Accra: Hearts 0-0 Power
Sekondi: Hasaacas 0-0 Kotoko
Bolga: RTU 3-0 Arsenals
Sunyani: B/A United 1-0 Okwawu
Koforidua: Stay Cool 1-1 Olympics
Obuasi: Goldfields 2-1 Lions
Kumasi: Faisal 1-0 Mine Stars
Liberty 0-0 Bofoakwa (played on Sat)
The Accra Sports Stadium erupted with joy when news came in that the Kotoko-Hasaacas top-liner at the Gyandu Park, which kicked off eight minutes earlier, had ended in a deadlock; unfortunately Hearts were unable to take the advantage.
The last eight minutes of the Accra match was a delight to watch. Hearts attacked relentlessly but the resilient defenders of Power "electrocuted" the Phobians arrowheads who fumbled in front of goal. Kumasi-based referee Mike Amedior was not left out in the last-minute drama as a Power defender unintentionally whacked him down during time added on when the two entangled each other. Hearts still tail Kotoko by a point while Power maintained their 10th position but with a point better (19 points).
Power moved into gear immediately after kick off and dominated every department of the game; the only thing they lacked was a threatening move upfront.
The Phobians were a pale shadow of their former selves as general skipper Joe Ansah, Emmanuel Osei Kuffour and Kenneth Sarpong could hardly make any impact in the match.
Ironically though, all the clear chances in the match fell on the path of the Hearts attackers spearheaded by Ablade Morgan, whose his sense of judgement was poor.
Two immaculate free kicks by defender Emmanuel Osei and substitute Frank Turkson brought the fans onto their feet. Osei's 16th minute thunderbolt just after the centre line was parried over the cross bar by goalkeeper Sulemana Abubakari while Turkson's 71st minute curler, took a ricochet off the upright but the resultant connection was poor. Coach Herbert Addo played all his substitution cards, brought on Turkson, Wisdom Abbey and neophyte Adnan for Sarpong, Joe Ansah and Kuffour but the resilient defenders of Electricity Company club, thwarted their efforts at goal.
Every supporter at the Stadium was on his feet at the closing stages of the game to welcome the expectant goal as Hearts re-launched a last-gasp attack with a series of corner kicks but nothing could work.
Nana Frimpong scored the lone goal with a powerful connecting header to Godfred Ansah's free-kick in the 90th minute.
But it was a victory that perhaps B.A United would readily admit that they had to strain every sinew in them to achieve as the Okwahu boys matched them boot for boot in all departments of the game.
The Okwahu boys confidently carried the game to the homeers right after kick-off at 15:05 hours under the instructions of centre referee Ebenezer Y. Adega of Keta and never looked back.
The visitors nearly got the opener in the fifth minute but Eric Mensah missed a good chance. A neat pass from Osei Bonsu found Mensah in B.A. United's vital area but despite falling on the turf, he managed to flick the ball, which flew over the bar.
A minute later, B.A. had their chance too, but a feeble shot by Dedon Angela was pushed to corner by goalkeeper Fatau Dauda of Okwahu United who was wonderful on the afternoon.
Okwahu dominated play for most part of the first half, which was characterised by rough-house tactics by both sides, but to the surprise of the few spectators, referee Adega ignored them until the latter part of the first session when he showed the card to B.A. United's Charles Ampiah for whacking Osei Bonsu of Okwahu.
Both sides made substitutions in the second half but the home team benefited as they mounted intense pressure on the visitors. Goalkeeper Dauda, however, managed to weather the storm until the 90th minute when Frimpong beat him with the powerful header for the lone goal.
Olympics who had been under pressure for greater part of the first half took the lead in the 33rd minute through their midfielder, Michael Okantey who joined the attack and tapped in a cross from the right. Earlier, Stay Cool had wasted two clear goal scoring chances in the 13th and 25th minutes through their right-out Zakari Seidu and their outside left Philip Boateng, respectively.
In the 28th minute, Stay Cool had a penalty when Seidu was brought down in the goal area of Olympics but their inside-right Samuel Addo's shot was saved by the John Odartey in the post of Olympics. Stay Cool took advantage of their domination and on several occasions broke through the weak defence of Olympics but due to their poor finishing wasted all the chances that came their way until the 42nd minute when Addo tapped the ball to the blind side of Odartey to pull the equalizer for his side.
