A scary moment as assistant referee goes down unconscious

Disaster nearly struck when Prince Worgbah, Assistant Referee One from Tema, fell down unconscious at the Accra Sports Stadium minutes before the end of the seventh week league match between Stay Cool Professionals and Accra Hearts of Oak on Saturday.

The incident brought the game to a halt and it took the first aid personnel some minutes to revive the Assistant Referee, who laid motionless on the pitch.

Later in an interview with the GNA, Referee Worgbah, who appeared visibly shaken, said an unidentifiable flying object hit him soon after he had flagged a goal kick for Hearts.

He showed GNA a lump that had developed on the scalp just over the left ear. He told GNA: "I cannot really say what happened. All I felt was a knock at the side of my head then I went blank."

He advised fans not to be emotional when things were not going the way of their clubs. "They should know that we are operating within the laws of the game and not out there to favour any team over the other."

The fourth referee Cecil Fletcher, from Accra, quickly took over Worgbah's duty. The game ended one all, both goals having been scored in the first half.

The incident gained an added significance coming as it were soon after the much-publicized death of Cameroonian Midfielder Marc Vivian Foe on the pitch during the just ended FIFA Confederation Cup in France, after he had collapsed on the field.

Olympics pip Bofoakwa

Accra Great Olympics on Sunday pipped visiting Tano Bofoakwa 1-0 in the seventh week Kinapharma Premier League played at the Accra Sports Stadium.

Back from their 2-0 defeat at the hands of Accra Hearts of Oak in the President's Special Challenge Cup match last Tuesday, Olympics launched the first attack and within the first ten minutes created two clear scoring chances which fell the way of David Ofei but he failed make use of them.

Bofoakwas' Richard Awuah could have put his side on top in the 15th minute but keeper Mauzu Nkono parried his shot over the bar, for a corner kick which was wasted.

Olympics took advantage of a goalmouth melee in the 20th minute to score the opener through Roger Odamten.

The homesters could have won the match by a high margin due to numerical disadvantage on the part of Bofoakwa when Osei Kuffour was shown the red card in the 38th minute after violent conduct on Nana Eshun.

Their dominance continued after recess but this could not be translated into goals as the striking partnership of Amui Quaye, Winfred Dormon, and Odamten could not provide any more goals in spite of the scoring chances they created.

The visitors' brightest scoring chance came in the 90th minute and to the path of Awuah when he pounced on volley from Tahiru Ibrahim in the Olympics defence but he surprisingly blasted the ball over the ball to deny his side the equalizer, thus ending the game in favour of Olympics.

Hearts of Lions secure maximum points

At Kpando, Hearts of Lions secured the maximum three points in the Kinapharma Premier League by beating visiting Power FC by a lone goal through a spot kick in the 15th minute.

This was when Power FC's goalie Dennis Yemo, obstructed Lion's Sam Yeboah in a goalmouth melee when he was in a position to score.

The resultant penalty kick was perfectly converted by Abraham Kudemor. By this feat, Lions have so far won three out of four home matches having drawn one-all against Great Olympics and accounted for BA United and Mines Stars (2-1) respectively.

Hasaacas Hold Faisal

In Kumasi, King Faisal drew 0-0 with Sekondi Hasaacas in their match played in the Kumasi Sp[orts stadium. It was a game in which both teams played their hearts out but poor marksmanship coupled with lack of confidence eluded each side from scoring.

Faisal had the greater part of the game pinning the visitors to their own half right from the start as Alhassan Yahaya collided with goalkeeper Mohammed Suraji in an attempt to score in the second minute.

Hasaacas counter attacked and missed two glaring chances to score in the third and fourth minutes while Kingsley Kwarteng also in a solo effort wasted an opportunity in the ninth minute.

Kwadwo Poku of Faisal's powerful shot at goal hit the woodwork in the 15th minute and went off target after outpacing a defender. They again had a corner in the 17th minute but wasted it.

Faisal continued to pile pressure and made series of incursions but Eric Gawu failed to connect a beautiful cross from Kwadwo Poku in the 44th minute.

In the 47th minute, Faisal's Yahuza Abubakari shot from a free-kick just outside the vital area of Hasaacas but the goal bound shot was dramatically saved by goalkeeper Suraji.

Both sides tried to find the opener but could not until the final whistle.

BA United Humiliated

In Sunyani, B.A. United suffered a humiliating 1-3 defeat at the hands of visiting Liberty Professionals their league encounter at the Sunyani Coronation Park.

Captain Abban Moses and his Liberty boys led 2-0 at half time. It was a match which the visiting team won hands down as the opposing B.A. side for most of the time were more than mere passengers on the field and even squandered a penalty in the first half at a time when they were already down 0-2.

