Abuja 2003: Ghana Clinch Men's Hockey Bronze

Ghana confirmed their status as the 3rd best team in African hockey when they silenced a noisy Nigerian crowd with a clinical 2-1 win to claim the Bronze medal in men's hockey at the Abuja Games.

Right from push-off, the Ghanaians dominated proceedings and made several runs at the Nigerian defenseline giving them anxious moments. They created some descent chances in the first ten minutes but were unable to score. They kept their free-flowing hockey going and drew circles around the Nigerians to the admiration of small Ghanain crowd and to the irritation of the huge Nigerain crowd. In the 15th minute however, Oblie, Appiah and Armah combined from midfield to release Oblie in the circle to hit the Nigerian backboard for the first goal.

The Nigerains threw everything they had at the Ghanaians but the midfield and defensemen, led by captain Ben Tarley were resolute. The game remained a midfield battle with Ghana ahead of Nigeria till the end of the firt half.

Back from recess, the Ghanaian pushed-off and attacked the Nigerian goal immediately. In the state of confusion, the Nigerians conceded a penalty corner. A swift push from Armah was directed at Lamptey who made no mistake in slamming the ball into the backboard in the 37th minute for the 2nd goal of the match. The Nigerians were visibly shaken and committed lots of mistakes while the Ghanaians kept their composure and dominated play in all aspects of the game. Tried as they did to increase the tally, the Ghanaians wasted the countless opportunities that came their way to score.

In the closing embers of the day, the Nigerians salvaged some national pride when pulled one back with a beautiful finish from open play in the 68th minute.

It was gratifying to see the Ghanaians exhibit about 60% of their true potential and thus offer some reassurance that with the right motivation, Ghana hockey can compete and achieve results at the world level. The team heads for Hyderabad, India for the Afro-Asian Games on Sunday together with South Africa, Egypt and surprise team Nigeria.

Egypt Shock South Africa to Take Men's Hockey Gold:

78 minutes of pure drama at the Abuja National Hockey Stadium produced a new African Men's Hockey Champion in Egypt. The cliff-hanger lived up to its billing in every aspect of the game right from the blast of the whistle till the 78th minute golden goal scored by Elsayed Adman.

It was the South African who dominated play for the most part of the game and looked the more likely to score from push-off. It took them 7 minutes to find the net from a penalty corner converted by Justin King. The game was contested in midfield for a greater part of the first half and both team were unable to convert the penalty corners they created with the defense of both teams doing an excellent job in preventing goals being scored from the penalty corners.

In the second half, the South Africans found extra energy from their reserves and pinned the Egyptians in their half. They however had to wait till the 53rd minute for Clyde Abrahams to take on the entire defense of the Egyptians to finish-off cooly for what might perhaps be one of the best individual goals of this competition.

The Egyptians kept their cool and kept probing for goal. A moment loss of concentration on the part of the South Africans found Ibrahim Belal deflecting in the circle to pull one back for Egypt in the 56th minute. 4 minutes from the end of the game, Egypt were awarded a penalty stroke when Metwaly Sameh was impeeded in a scoring position. Ibrahim Belal sent the ball into orbit from the penalty spot to gladen the hearts of the South Africans, and break those of the Egyptians. Then the drama started. A series of midfield skirmishes kept the ball moving from one end to the other with the spectators on their feet. Just on the stroke of full time, the Egyptians broke down the defence of the South Africans to earn a penalty corner. Captain Abdelmonem oblidged the Egyptian bench and broke the hearts of the South Africans with a classic finish to tie the match at 2-2 and send proceedings into extra time.

The first period of extra time was contested fiercely with both teams playing cautiously. The match had its share of incidents but both teams showed great character in doing their best to compete fairly. But perhaps the greatest moment was saved for last, the end of the first half of extra time. With 20 seconds on the clock, Egypt moved the ball from their goal area after South Africa had wasted a penalty corner and made an incursion into the South African circle to earn a penalty corner just before the hooter was blown for the end of the half. With Quoran recitals backing them, Elsayed Adman drove the dagger into South African hearts at the stadium and on national television with a clinical finish for the golden goal, the Gold Medal, a place in the Athens Olympics in 2004 and the bragging rights for the next few years.

Both teams head for the Afro-Asian Games on Sunday to showcase African hockey once again.