Kotoko Crowned Champions

Kumasi Asante Kotoko were crowned the Kinapharma Premier league champions after beating Real Tamale United (RTU) 2-0 in the last match in Kumasi.

It was the first time Kotoko had won the Premier league title since it was introduced about 10 years ago.

The atmosphere at the stadium was electrifying as the supporters who had thronged the stadium to its bursting point waited anxiously for the final whistle and the moment they had been waiting for.

Therefore, when Referee E.O.M. Osanquaye of Accra, whistled for the end of proceedings, the stadium erupted into Reverend Seth Frimpong's hit song "Eye Ya Afe", while waiving white handkerchiefs.

RTU gave an early indication of giving Kotoko a run for their money when in the 13th minute, J. Adjei who was a constant thorn in the flesh of the Kotoko defence, centred beautifully but Awudu headed wide.

Kotoko counter attacked with speedster Michael Osei leading the pack and in the 15th minute took on the RTU defence in a dribbling session but the defence managed to contain him.

A minute later, Charles Taylor sent the already charged Kotoko supporters cheering wildly when he connected home Shilla Alhassan's pass to put his team in the lead.

Kotoko from then on, dominated play and in the 22nd minute earned a free kick outside the goal area of RTU but Charles Taylor wasted the resultant kick.

Then in the 27th minute, Michael Osei shot wide from close range and two minutes later again headed wide from Charles Taylor's pass.

RTU pulled themselves up and earned a free kick in the 43rd minute outside the Kotoko goal area but wasted it.

On resumption, RTU redoubled their efforts and earned a free kick in the 47th minute but wasted it.

Kotoko in the 54th minute pulled out Shilla Alhassan for Frank Osei while RTU also brought in P. Abass for T. Alolo in the 56th minute and three minute later, had a good chance but J. Adjei shot wide.

The game from then on became a ding-dong affair until Kotoko pulled out Michael Osei for Kwadwo Poku who brought more bite into the Kotoko attack.

He justified his inclusion with a classic goal in the 77th minute from a Frank Osei cross from the right. Frank Osei rounded up a defender of RTU, turned sharply and centred beautifully for Kwadwo Poku to fire home the second goal.

From then on, Kotoko resorted to short passes and keeping the ball to themselves to the delight of their supporters until the shrill whistle of referee Osanquaye brought proceedings to an end.

The huge crowd spontaneously rose to their feet and waving their white handkerchiefs responded to the song "Eye Ya Afe" while dancing in the stands, waiting to catch a glimpse of the trophy to be handed over to their club.

Premier League Results

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

Hearts Trounce Liberty

Accra Hearts of Oak trounced Liberty Professionals 3-1 in their match played at the Accra Sports Stadium to end the league undefeated.

Hearts by this feat remains the only unbeaten side in the premiership winning 17 matches, drawing in 13 matches to lose the championship to arch rivals Kumasi Asante Kotoko.

Hearts took the lead in the 11th minute through Bernard Don Bortey when he squeezed past Prince Ofori in defence for Liberty before placing the ball at the far corner of the goal post, which Kotei Blankson had no answer to.

This was after both sides had invaded their opponent's area in failed attempts at goal in the early stages of the game.

Liberty could have equalised in the 13 and 19th minutes but Micheal Helegbe and Asamoah Gyan failed to utilized their scoring opportunities and let Hearts off the hook.

The Hearts defence which was under pressure initially recovered from the pressure following the introduction of Emmanuel Osei for Adnan Ali as Osei stabilised the midfield.

Hearts on this occasion mostly relied on series of counter attacks to punch holes in the defensive set up of Liberty and Wisdom Abbey could have utilised one such God sent chances in the 34th minute but messed up.

Lawrence Adjei missed a similar opportunity in the 41st minute but made amends, a minute later when he raced through the Liberty defence to lay a pass for Ablade Morgan to slot it in the second goal to end the half.

Liberty on resumption became more purposeful but could not convert any of their chances despite the pressure on Hearts.

Adjei made it three for Hearts in the 55th minutes by connecting Don Bortey's powerful shot which was heading for a goal kick into the net.

Asamoah Gyan currently placed second on the goal king chat with 12 goals could have caught up with Shaidu Yakubu of Goldfiels when he had all time to beat Eben Dida Armah in the 67th minute, but was dispossessed of the ball by the defence of Hearts to deny him the chance.