After the kick-off taken by the Liberty boys under the instruction of FIFA Referee Ibrahim Iddrisu of Tamale they nearly came by the opening goal in the fifth minute but Dissiramah James’ free kick was saved by goalkeeper Samuel Joe Quansah of United.

Undaunted the visiting team continued to dictate the pace of the game and it was little wonder when in the ninth minute Asamoah Gyan Mensah after receiving a pass from the midfield weaved his way through a bunch of defenders, added goalkeeper Quansah to his victims and gently tapped the ball into the empty net for the opening goal for his side.

Liberty nearly increased their lead in the 17th minute but Asamoah Gyan Mensah's perfect close-range shot was perfectly saved by keeper Quansah.

In the 28th minute Gyan Mensah attracted a yellow card but that was nothing to deter the entire team as they kept probing the vital area of the homesters and got their second goal in the 30th minute through Agyemang Osei.

Sensing danger United's striking force of Prince Adu Poku, Usman Sakora, Nana Frimpong, Nana Adarkwah and Kwasi Boateng combined effectively from thence and attacked incessantly and won a penalty in the 34th minute but Nana Frimpong who elected himself for the kick woefully wasted the chance as his kick went over the bar, leaving the first half scores at 2-0 in favour of Liberty Professionals.

On resumption B.A. United brought in Justice Opoku for Prince Adu Poku in the 49th minute and in the 58th minute Cudjoe Samuel of Liberty also attracted yellow card for a rough play.

Fortunes swayed here and there for the two sides with United slightly on top but failed to score due to lack of good marksmanship up-front.

Liberty replaced Nii Aryee Tetteh with Yamoah George in the 68th minute and nearly made another goal in the 70th minute but keeper Quansah saved Gyan Mensah’s header.

Let off the hook United brought in Fuseini Adams for Ibrahim Yahaya and this change somehow paid good dividend for the home team as in the 73rd minute substitute Kwadwo Owusu managed to reduce the tally by one goal.

As if not satisfied with their achievement, Liberty quickly made two changes in the 83rd and 85th minutes with Nii Aryee Alex and Addo Sammy coming on for Obeng Francis and Helegbe Michael respectively.

The last-minute efforts by United to get a face-saving goal in the latter stages of the match became a flop as Liberty scored yet another goal in the injury time via Nii Larbi Darko, bringing the full-time score at 3-1 in their favour.

Goal scorers chart after some seventh week matches

4 - Isaac Boakye (Kotoko)
3 - Komla Amewu (Lions) Eric Sefa Boateng (Power) Roger Odamteng (Olympics) Asamoah Gyan (Liberty)
2 - Abdul Mutalib, Messey Ephraim (Hasaacas) Paa Joe Kuma (Olympics) Nana Arhin Duah (Kotoko) Shaibu Yakubu (Goldfields) Charles Benson (Arsenals) Jonathan Abeiku (Mine Stars) Amankwa Mireku (Hearts) Abraham Kudemor (Lions) Kwadwo Owusu (BA United)
1 - Laryea Kingston, Wisdom Abbey, Frank Turkson, Don Bortey, Emmanuel Osei (Hearts) Alfred Nii Larbi, Agyemang Osei, David Boateng, George Yamoah, William Tierro, Michael Helegbe (Liberty) Edmund Owusu-Ansah, Michael Osei, Yusif Chipsah, Frank Osei (Kotoko) Eric Boakye, Kenneth Ababio, James Boateng (Goldfields) Kwabina Poku, Ben Wilson, Eric Gawu, Eliasu Alhassan, Ranti Abdulai, Wasiu Mohammed (King Fiasal) Andrew Pomayie, Amuni Quaye (Olympics) Osei Bonsu, Elvis Opoku (Okwawu) Nurudeen Wayma, Gilbert Akiyede (RTU) Tahiru Abdulai, Abieku Aikins, Akwasi Mathew, Tahiru Adbulai (Bofoakwa) Masiri Joseph, Yaovi Atikpe, Paul Ofori (Lions) Nana Adarkwa, Kwasi Boateng, Daniel Bomfah, Justice Opoku (BA United) Ben Adu Yeboah, Wisdom Agblexo (Power) Kingsley Kwateng (Hasaacas) Awudu Ronaldo, Yaw Serbeh (Arsenals) Biara George, Willaim Opuje, Osei Tutu (Mine Stars) George Danso, Asamoah Dzifah (Stay Cool).

NB: The matches Kotoko/Olympics, Liberty/Faisal, Hasaacas/, MineStars/Arsenals, Goldfields/RTU and Kotoko/Okwawu have been declared outstanding.