Strand berates referees despite win

His side enjoyed a goal feast against Heart of Lions but coach Tom Strand’s happiness was ‘destroyed’ by officiating.

Medeama impressively spanked top side Lions 4-1 at home on match day 19 of the FCPPL. The Mauve and Yellows wrapped up the game in 50 minutes – with three first half goals, a brace from leading scorer Nathaniel Asamoah and one from striking partner Kwesi Donsu ended the first half at 3-0 before captain Hans Kwofie added the fourth five minutes from recess.

Lions came out fighting and got one goal back through Daniel Bonsu. They further found a goal but were denied to the amazement of the entire stadium dominated by home fans. An attack worked from behind which saw midfielder Isaac Quansah stylishly set up Hudu Yakubu with a left foot flick to finish off without mistake only to be flagged by assistant line 2.

Yakubu charged on the assistant in vehement protest and got yellow carded for his troubles. The angry attacker would soon engage centre referee Wiseman Ghansah in verbal exchanges and get marched off with a second yellow card. There was a break as shocked Lions players protested against continued referee decisions against them.

In a rather unusual manner [locally], the young Swedish trainer bemoaned refereeing in the second half while praising his team’s achievement. Strand opines that the referees denied the two sides an entertaining game with the away side being the most affected.

“We played our best game in a very long time. I’m very happy about the play and the match outcome, especially the first half,” the Medeama coach said.

“The second half, Heart of Lions came out with a nothing-to-lose attitude and that benefited them – it made them come into the game. At the same time we got an early goal which gave us more confidence in time. They came back and got one goal – a good goal. They kept on pushing,” he added.

Tom Strand then descended on referee Ghansah and his assistants with his analysis of their key decisions in the second half.

”Their [Lions] second goal? For me, it doesn’t look like an offside. It looks a clean goal for me. I don’t know if the referee blew for a free kick or the player was pushing my central defender before coming in or otherwise, I don’t know what he [referee] should blow for. For me, it was a clean goal from my point of view. But I don’t see from the perspective of where the referee is, but for me, from where I stand, I think it was a clean goal,” he confessed.

”Anyhow, as the game went on, we had control of the game, created but missed more chances.

”The red card? I asked my assistants and they said the player insulted the referee and so he said it was enough. That, I can understand if you insult.

”But if the referees are keeping the game as they did in the first half, if they kept it on a straight level, this would never happen. The game would keep on flowing and it would have been a nice game the whole 90 minutes and would have been perfect. But now the second half, [referee] destroys the game. Now, instead of a good and fantastic football game, somehow it destroys the party, the feast you know but otherwise, I’m very happy with my team and the outcome of the game.[sic]”

Medeama’s win move them to seventh position on the FCPPL log after match day 19.