African Womens Nations Cup: Ghana 2 Mali 0

The national Women's Soccer team, the Black Queens, made a bright start at the Third Women Africa Cup of Nations with a 2-0 win over their Malian counterparts at Warri on Saturday.

In spite of the victory, the Queens were not impressive as they struggled to bring out their best. The players blamed the poor nature of the pitch, which made ball control very difficult. The technical handlers of the team were optimistic after the match that the ladies would overcome the initial problem before taking on hosts, Nigeria, on Tuesday.

The Queens, who played the second game of the day after an opening match between Nigerian's Super Falcons and Ethiopia, breezed straight into action and were determined to carry the day.

However, whether complacency should be the word, the Queens to the dismay of the sizeable crowd at the Warri Stadium missed the target frequently with top goal getter Nana Ama Gyemfua being the chief culprit.

After a goalless first half, Nana Ama Gyamfua gave way to Adjoa Bayor who brought some life into the game and changed the pattern of play entirely. She orchestrated most of the Queens moves from the midfield and during one such move, she lobbed a through ball to skipper Alberta Sackey who out-jumped her markers to score the opener in the 52nd minute.

That goal surprisingly brought the best from the Malians who surged forward for the equalizer as they threw everything into the game. They occasionally caught the Queens defense flatfooted on the break.

Goalkeeper Sulemana Memunatu was forced to save some sticky situations to deny the Malians the needed equalizer. The Ghanaians however regained their composure as Bayor surged forward to combine beautifully with Alberta Sackey to set up Mavis Djangman to score the second goal in the 85th minute. Nigerian's Falcons top group A table on superior goals after thumping Ethiopia 3-0 earlier in the day.