World Cup qualifier - Stars scale over Tanzania
ABC Premier League matches - 8th week 24
April 2000
Accra (Greater Accra) 25 April 2000
The Black Stars of Ghana on Sunday sold a not-too-impressive game but managed to scale through to the final group stage of the World Cup qualifier after beating Taifa Stars of Tanzania 3-2 at the Accra Stadium.
The Black Stars’ disappointing outing at the 2000 Cup of Nations, left an air of despondency around their game and their drab performance against the Taifa stars left many in doubt about their chances when they meet stiffer opposition in the group qualifying stage.
With as many as nine Europe-based professionals against a frightened bunch of Tanzanians, Ghanaians had hoped for a goal haul, especially after they had beaten the Tanzanians1-0 in their own backyard without their full compliment of their foreign-based professionals, two weeks ago.
Hopes of Ghanaians were raised when within twelve minutes of the game the Stars had come close to puncturing the visitors on three occasions but Augustine Ahinful made a mess of the chances. In the 19th minute however, the Stars opened the scoring when Samuel Osei Kuffour moved upfront from his defensive position to nod home a cross by skipper C.K. Akunnor.
The visitors tried to organize themselves but appeared somehow timid as they let chances to punish the Ghanaians slip by after the Black Stars committed a couple of blunders at the back.
Barely seven minutes after Kuffour put the Stars ahead, Arhinful compensated for his earlier misses with a beautiful shot from 20 metres, which zoomed into the net to increase the Stars' tally to 2-0.
Somehow, complacency sunk into Ghanaian's game as they appearedcontent with the scoreline and allowed Tanzania to seize the midfield.
Ghana's duo of Daniel Addo and Mark Edusei were totally eclipsed in the midfield and by the 35th minute the Taifa Stars were creating cracks in the Stars defence, as shortish Issah Kassim ran at his markers.
In one of their moves, John Nteze sent the stadium into a graveyard with a spectacular 30-metre drive that zoomed past goalkeeper Richard Kingston, to reduce the deficit in the 43rd minute.
Stars' coach Giuseppe Dossena pulled out Peter Ofori-Quaye for Felix Aboagye at the resumption of the second half and it looked as though some urgency had returned into their game but it was the Taifa Stars who kept piling on the pressure.
In the 51st minute, top striker Maulid Saidi Hassan punished Ghana for some slack defending by Kingston who failed to make a safety-first clearance and lost the ball to an opponent, who put Hassan through to equalize.
Just as Ghanaians began to write-off their national team, Addo, who many were agitating to be removed from the game, turned the saviour when he finished off a two-man move between him and Aboagye for Ghana's third goal.
Somehow, Tanzania's naivety in front of Black Stars goal undermined their efforts at scoring after ripping their defence apart on several occasions.
Dossena turned to local idol, Charles Taylor, and Edmund Copson to help rescue his side from embarrassment, but the goal-hungry Tanzanians kept the pressure on and were still attacking when referee Diouf Samba Abdou Diof whistled for the end of proceedings.
GRi../
Accra (Greater Accra) 25 April 2000
Kumasi Asanti Kotoko brought the smiles back to the faces of their teeming fans when they scored an authoritative one nil victory over Liberty Professionals of Accra in their eighth week ABC Premier League fixture.
Kotoko who until this game had won only two out of seven league outings, kicked off and dominated play in the early minutes
as Burkinabe import Clovis Kambou, came close to scoring in the 12th minute fired over the bar.
The porcupine warriors proved superior especially from the wings but failed to translate their dominance into goals as Shilla Alhassan, Prince Adu Poku and Shamo Abbey, wasted chances that came their way in the 16th, 20th and 33rd minutes respectively.
In the 35th minute however, the reds could not be denied a goal when Felix Yeboah soared above everyone to nod home a Prince Adu Poku free-kick, in what turned out to be the only goal of the match.
Back from recess Liberty appeared the stronger side and pressed Kotoko whose defencemen looked tired, but they could not find the net. In one of such raids Forster Bastios came close to scoring in the 55th minute but the former Black Stars defender shot wide with only Kotoko's goal-keeper to beat.