Olympics resumed the second half as a changed side and pushed the Stay Cool players back and in the 68th minute through a two-man combination between their two strikers, Amui Quaye and Andrew Pomany, Quaye broke through the defence of Stay Cool but his shot went straight into the hands of Boakye Boateng in the post of Stay Cool. In the 86th minute, the Stay Cool, in a counter attack, beat Odartey who rushed out of the post to save a sticky situation but the goal bound shot was cleared from the post by the right-half back of Olympics, Iddrisu Sumaila.
The home team had another chance during injury time when their substitute player, Odartey Lamptey broke through the Olympics defence but his name sake, John Odartey in the post of Olympics rushed out of the post and rolled on the ground to use his body to block the goal bound shot which was later cleared by the Olympics defence.
King Faisal played a splendid game and scored the goal in the 48th minute when smallish Ben Wilson tapped in after Emmanuel Armah, the goalkeeper of the visitors had failed to grab a rolling ball. It was an equally fought game but Faisal created more chances than their opponents but could not translate them into goals. Abubakari Yahuza hit the side post in the 11th and the cross bar in the 58th minute.
Goalkeeper Armah of Mines Stars made dramatic saves to ward off the persistent attacks of Faisal which were initiated by skipper Mohammed Hamza, Kwadwo Opoku and Abubakari Yahuza. Mine Stars' Abdul Samaad who was a torn in the flesh of Faisal's defence nearly equalised for his side but his shot missed the post narrowly.
Both teams exhausted their substitutions but it was Faisal who still attacked but could not increase the tally.
Both teams played a determined game and made incursions into the goal area of each other displaying beautiful skills to the admiration of their fans but none of such could do what was most important- the goals. Whereas Hasaacas tried desperately to open the score line, Kotoko also made incursions but most of their moves into the Hasaacas goal area were halted by an off-side trap, which caught Charles Taylor most of the time.
On resumption of the second half, the teams appeared more determined and re-focused but this focus shattered when Moses Tetteh of Kotoko and Messey Ephraim of Hasaacas, were shown the red card in the 30th minute of the half for non-sportsmanly behaviour.
Both teams thus persistently tried to out play each other yet nothing positive came out of it.
Mr. Slim Buster, a musician and his dancers did a musical piece as a prelude to the match.
Mr. Joseph B. Aidoo, western regional minister, Mr. Philip K. Nkrumah, Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Chief Executive and Mr. Archibold Asamoah the regional Football association chairman, were among the large crowd at the match.
Accra: Hearts 0-0 Power
Sekondi: Hasaacas 0-0 Kotoko
Bolga: RTU 3-0 Arsenals
Sunyani: B/A United 1-0 Okwawu
Koforidua: Stay Cool 1-1 Olympics
Obuasi: Goldfields 2-1 Lions
Kumasi: Faisal 1-0 Mine Stars
Liberty 0-0 Bofoakwa (played on Sat)
The Accra Sports Stadium erupted with joy when news came in that the Kotoko-Hasaacas top-liner at the Gyandu Park, which kicked off eight minutes earlier, had ended in a deadlock; unfortunately Hearts were unable to take the advantage.
The last eight minutes of the Accra match was a delight to watch. Hearts attacked relentlessly but the resilient defenders of Power "electrocuted" the Phobians arrowheads who fumbled in front of goal. Kumasi-based referee Mike Amedior was not left out in the last-minute drama as a Power defender unintentionally whacked him down during time added on when the two entangled each other. Hearts still tail Kotoko by a point while Power maintained their 10th position but with a point better (19 points).
Power moved into gear immediately after kick off and dominated every department of the game; the only thing they lacked was a threatening move upfront.
The Phobians were a pale shadow of their former selves as general skipper Joe Ansah, Emmanuel Osei Kuffour and Kenneth Sarpong could hardly make any impact in the match.
Ironically though, all the clear chances in the match fell on the path of the Hearts attackers spearheaded by Ablade Morgan, whose his sense of judgement was poor.
Two immaculate free kicks by defender Emmanuel Osei and substitute Frank Turkson brought the fans onto their feet. Osei's 16th minute thunderbolt just after the centre line was parried over the cross bar by goalkeeper Sulemana Abubakari while Turkson's 71st minute curler, took a ricochet off the upright but the resultant connection was poor. Coach Herbert Addo played all his substitution cards, brought on Turkson, Wisdom Abbey and neophyte Adnan for Sarpong, Joe Ansah and Kuffour but the resilient defenders of Electricity Company club, thwarted their efforts at goal.
Every supporter at the Stadium was on his feet at the closing stages of the game to welcome the expectant goal as Hearts re-launched a last-gasp attack with a series of corner kicks but nothing could work.
Nana Frimpong scored the lone goal with a powerful connecting header to Godfred Ansah's free-kick in the 90th minute.
