Faisal pip Bofoakwa at Sunyani
ABC Premier League - 7th week matches - Scores
at a glance
Unstoppable Accra Hearts of Oak yesterday silenced Cape Coast Ebusua Dwarfs when they opened fire in the second 45 minutes of their game to beat the Oguaa lads by three goals to one.
The feat was made possible by Hearts' newfound Emmanuel Donkor, who in making a comeback after a head injury during the off season, rattled in two goals in six minutes to call the bluff of the Oguaa boys.
After a minute's silence had been observed in memory of Professor Mawusi Dake, member of the Ghana League Clubs Associations and former chairman of Ho VORADEP football club, Dwarfs kicked off and made early goal attempts but good defensive work by Sannie Wahab and Amankwaa Mireku held their attackers in check.
Hearts repulsed the challenge and could have shot ahead in the eighth minute but Charles Taylor watched unbelievingly when after a brilliant dribble of the Hearts defence, goalkeeper Kweku Ofori punched his goal-bound shot to corner.
Dwarfs also had their chance in the 31st minute but a cracker by Mathew Attiogbe was expertly parried to over the bar by Hearts' Eben Dida.
Two minutes into the second half wingback Amankwa Mireku powered home a 35-metre freekick to shoot the Phobians into the lead but deadly winger, Stephen Owusu brought the 'abontua abontua boys' on level terms in the 62nd minute.
Then on, Dwarfs took control of the game and were unlucky not to have increased their tally as Attiogbe wasted a begging chance two minutes later.
Both sides made changes in their set with Dwarfs pulling out Attiogbe and Baba Musa for Lawal Mhammed and Frederick Aboagye respectively while Hearts substituted Osmanu Amadu with Emmanuel Donkor.
Hearts seemed to have benefited most from the changes as Donkor hit the back of Dwarfs' net in the 83rd minute when he connected beautifully an Edmund Copson's through pass.
Donkor was on target again in the 89th minute when he latched unto a pass from Charles Taylor displaced Dwarfs glovesman before planting the ball gently into the net.
GRi../
Sekondi (Western Region)
Sekondi Hasaacas drew 0-0 with visiting Obuasi Goldfields in their match played at the Sekondi Gyandu Park on Sunday.
The two sides performed impressively throughout the match, especially during the first half when each struggled to gain the upper hand. What started at a slow pace, gradually developed into swift exchanges, with Hasaacas coming out as the more purposeful side.
Goldfields, cheered on by a sizeable crowd, could however not be cowed by the home strength of Hasmal and when they switched on their engine, they kept the homesters goal area under siege. Three very good attempts at goal could have made the miners richer by three points at Gyandu but goalkeeper Owusu Banahene of Starlets fame pulled out dramatic saves on all occasions to leave the score barren at the end of 90 minutes.
GRi../
Tema (Greater Accra)
Ghapoha F/C beat visiting Power F/C 3-1 in their match played at the Tema Stadium at the weekend. It was Ghapoha who took the kick-off and carried the game into the opponents' territory, and snatched the leader in the 18th minute through inside left George Siaw.
Power lifted their game and equalised in the 31st minute through centre forward Ebow Mensah. Midway in the second half the game became balanced as both sides struggled to take control.
In the 66th minute, inside left Bernard Don-Bortey restored Ghapoha's lead when he headed a lob from the left flank by centre forward Nana Yaw and added another in the 83rd minute, to seal the doom of Power.
GRi../
Tamale (Northern Region)
Real Tamale United (RTU) played a determined game on Sunday to spank Liberty Professionals 3-1 in their match at the Tamale Kaladan Park.
RTU launched an early attack and could have scored in the first minute but right winger Musa shot wide. The early incursion by the Tamale lads set the tone for an uncompromising match as Liberty countered with smooth and fast inter-positional changes.
In the 12th minute centre forward Kofi Deblah missed a good chance to put Liberty in the lead when his well struck right footer veered off goal.
RTU soon seized the initiative with persistent attacks and nearly got the opener in the 25th minute but again, Musa's long ranger was expertly parried by Liberty's goalie Louis Quaynor.
However, RTU could not be denied a goal in the 43rd minute when forward Abass Iddrisu scored from a spot kick after inside right Arola Tafawo was hacked down in the penalty area.
Urged on by the partisan crowd, RTU resumed the second half with greater determination and scored their second goal when inside-left Alpha Potabawi tapped home Abass Iddrisu's shot which had been pushed into his way by goalkeeper Quaynor.
RTU's scored their third goal through another penalty in the 88th minute when Liberty's central defender, Sam Lamptey pushed down Abass Iddirisu in a desperate attempt to prevent him from scoring.
Undaunted by the goals against them, Liberty made a last minute brave move to redeem their image and were rewarded with a penalty on the stroke of full time which was converted by outside right Albert Neequaye, giving them a consolation goal.
GRi../
Kumasi (Ashanti Region)
A 73rd minute strike by former Kotoko star, Ernest Boateng, enabled Okwawu United to hold Kumasi Asante Kotoko to a 1-1 drawn game in their ABC Premier league encounter honoured at the Kumasi Sports Stadium.
Kotoko, facing a lean season, looked like carrying away the three precious points as they held on to their lead until Boateng capitalised on a defensive mix-up to slot the ball into the net.
Kotoko kicked off first under the instructions of referee C.M. Atsatsa of Tema, but failed to score in the 12th and 13th minutes when skipper Gordon Ablordey shot wide on each occasion.
Okwawu put up a fierce resistance that was spiced with hard play, which earned them two yellow cards in the 32nd minute when Edward Acquaye fouled a Kotoko player and also in the 44th minute when Alex Odamtten kicked Prince Adu Poku.