As the homesters probed for the equalizer, Bernard Aryee in the 66th minute connected with a header and nearly hit the net but the alertness of Samuel Quansah in the posts for Kotoko saved the situation.
In the 73rd and 83rd minutes, Liberty replaced injured substitute Albert Neequaye and Ablade Morgan with Ibrahim Attiku and Papa Arko respectively in a bid to strengthen their attack while Kotoko changed Kambou for Humphrey Amoah in the 86th minute.
It was Liberty who nearly had the last laugh a minute to fulltime when Moses Tetteh broke through the Kotoko defence, to dare goalkeeper Quansah but the newfound blew his side's last chance away to leave them the vanquished side.
GRi../
Accra (Greater Accra) 25 April 2000
Two late goals by newly signed, Desmond Amoah, ended the string of loses by Wonder Club Accra Great Olympics as they registered their first win in the league with a 2 -1 victory over Real Tame United 2-1 in their eighth week ABC Premier League match played at the Accra Sports Stadium on Saturday.
The former Hearts of Oak striker fetched the goals after his side trailed the visitors by a lone for pretty 75 minutes and brought some comfort to their crest-fallen supporters.
Olympics kicked off under the direction of class one referee Gyansu Nyarko-Muller of Mampong Ashanti and created the first chance as early as the third minute, which was wasted by skipper Nii Noi Dowuona.
The Northerners repulsed the challenge and scored the opener in the fifth minute, when Ibrahim Musah riffled in a long range shot from outside the edge of the box to beat goalkeeper Sam Quaye in post for Olympics. The home team nearly equalised in 10th minute when Joe Louis intercepted a loose ball in the visitors penalty area but his shot sailed over the bar.
RTU had could have increased the tally in the 32nd minute but a cross from Ahmed Yakubu needing only a tap from team mate Iddrisu who was lurking around the goal area went to an opponent who booted it to safety.
Olympics brought on Amui Quaye and Jonathan Abeiku for Issaka Sulemana and Nii Boye Sam respectively in the 37th minute and the two immediately took control of the midfield pushing their forwards upfront with effective ball distribution. In the 58th and 69th minutes, Kweku Duah and Amui Quaye failed to convert obvious chances.
In the 75th minute, Desmond Amoah was tripped in the RTU penalty box by Abdellah Alhassan for Referee Muller to whistle for a penalty, which he converted for the equaliser.
When everything was pointing to a drawn game, Amoah brought the whole stadium to its feet when he scored the match winner after dummying an RTU's defender and curling a 30-yarder volley beyond goalie Suraju Mohammed for the winner in the 80th minute.
GRi../
Kumasi ( Ashanti Region)
Sekondi Hasaacas managed inspired by veteran Kofi Abbrey's deft touches and incisive passes, scored a one nil victory over King Faisal in their match played at the Kumasi sports stadium but could have gone home with cricket scoreline but for brilliant goalkeeping by the home team's Sampson Ampiah.
Faisal kicked-off first but lost the ball to Hasaacas who showed their determination of carrying the day with a powerful shot from smallish Seth Twumasi but goalkeeper Ampiah dived to his elastic limit to fist it out in what was to become one of many in the match.
Faisal could not match the pace of the former 'giants of the west' and it came as no surprise when Frank Turkson broke the deadlock in the 30th minute.
The fast-running forward turned the Faisal defence inside out before lobbing the ball over an on-rushing goalkeeper Ampiah to secure the only goal of the match.
Ekow Ghansah missed the opportunity to make it two for Hasmal in the 53rd minute after his left-footer grazed the post and went out of play.
In the 62nd minute, Faisal had to play with 10 men when referee Charles Dowuona of Accra, red-carded Samuel Thompson for a second bookable offence. There was however, no change in the scoreline until the final whistle.
GRi../
Cape Coast (Central Region) 25 April 2000
Cape Coast Ebusua Dwarfs pipped visiting Dawu Youngsters 1-0 in their match played at the Cape Coat Stadium.