But it was a victory that perhaps B.A United would readily admit that they had to strain every sinew in them to achieve as the Okwahu boys matched them boot for boot in all departments of the game.
The Okwahu boys confidently carried the game to the homeers right after kick-off at 15:05 hours under the instructions of centre referee Ebenezer Y. Adega of Keta and never looked back.
The visitors nearly got the opener in the fifth minute but Eric Mensah missed a good chance. A neat pass from Osei Bonsu found Mensah in B.A. United's vital area but despite falling on the turf, he managed to flick the ball, which flew over the bar.
A minute later, B.A. had their chance too, but a feeble shot by Dedon Angela was pushed to corner by goalkeeper Fatau Dauda of Okwahu United who was wonderful on the afternoon.
Okwahu dominated play for most part of the first half, which was characterised by rough-house tactics by both sides, but to the surprise of the few spectators, referee Adega ignored them until the latter part of the first session when he showed the card to B.A. United's Charles Ampiah for whacking Osei Bonsu of Okwahu.
Both sides made substitutions in the second half but the home team benefited as they mounted intense pressure on the visitors. Goalkeeper Dauda, however, managed to weather the storm until the 90th minute when Frimpong beat him with the powerful header for the lone goal.
Olympics who had been under pressure for greater part of the first half took the lead in the 33rd minute through their midfielder, Michael Okantey who joined the attack and tapped in a cross from the right. Earlier, Stay Cool had wasted two clear goal scoring chances in the 13th and 25th minutes through their right-out Zakari Seidu and their outside left Philip Boateng, respectively.
In the 28th minute, Stay Cool had a penalty when Seidu was brought down in the goal area of Olympics but their inside-right Samuel Addo's shot was saved by the John Odartey in the post of Olympics. Stay Cool took advantage of their domination and on several occasions broke through the weak defence of Olympics but due to their poor finishing wasted all the chances that came their way until the 42nd minute when Addo tapped the ball to the blind side of Odartey to pull the equalizer for his side.
Olympics resumed the second half as a changed side and pushed the Stay Cool players back and in the 68th minute through a two-man combination between their two strikers, Amui Quaye and Andrew Pomany, Quaye broke through the defence of Stay Cool but his shot went straight into the hands of Boakye Boateng in the post of Stay Cool. In the 86th minute, the Stay Cool, in a counter attack, beat Odartey who rushed out of the post to save a sticky situation but the goal bound shot was cleared from the post by the right-half back of Olympics, Iddrisu Sumaila.
The home team had another chance during injury time when their substitute player, Odartey Lamptey broke through the Olympics defence but his name sake, John Odartey in the post of Olympics rushed out of the post and rolled on the ground to use his body to block the goal bound shot which was later cleared by the Olympics defence.
King Faisal played a splendid game and scored the goal in the 48th minute when smallish Ben Wilson tapped in after Emmanuel Armah, the goalkeeper of the visitors had failed to grab a rolling ball. It was an equally fought game but Faisal created more chances than their opponents but could not translate them into goals. Abubakari Yahuza hit the side post in the 11th and the cross bar in the 58th minute.
Goalkeeper Armah of Mines Stars made dramatic saves to ward off the persistent attacks of Faisal which were initiated by skipper Mohammed Hamza, Kwadwo Opoku and Abubakari Yahuza. Mine Stars' Abdul Samaad who was a torn in the flesh of Faisal's defence nearly equalised for his side but his shot missed the post narrowly.
Both teams exhausted their substitutions but it was Faisal who still attacked but could not increase the tally.
Both teams played a determined game and made incursions into the goal area of each other displaying beautiful skills to the admiration of their fans but none of such could do what was most important- the goals. Whereas Hasaacas tried desperately to open the score line, Kotoko also made incursions but most of their moves into the Hasaacas goal area were halted by an off-side trap, which caught Charles Taylor most of the time.
On resumption of the second half, the teams appeared more determined and re-focused but this focus shattered when Moses Tetteh of Kotoko and Messey Ephraim of Hasaacas, were shown the red card in the 30th minute of the half for non-sportsmanly behaviour.
Both teams thus persistently tried to out play each other yet nothing positive came out of it.
Mr. Slim Buster, a musician and his dancers did a musical piece as a prelude to the match.
Mr. Joseph B. Aidoo, western regional minister, Mr. Philip K. Nkrumah, Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Chief Executive and Mr. Archibold Asamoah the regional Football association chairman, were among the large crowd at the match.
Copyright © 1994 - 2024 GhanaWeb. All rights reserved.
