The League is on again

[League table] There we go again with the premiership after exactly a month’s interim suspension which enabled the Black Stars, Black Satellites and Kumasi Asante Kotoko to embark on their respective continental conquests.

Beginning on Wednesday, the seemingly waning excitement in the domestic league is expected to be fully revived as the competition negotiates the final bend to define the fortunes of the various teams in this ever-thrilling circus.

With only four games to go, local soccer fans and connoisseurs alike can be assured of some unimaginable exploits interspersed with upsets at the homestretch as actors in this whole drama step up gear to edge the other for a better placement.

What will perhaps be most interesting at the final stages will be how Kumasi Asante Kotoko are going to translate their new-found form in Africa into their fierce struggle for the plume prize with their age-long nemesis, Accra Hearts of Oak.

Four points adrift of the Phobians, the Porcupine Warriors are in no mood to deviate from their “Kum apem a, apem beba” spirit as they still keep hope alive in anticipation of a surprise.

This is against the backdrop of the fact that many pundits have written them off, especially considering the nature of their remaining engagements.

However, a real fanfare is expected to characterise Kotoko’s trip to Prestea on Wednesday as the ‘red army’ of the club’s faithfuls troop to the remote mining town to greet and rally behind their heroes.

But Kotoko should be wary in the midst of the merry-making as fifth from the bottom Mine Stars could be the gatecrashers to their party.

The ‘derby’ in Accra follows almost the same pattern as Okwawu United have again threatened to upset league leaders, Hearts, for once. This is notwithstanding the fact that the Phobians always have the last laugh in such encounters.

The captivating form of Hearts’ striking trio of Charles Taylor, Bernard Dong-Bortey and Wisdom Abbey will prove decisive in this clash, just as Kotoko’s trio of Michael Osei, Nana Arhin-Duah and Kwadwo Poku can make a lot of difference at Prestea.

In spite of the nine points separating Liberty Professionals and Great Olympics, their match in Accra on Thursday will definitely be a cracker typical of derbies. Will Jones Attuquayefio have any soft spot for his mother club this time?

That seems to be an absolute impossibility in this battle for supremacy which will bring into focus Liberty’s promising John Paintsil and Olympics’ Amui Quaye.

In-form Obuasi Goldfields who are currently fifth on 38 points with just a point behind Olympics will sink visiting Bofoakwa further down the relegation waters, while the King Faisal-Dawu Youngsters battle in Kumasi will be fiercely fought, with Coach J.E. Sarpong looking for at least a point to boost his team’s survival efforts.

Second from bottom Power FC will need more than an average performance to clinch the maximum points at the expense of RTU at their Bolga fortress, while Hasaacas are expected to hold B.A. United at Sunyani.

It is interesting how bottom-placed Maxbees still fancy their chances of remaining in the premiership in the final analysis. Perhaps a win against Arsenals at Koforidua might keep their supposed dream on course.