Hearts drop to relegation zone after Aduana defeat

Accra Hearts of Oak’s woes in the ongoing season continue as they lost 1-0 to Aduana Stars on match day 22 of the First Capital Plus Bank Premier played on Sunday at the Nana Agyemang Badu Park in Dormaa.

Richard Arhin’s first half strike was enough for the home side as they held on to win the game which was closely fought.

The game started on a low tempo as both sides were cautious in terms of attacking but Aduana Stars were on top of the game as they dictated the pace forcing Hearts of Oak to defend more.

The host nearly broke the deadlock in the 14th minute mark but Godfred Saka’s free kick narrowly missed the post, the Phobians also initiated an attack of their own but they failed to break the defensive network of the home side.

Aduana’s energy in the game caused a lot of problems for the away side, they besieged the goal area of the Phobians; but Hearts of Oak had no answers to the attacking play and the surging runs of the home side, the ‘Ogya Lads’ spurned the chances they had in the game.

However, Aduana broke the deadlock in the 37th minute mark after Richard Arhin headed home Daniel Dankwah’s corner-kick and in some few minutes to end the first half - Issac Oduro nearly fetched the equalizer for the Phobians but his free-kick was superbly saved by Stephen Adams as the first half was brought to an end.

From recess, it was the Phobians who pushed more men forward searching for the equalizer but they lack creativity when they get to the final third of the home side, Aduana in most occasions relied on counter attacks but Hearts of Oak defense curtailed those attacks.

Hearts of Oak upped their game but their best wasn’t enough as the back line of the home side were up to the task of what the Phobians threw at them.

With defeat staring at Edward Ansah's wards, Foovi Aguidi replaced Thomas Abbey in order to add more bite upfront but the Togolese import was out muscled by Emmanuel Akuoko as he guided his lines very well.

And with 10 minutes of additional time, the Phobians failed to get the needed equalizer as the game ended 1-0 in favour of the ‘Ogya Lads’ which means the Phobians have dropped to the 14th position on the log sheet with 26 points.