Goldfields 0-1 Hearts of Oak
(?)
Maxbees 1-0 Kwaebibirem
(Asamoah Dzifa)
Great Olympics 0-1 King Faisal
(?)
Real Tamale United 1-0 GHAPOHA
(Joseph Adjei)
Dawu Youngsters 2-1 Sekondi Hasaacas
Asante Kotoko 3-0 Bofoakwa Tano
Nana Frimpong
Shilla Alhassa
Godwin Ablordey
Berekum Arsenals 3-1 AdansimanPlayed on 1.05.2001
Liberty Prof 1-3 Okwahu United 3
STANDINGS P W D L G A Pt
Kotoko 3 2 1 0 5 1 7
Maxbees 3 2 1 0 3 1 7
Faisal 3 2 1 0 4 2 7
Arsenals 3 2 0 1 4 2 6
Okwahu 3 1 1 1 4 3 4
RTU 2 1 1 0 2 1 4
Olympics 3 1 1 1 1 1 4
Dawu 3 1 1 1 4 4 4
K'bibirem 3 1 0 1 4 3 3
Hearts 1 0 0 0 1 0 3
Hasaacas 3 1 0 2 3 4 3
Ghapoha 3 0 2 1 2 3 2
Bofoakwa 3 0 2 1 2 5 2
Adansiman 3 0 1 2 1 4 1
Liberty 2 0 1 1 2 2 1
Goldfields 3 0 1 2 0 2 1
The league goes on break to allow the senior national team, the Black Stars
prepare for their World Cup qualifier against Sierra Leone in Freetown on 6th May.
Hearts Take Heart With League Win
Dethroned African club champions, Hearts of Oak have opened the defence of their Ghanaian league title with a good start, edging out Obuasi Goldfields 1-0 on Sunday.
Hearts whose debut in this year's league had to wait until yesterday due to their continental commitments won the match with a goal in the 4th minute by Ishmael Addo. Hearts' victory was one of several good performances by visiting teams in the three week old league that has been tainted by some violence, surprises and the early re-emergence of two-time African champions Kumasi Asante Kotoko.
Kotoko, who hold the record for most league titles in Ghana lead the standings after three round of matches with seven points from two wins and one draw. Their performance has raised the hopes of their teeming fans that the club would finally manage to clinch the league title after going seven years without one.
Yet it is still early for the Porcupine Warriors to start celebrating. Arch rivals, Hearts of Oak have two games in hand and have already managed three points from one of the most difficult pairings at Obuasi.
CAF Cup contenders Goldfields won three straight Premier League crowns from 1993-94 at the inception of the professional championship, but have struggled since. Their loss against Hearts at their Len Clay grounds leaves them with just a single point from three matches and firmly rooted to the bottom of the table.
Whiles Goldfields struggle, the three promoted teams have made a good impression so far. Maxbees have seven points and lie in third place while, Berekum Arsenals and Adansiman remain undefeated.
Scenes off the field have made headlines, too. The Kaladan Park in Tamale, which is the home grounds of Real Tamale United (RTU), has been banned to stage three home matches after fans beat up officials of Kotoko and their own team.
RTU players were infuriated by the action of the fans and threatened to quit the club, but changed their minds after a public apology by the supporters.
The club has protested to the GFA pver the three-match ban and have threatened to breakaway from the Ghanaian league to join the Burkinabe championship.
Apart from the woes of RTU, new sponsors, Ghana Brewery Limited are also unhappy about the way the league fixtures are being changed at random. The brewery, which will pay ?80,000 to the GFA annually, wants a more consistent fixture schedule. National team commitments and Hearts of Oak's earlier involvement in the Champions League had affected the fixtures.
Okwawu shock Liberty in Accra
By Eric Enchill
OKWAWU United last Saturday sold out an exciting game, defeating Liberty Professionals 3-1 in their Star Premier league match at the Accra Stadium.
Playing to a sparse crowd, mostly Okwawu fans, the Mountaineers tore down the Liberty machine with their flair and skill, making Sly Tetteh’s charges run through 90 minutes Thespians.
It was Okwawu United who found the net first when in the 10th minute in-form Kofi Apetor cleverly slotted home a perfect pass from Ernest Boateng from outside the box.
A minute later, the Mountaineers were on target again through Ernest Boateng, whose swift turning-drive found Liberty’s goalie, Humphrey Amoah wanting.
With danger looming, Liberty pushed forward but failed to go beyond the Okwawu defence until the 27th minute when Kofi Deblah’s intelligent strike gave them a goal.
In the second half, it was Okwawu who kept the pressure with Kofi Apetor and Ernest Boateng cutting through the Liberty defence with ease but failed to increase the tally.