The lone goal was scored in the 81st minute by Erick Appiah who after receiving a pass from Stephen Owusu beat on-rushing goalkeeper Eric Boateng to register the lone goal of the match.
After a scoreless first half, Ebusua Dwarfs returned a rejuvenated side and bombarded their opponents’ area with shots from all angles but poor finishing upfront robbed them of an early lead.
Against the run of play, Dawu's Eric Mbroh managed to put the ball in Dwarfs' net in the 24th minute but Accra-based referee E.Q.M. Osam-Quaye disallowed it for offside positioning.
The game turned into a ding-dong battle in the closing stages and Dwarfs capitalised on the glorious opportunity that fell to them in the 81st minute to carry the day.
GRi../
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo Region)
Brong Ahafo United and Tano Bofoakwa battled to a goalless drawn game in their local derby honoured at the Sunyani Coronation Park on Saturday.
Played under heavy military presence in anticipation of possible crowd violence, the two teams, particularly B. A United, miserably failed to capitalise on the many scoring chances that came their way.
When the game commenced under the instructions of class one referee Alex Kotey of Accra, it was B. A United who showed indications of carrying the day as they kept Bofoakwa's half of the pitch boiling throughout the first half.
In the 30th and 35th minutes, B.A. United shockingly blew away glorious opportunities to score, when the entire Bofoakwa defence were confused, leaving the scores goalless at half time.
On resumption Bofoakwa brought on Pasco Amponsah and Antwi Manu for Oppong Richard and William Agyepong respectively which lifted their game appreciably.
With surging runs by Pasco and support from their central defender, Malik Gargo, Bofoakwa had their chances to put the ball in the net but they also messed up miserably.
At Nkawkaw Okwahu united drew 1-1 with visiting Kwaebibirem while at the Len Clay Stadium, Obuasi Goldfields beat visiting Tema Ghapoha 2-0.
GRi…/
ABC Premier League matches - 8th
week 24 April 2000
Eighth week Results at a glance
Sunyani: B. A. United 0 Bofoakwa 0 Nkawkaw: Okwawu 1 K'bibirem 0
Obuasi: Goldfields 2 Ghapoha 0 Accra: Olympics 2 RTU 1
Kumasi: K. Faisal 0 Hasaacas 1 Cape Coast: Dwarfs 1 Dawu 0
Accra: Liberty 0 Kotoko 1 Koforidua: Power F/C vs Hearts postponed
Table of ABC premier league on 8th week - 008
Team Local/Region P W D L F A Pts GD
Hearts Accra, Gt. Accra 7 7 0 0 23 3 21 +20
Liberty Accra, Gt. Accra 8 5 1 2 10 5 16 +5
Goldfields Obuasi, Ashanti 8 5 1 2 10 5 16 +5
Ghapoha Tema, Gt. Accra 8 4 1 3 11 11 13 0
RTU Tamale, Northern 8 4 1 3 8 9 13 -1
King Faisal Kumasi, Ashanti 8 3 2 3 10 8 11 +2
Dwarfs Cape Coast, Central 8 3 2 3 10 11 11 -1
Hasaacas Sekondi, Western 8 3 1 4 8 11 10 -3
Kotoko Kumasi, Ashanti 8 3 1 4 5 9 10 -4
Okwawu Nkawkaw, Eastern 8 2 3 3 10 8 9 +2
Bofoakwa Sunyani, Brong Ahafo 8 2 3 3 7 10 9 -3
Power F/C Koforidua, Eastern 7 2 2 3 5 4 8 +1
Kwaebibirim Asuom, Eastern 8 2 2 4 8 15 8 -7
Dawu Dawu, Eastern 8 1 4 3 8 11 7 -3
B.A. United Sunyani, Brong Ahafo 8 0 4 4 7 12 4 -5
Olympics Accra, Gt. Accra 8 1 3 4 7 15 3 -8
The league match between Accra Hearts of Oak was declared outstanding because Hearts had eight players in the Black Stars squad that played the World Cup qualifier against Tanzania on Sunday 23 April. The match has been rescheduled for Wednesday 26 April.
GRi