The only consolation came to Liberty from an own goal scored by Dan Quaye when attempted to clear a cross from Helegbe in the 58th minute.

Power F/C 3 Olympics 0

Koforidua based Power F/C ended the Kinapharma Premier League with a 3-0 victory over Accra Great Olympics in the match played at Koforidua Sports Stadium.

Power scored their first goal in the 32nd minute through their left-out, Douglas Nkrumah and dominated the play to the end of the first half of the game.

Olympics resumed the second half a changed side as they tried to push into the half of Power but did not pose any serious threat when in the 52nd minute the Power players were able to effectively string passes together which saw their left full back, Francis Mprem juggling with the ball to the left corner of the field.

When every body was expecting a cross from Mprem, he fired a shot which went through the hands of John Odartey in the post of Olympics for the second goal.

In the 60th minute, Power had a free kick in the half of Olympics and instead of concentrating, Odartey kept giving instructions to his players until the inside right of Power, Alex Awuah, lifted the ball over the heads of the Olympics wall and through the out stretched hands of Odartey into the left corner of the post for the third goal.

Before entering the post, the ball hit the top corner of the post and hit the net before Odartey quickly turned and grab it but the referee who was close to the scene whistled for a goal.

None of the Olympics players protested at the goal except Odartey who rushed to the referee only to be shown the yellow card for dissenting

Okwawu 2 Stay Cool 1

Mpaeso -- Soccer Mountaineers Okwawu United worsened the plight of relegated Stay Cool Professionals when they defeated them by 2-1 in their final Kinapharma Premier League match played at the Mpraeso Brighton's Park.

Okwawu kicked off and pressurised Stay Cool in the early stages of the game and came close to finding the target when a free-kick outside the penalty box taken by Asare Nyarko in the 10th minute was saved by Stay Cool keeper Lugard Tetteh.

In the 25th minute, Okwawu who were still on top had their first goal when Osei Bonsu's feeble free-kick outside the penalty box beat Stay Cool's goalie.

There was a four minute hold up after the goal when Stay Cool's team manager Haruna Faruok Omar walked onto the field of play and challenged Assistant Referee two, Martin Doku, for failing to signal Ho based FIFA Referee Bernadette Pomaney to award an earlier infringement against an Okwawu player before the goal.

Okwawu made it two in the 42nd minute after play resumed through Eric Mensah's header from Thomas Avorgbedor's pass.

Stay Cool improved upon their performance in the second half and pulled a goal back in the 50th minute through Patrick Affutu whose shot beat Okwawu keeper Fatau Dawuda.

In the 54th minute Stay Cool sent in Thomas Marcus for Abdulai Dada while Okwawu also replaced Yaw Inkum with Paul Amposah in the 66th minute. But the changes benefited the visitors whose seized the midfield and pilled pressure on the defenceof Okwahu for the equaliser that never came.
Faisal spoil Lion's party Kpando, Dec. 7, GNA- Visiting Kumasi King Faisal Football Club on Sunday came from two goals down to beat Kpando Heart of Lions 3-2 in their Kinapharma Premier league duel at Kpando on Sunday. Awal Muhammed of Lions scored two quick goals for his side in the 5th and 9th minutes to set his side on a comfortable lead. In the 28th minute however, Lions Yaw Nyarko brought down the visitor's Eric Gawu in the penalty box for a spot kick which was converted by Hamza Muhammed, Skipper for the visitors. In 35th minute, Kwabena Poku of King Faisal was sent off for kicking Yaw Nyarko but in spite of their numerical disadvantage the visitors scored the equaliser in the 86th minute through Gawu. In the 88th minute, Hamza Muhammed was on target again when he shot his side into victory during a defensive mix-up.

Bofoakwa 2 Hasaacas 0

In Sunyani, Bofoakwa Tano completed this year's Kinapharma Premier Soccer League with a 2-0 whipping of visiting Sekondi Hasaacas at the Sunyani Coronation Park.

Both goals scored in the first half were enough to secure the retention of the Sunyani boys in the national premier league next season.

Inside-Right Richard Awuah scored the first in the ninth minute while Emmanuel Nuhey made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute through a penalty.

Despite the goal loss, the Hasmal boys, particularly captain Mutari Sulley of the national under-23 fame, Mensah Oblitey, Richard Essuman and Richard Afriyie played a good game but goalkeeper Ransford Cudjoe of Bofoakwa was unyielding.