In the 60th minute, Ernest Boateng raced deep into the Liberty half, gave a quick pass to Richard Mireku, whose in-swinger was cleverly headed home by Kwasi Kyeremanteng for Okwawu’s third goal.
Thirteen minutes after, Okwawu nearly made it four but an own goal from Liberty’s Togolese import, Dare Nimbombe, was disallowed.
Kotoko shoot up 3-0
KUMASI Asante Kotoko thrashed Bofoakwa 3-0 in their Star Premier League match played at the Kumasi Stadium yesterday.
The match was played on a virtually water-logged pitch after a two-hour down pour, which almost caused the match to be called off.
The match, which should have started at 3 p.m. finally got under way at 3.40 p.m. after the ball boys had managed to clear water from parts of the soggy pitch with foam.
The pitch was very slippery making it impossible for the teams to stick to their game plans.
Kotoko shot into the lead in the fourth minute through Nana Frimpong, who connected Godfried Yeboah's set piece.
In the sixth minute, Lawrence Adjei almost increased the tally for Kotoko after Nana Frimpong had put him through but his final touch missed the goal post by inches to the relief of Bofoakwa Tano.
In the 27th minute, Nana Frimpong slotted the ball into the net for Kotoko's second goal but Tamale-based referee J. D. K. Essel ruled it offside.
Shilla Alhassan who played a great game pounced on Nana Frimpong's pass and lobbed the ball over the hapless Bofoakwa goalkeeper, Mohammed Alhassan, to register Kotoko's second goal in the 38th minute.
Kotoko earned a penalty in the 51st minute when Nana Frimpong, who was moving threateningly, was brought down in the box. Bofoakwa protested against the penalty but referee Essel ignored it and sent off Pasco Amponsah for indiscipline.
When sanity prevailed, Godwin Ablordey who elected himself for the kick swerved Bofoakwas's goalkeeper, Alhassan to the wrong side to register Kotoko's third goal.
Hearts down Goldfields
THE old adage, "once beaten twice shy", proved workable when Hearts of Oak managed to shake off their 5-1 debacle in Congo to beat Obuasi Goldfields by a lone goal in their Star Premier League at the Len Clay Stadium yesterday.
The goal which came in the first minute could have demoralised the miners, but like Hearts of Oak’s motto, 'Never say die', Goldfields fought tooth and nail for the three home points, but were handicapped by the absence of a prolific striker within the attacking machinery.
The kick off to the match played under the instructions of referee Emmanuel Bissi of Sunyani delayed for seven minutes as a result of a heavy downpour.
Hearts who appeared in an all-white attire against Goldfields’ yellow and black, kicked off and played like the cat angered by the antics of the mouse and determined to pursue it to death.
It was, therefore, little wonder as they moved with delicate smoothness with Emmanuel Osei Kuffour, Ishmael Addo, and Charles Taylor holding their attack together.
On the first minute, Osei Kuffour running loose from Goldfields, set up Ishmael with an incisive pass. His powerful shot beat goalkeeper Rachid Compoare in post for the homesters for the only goal of the exciting match.
Arsenals crush Adansiman
BEREKUM Arsenals proved too strong for fellow debutantes, Obuasi Adansiman, crushing them 3-1 in the replay of their third week Star Premier League encounter at the Berekum Coronation Park on Monday to bring their points build- up to six.
Arsenal had taken a 1-0 lead after the first half on Sunday when the referee called off the match after a heavy downpour made the pitch unusable.
The match was consequently rescheduled for Monday and Arsenal showed that they would be difficult to beat at home this season.
Samuel Kyere, leading the Arsenals attack, gave the Adansiman defence anxious moments in the early exchanges before Adansiman's skillful attacker, Isaac Asare, missed from close range in the 20th minute.
Arsenals opened the scoring in the 30th minute through Samuel Kyere whose cracking left footer from the edge of the box went through a cluster of legs into the net.
In the 31st minute, Adasiman's Isaac Asare was booked for rough play while his colleague, Quarshie Leveh, was shown the red card in the 40th minute for slapping Nana Adarkwa of Arsenals.
But the visitors came back strongly to equalise in the 50th minute through a solo effort by Haruna Gariba who outpaced his markers before turning big centre back, Joseph Boakye, inside out to place the ball home.
Veteran Yaw Serbeh, in the defence of Arsenals, was substituted with smallish midfielder Mohammed Ahmed, a.k.a. Aleluia, and he completely changed the face of the game by stringing intellingent passes to his colleagues, one of which resulted in a penalty when Kyere was fouled in the box. Joseph Boakye made no mistake about it.
Arsenals continued their advances and were rewarded with another goal on the stroke of full time when Seth Antwi soared above everybody to nod home a perfect free-kick by Nana Adarkwa.
