Hearts succumb to Sportive

Accra, March 21, GNA - Visiting Tema Real Sportive on Wednesday dealt a heavy blow to the championship aspirations of Accra Hearts of Oak when they beat them 2-1 in their 26th Week Premier League match played at the Dansoman Carl Reindorf Park in Accra.

Hearts will thus have their six-point lead reduced to three if their close contenders and rivals, Kumasi Asante Kotoko manage to win their game against Feyenoord at the Sunyani Coronation Park on Thursday, March 22.

The Phobians were however the first to take lead in the 23rd minute when Eric Gawu pounced on a loose ball placed on his path by Stephen Offei to deliver a deceptive shot which beat James Nanor in post for Sportive.

Hearts came closer to increasing the tally again in the 35th but this time round Gawu failed to take advantage of the chance as he shot feebly into the waiting hands of keeper Nanor.

Sportive however never relented in their efforts to grab an equalizer as they made series of raids into the Hearts goal area, but were either denied by keeper Suleman Abubakari or poor shooting upfront.

As the first half was heading to the closing stages, Sportive made another raid into the Hearts area and created a melee for skipper Esme Mends to capitalize on to fetch the equalizer for his side.

The goal gingered up Sportive to search for the winner when the game resumed in the second half and they succeed to do so in the 68th minute when substitute Frank Osei's volley zoomed straight into the net for the second goal, which eventually became the match winner. Hearts came back strongly in an effort to redeem their image after the goal but try as they did all their efforts were well taken care of by the visitors to the end.

Coach Kostadinov Dobrev Mitko's decision to introduce Moses Andoh and Francis Andoh into the game to strengthen his midfield and defence could not help matters when even the former had some decent scoring chances but wasted them.

The closest chance for the Phobians however came in the way of Ekow Ghansah in the dying minutes but he fumbled and allowed the defence men of Sportive to save the situation to maintain the slim lead till the close of proceedings.