After a scoreless first half, Kotoko went onto the offensive and scored the leader in the 60th minute through Shilla Alhassan. The intelligent striker intercepted the ball in the "18", fooled Okwawu's defencemen with some good body work before hitting a low one into the net for the crowd to respond with thunderous cheers.
Kotoko's attacking machinery however relaxed after the goal and allowed Okwawu to dictate the pace. In the 70th minute, goalkeeper Samuel Quansah courageously came out of his posts to intercept the ball as the defence failed to stop a dangerous move by Okwawu.
Three minutes later, Ernest Boateng exploited a defensive lapse and standing unmarked, he paced up to put the ball beyond the reach of goal keeper Quansah for the equaliser.
The Kotoko forwards, led by Michael Osei launched a series of attacks to carry the day but the Okwawu defence, pivoted around Alex Odamtten stood gallantly till final whistle was blown.
GRi../
Dawu (Eastern Region)
Trouble-hit Accra Great Olympics wasted a 30th-minute penalty in what could have been their first win in the seven-week old league and at the end had to go home with a consolation 0-0 draw with Dawu Youngsters in their match played at the Dawu Sports Stadium.
Takoradi-based referee F. K Mensah awarded the penalty to Olympics after new recruit, Desmond Amoah, was brought down in Dawu's penalty area. However, Amui Quaye's kick was pushed to corner by goalkeeper Sumaila Abdalla.
Oly, who had a better share of the game, pushed more men forward and nearly succeed in the 59th minute when a hard-pressed defender of Dawu, Issa Ahmed, misdirected a harmless shot which hit the woodwork and bounced back into play.
GRi../
Faisal pip Bofoakwa at Sunyani
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo)
Visiting King Faisal shocked Tano Bofoakwa with a 2-1 win in their Premier League match played at the Sunyani Coronation Park on Sunday. All the goals were scored in the first half.
Determined to carry the day, the homesters went straight into action when Cape Coast based-referee Kwame Ghartey signalled for the start of hostilities but Faisal countered their early incursions and nearly got the opener in the second minute but danger man Eric Gawu failed to utilise a good chance with only the goalkeeper to beat.
In the eighth minute, however, Faisal's Joe Agyemang shocked the vociferous Bofoakwa fans when he beautifully finished off a cross from the right flank with a strong header for the first goal.
Urged on by their supporters, Bofoakwa made amends and snatched the equaliser in the 13th minute through Kwasi Kyereh, who scored with a header from William Agyapong's cross. The equaliser did not, however, intimidate the visitors as they probed for more goals.
In the 37th minute, a hard-pressed Bofoakwa defender handled the ball in the vital area and Joe Agyemang converted beautifully to restore the visitors' lead.
Both teams made a couple of changes but that could not change the scoreline as both sides protected their goal with good defensive work. At Asuom, Kwaebibirem beat visiting B. A. United 4-2.
GRi…/
Accra (Greater Accra)
The Minster of Youth and Sports, Mr. E. T. Mensah on Thursday assured the Ghana Golf Association (GGA) of the ministry's commitment to the development of the sport in the country.
Inaugurating the Ghana Golf Association and its executive council as a formally recognised body under the National Sports Council (NSC) in Accra, the Minister urged the association to draw up a programme that will popularise the sport and erase the erroneous impression that golf is exclusively for the rich.
He tasked the Association to promote the establishment of Regional Golf Associations and explore the possibilities of organising championship that would embrace players from all over the country.
The President of GGA, Mr. Mike Ezan, said it has been a long struggle to get golf recognised in the general affairs of the NSC and expressed his gratitude to all who have contributed towards the achievement.
He said, the association has plans to embark on a youth training programme to popularise the game and unearth new talents.
GRi…/
ABC Premier League - 7th week
matches - Scores at a glance
Dawu : Dawu 0 Olympics 0 Tamale : RTU 3 Liberty 1
Kumasi : Kotoko 1 Okwawu 1 Asuom : K'bibirem 4 B.A. United 2
Sunyani : Bofoakwa 1 K. Faisal 2 Sekondi : Hasaacas 0 Goldfields 0
Tema : Ghapoha 2 Power 0 Accra : Hearts 3 Dwarfs 1
Table of the ABC premier league after 7th week
matches - 007
Team Local/Region P W D L F A Pts GD
Hearts Accra, Gt. Accra 6 6 0 0 19 3 18 +16
Liberty Accra, Gt. Accra 7 5 1 1 10 4 16 +6
Ghapoha Tema, Gt. Accra 6 4 1 1 11 5 13 +6
Goldfields Obuasi, Ashanti 7 4 1 2 8 5 13 +3
RTU Tamale, Northern 7 4 1 2 7 7 13 0
King Faisal Kumasi, Ashanti 7 3 2 2 10 7 11 +3
Okwawu Nkawkaw, Eastern 7 2 2 3 9 7 8 +2
Power F/C Koforidua, Eastern 7 2 3 2 5 4 9 +1
Dwarfs Cape Coast, Central 7 2 2 3 9 11 8 -2
Bofoakwa Sunyani, Brong Ahafo 7 2 2 3 6 9 8 -3
Dawu Dawu, Eastern 7 1 4 2 8 10 7 -2
Hasaacas Sekondi, Western 7 2 1 4 7 11 7 -4
Kotoko Kumasi, Ashanti 7 2 1 4 4 9 7 -5
Kwaebibirim Asuom, Eastern 7 2 1 4 7 14 7 -7
B.A. United Sunyani, Brong Ahafo 7 0 3 4 7 12 3 -5
Olympics Accra, Gt. Accra 7 0 3 4 5 14 0 -9
Hearts has a sixth week outstanding match against Ghapoha to be cleared on Wednesday 19 April 2000.
GRi../