King Faisal 1-2 Hearts
Power FC 1-2 Kotoko
Okwawu Utd 0-1 Goldfields
Dawu 0-0 Bofoakwa
B/A United 3-2 Maxbees
Olympics 1-0 Mines Stars
Hasaacas 4-3 Liberty
B. Arsenal 1-0 RTU
It was a difficult match for Hearts as they conceded the first goal under one minute and were also subjected to severe pounding by Faisal in the second half, with their fans sitting on tenterhooks.
The match, watched by a huge crowd, in fact, one of the biggest at the Kumasi Stadium this season, was just 43 seconds old when Faisal shot up. National keeper, Sammy Adjei surprisingly failed to grab a harmless cross from the right and a lurking Ishak Debrah smashed the ball home. An elated Debrah got injured as he celebrated the superb opener with his colleagues.
The Phobian armada responded with some piercing runs down the wings where diminutive Wisdom Abbey and Kenneth Sarpong operated.
And when King Faisal’s hardworking Abubakari Yahuza was taken off the game through injury in the seventh minute Hearts’ Charles Taylor and Adjah Tetteh seized the midfield but wasted two corner kicks before they eventually clawed back the goal in the 12th minute.
It was Taylor who trapped a throw in on the right and he brilliantly chipped the ball for Wisdom Abbey to nod home from inside the box.
Hearts failed to increase the score in the 18th minute when Taylor stormed into the Faisal half and created space for Abbey on the left but the winger who raced into the box only saw his carpet shot sweep across the face of goal. Hearts could, however, not be denied the second goal in the 21st minute when Taylor again fed Sarpong on the right, and the experienced player wasted no time releasing the ball for Abbey to score his personal second of the day and put his side in the lead.
Agyemang Duah in the heart of the Hearts defence leaked badly and Faisal took advantage to charge forward but Eric Gawu and Kwabena Poku missed the chances that came their way.
Faisal resumed the second half more refreshed and petit Ben Wilson, easily the man-of-the-match, cut through the Hearts defence with ease but once again Faisal blew away glorious chances in the 50th, 51st and 63rd minutes.
As the going became tough for Hearts, coach Sarpong pulled out Charles Taylor, Kenneth Sarpong and Agyemang Duah for Joe Ansah, Frank Turkson and Dan Oppong respectively while Faisal also introduced Joe Agyemang Snr and Joe Agyemang Jnr for Ishak Debrah and Eric Gawu respectively but the score line remained unchanged sending the Hearts fans into jubilation after the match.
Kotoko scored both goals in the third and 13th minutes, courtesy Isaac Boakye who on both occasions soared above everybody to spectacularly find the net for the Fabulous boys.
A corner-kick taken by Stephen Oduro was connected nicely by Isaac Boakye to the admiration of Kotoko supporters. The aroused the appetite for more goals for Kotoko and as if by design another corner-kick at the same spot, effected by the same stephen Oduro was excellently netted by Isaac Boakye which set the stadium alive.
Power settled down after the goals and fought for all the fifty-fifty balls but failed to make any meaningful impression against Kotoko with Joe Hendrich, Isaac Owusu and Hamza Mohammed thwarting all their efforts.
When the going got tough for the homesters, they substituted their keeper Mohammed Saani for Eric Amponsah. The tempo of the game slowed at the beginning of the second half with both teams resorting more to midfield action and Kotoko coming up with periodic encounter attacks but missing all the scoring chances.
Isaac Boakye could have gotten a hat-trick and his side’s third goal but he miskicked when he had only the goalkeeper at his mercy.
The beauty of the game was marred by some bizzare officiating which resulted in some temporary hold ups for most of the second half with players from each side hitting each other.
Kotoko later brought on Kwadwo Poku and Shilla Alhassan for Stephen Oduro and Isaac Boakye, and as soon as Kwadwo Poku entered the field of play, he entreated fans to some delightful soccer, creating a lot of scoring chances which Kotoko failed to utilise.
Just as all thought Kotoko were winning by their two goals, Bernard Asare beat an offside trap to pull a goal back for Power FC to end the match.
Goldfields made their intentions clear to carry the day from the blast of the referee's whistle when as early as the fifth minute, striker Noutsoudje Kossi's freekick missed the post by inches.
Okwawu responded quickly and nearly got the opener after Abukari Kankani in post for Goldfields committed a blunder, but Dini Sherif failed to convert the chance as he shot straight into the hands of the goalkeeper.
Goldfields' incessant pressure paid off in the 79th minute when Yaw Owusu's cross found Noutsoudje Kossi who chested the ball before delivering a left-footed shot which beat Joseph Aryeetey in post for Okwawu for the only goal of the match thus increasing his goal tally to eight this season.
At the same venue yesterday, Accra Great Olympics inflicted a 1-0 defeat on visiting Mine Stars, reports Sadia Umar and L. Fiifi Awotwe.
Olumpics got the only goal of the match as early as the second minute when John Cudjoe curled a freekick just outside the penalty box to beat Emmanuel Armah in posts for Mine Stars
Angelo Dedon opened the scoring for United with a classic goal in the 14th minute, but Shaibu Issah equalised for Maxbees in the 45th minute to bring half-time scores to one all.
B.A. United scored two quick goals in the second half through Nasiru Gaani and substitute Kwame Andrews in the 64th and 68th minutes respectively. Shaibu Issah managed to reduce the tally to 3-2 in the 90th minute for Maxbees.
B.A. United should have won the match by a wide margin but erratic shooting by their strikers robbed them.
Copyright © 1994 - 2024 GhanaWeb. All rights reserved.
