Hearts shows consistency with a victory over Liberty

Accra, June 18, GNA - Accra Hearts of Oak exhibited some amount of consistency in their performance when they defeated Dansoman-based Liberty Professionals 2-1 in their 26th Week Onetouch Premier League match played at the El-Wak Stadium, Accra on Wednesday. The victory is the first time Hearts have recorded two consecutive wins since the commencement of the competition after they beat Kessben 2-0 last Sunday. The Phobians, however, had to come from a goal down as well as the benefit of playing against a ten-man Liberty squad to realise the sweet victory.

Liberty's goalkeeper Patrick Antwi was shown the exit by referee Kwame Nsiah Boafo for acts of indiscipline in the 39th minute. The Dansoman lads stunned the Phobians in the seventh minute of the game through Yaw Antwi who capitalised on indecision by Hearts defenders Charles Vardis and Michael Donkor to slice in Latif Salif's cross. Hearts took up the challenge and probed for the equaliser but failed to convert some the chances they created. The Phobians however could only manage an equaliser through a seemingly controversial penalty awarded them in the 18th minute when Eric Gawu's attempt to connect Ekow Ghansah's cross saw him fall in front of goal after a minor challenge from a Liberty defender for referee Nsiah Boafo to point to the spot. The decision held play for three minutes as the Liberty players protested and threatened to walk off the field. Ghansah converted the spot kick in the 21st minute after order was restored.

Both sides struggled to take the lead with no success, but in the second half, the Phobians who benefited much from their numerical advantage over Liberty ensured they pinned their city rivals to their own area as the game was played virtually in the half of Liberty in the first quarter of the second half. The advantage, however, did not bear any dividend for the Phobians until the 82nd minute when Ghansah applied his head to a Bernard Don Bortey's cross to beat substitute goalie Stephen Enchil for the match winner. The goal eventually became the winner as the Phobians held on to the lead till the close of proceedings.