Soccer-Black Stars pip Reggae Boyz 2-1
ABC/Golden Lager League Results at a glance
Soccer-Olympics humble Goldfields 3-1
Okwahu lose narrowly to GHAPOHA
King Faisal, Hearts battle to a draw
Soccer-ABC premier league standings
Soccer-Allen Gyimah to run Kumapin Stars
Soccer-Black Stars pip Reggae Boyz 2-1
Accra (Greater Accra), 9th August 99
Ghana's Black Stars rounded off the activities of this year's PANAFEST on a joyous note as they beat the Reggae Boyz of Jamaica 2-1 in an international friendly football match played at the Accra Sports Stadium for the PANAFEST trophy on Saturday.
But the Jamaicans, who paraded virtually the same squad that participated in the France '98 World Cup, nearly spoiled the day for the Ghanaians as they shot into the lead against the run of play in the eleventh minute and held on to it till the break.
Patrick Graham sent a beautiful midfield move, initiated by Curtis Anthony to Fuller Ricardo, who pushed it onto the path of Graham to finish off.
The Black Stars, though very effective in defence and midfield, found it difficult to break through the tight defensive set up of the Reggae Boyz.
Getting to the closing stages of the first half, the Stars redoubled their efforts up-front with right winger Robert Boateng of Asante Kotoko fame supplying the goods but the duo strikers of France-based Arthur
Moses and Emmanuel Tetteh of Greece were always eclipsed by the defence of the visitors.
Coach Giussepe Dosena brought on Felix Aboagye for defender Princeton Owusu Ansah at the start of the second half to add more bite in the attack of the Stars.
The change paid off in the 59th minute as Moses dived to head home Tetteh's cross from the left flank for the equaliser.
In the 60th minute, the coach sent sensational Baba Amando of Kotoko for Richard Ackon and four minutes later, Amando set the stadium alive with a left footed flick into the roof of the net for the Stars’ leader.
It was a fast break from the right flank to Amando who beautifully controlled Aboagye's inswinger before slotting it in.
Both teams made lots of changes but that did not alter the score line.
Mr E.T. Mensah, Minister of Youth and Sports, assisted by Mr Kojo Yankah, Chairman of the PANAFEST Foundation, presented the trophy, donated by President Jerry John Rawlings to the Stars.
Line-up: - Ghana - James Nanor, Jacob Nettey, Emmanuel Kuffuor, Princeton Owusu-Ansah/Felix Aboagye, Foster Bastious/Sani Wahab, Benard Areyee/ Nii Aryee Welbeck, Mark Edusei, Robert Boateng/Yaw Owusu, Richard Ackon/Baba Amando, Arthur Moses/Justice Ampah and Emmanuel Tetteh
Jamaica - Lawrence Aaron, Fabian Davies, Thomaz Shavar/David Stewart, Linval Dixon, Marco MacDonald, English Irvino/Jeffrey Cunningham, Patrick Graham, Winston Griffiths, Curtis Anthony/Jermaine Johnson, Ricardo Fuller/Kendri Quarrie, Harris Wolde/Patrick Beech.
GRi…/
ABC/Golden Lager League Results at a glance
Accra: Olympics 3 Goldfields 1
Kumasi : Fiasail 0 Hearts 0
Sunyani : Bofoakwa 0 Kotoko 1
Tamale : RTU 1 Dwarfs 0
Dawu : Dawu 2 Hasaacas 0
Tema : GHAPOHA 2 Okwahu 1
Swedru; All Blacks 2 Power 0
GRi../
Soccer-Olympics humble Goldfields 3-1
Accra, (Greater Accra) 9th August 99
Accra Great Olympics humbled Obuasi Goldfields 3-1 in their 22nd week ABC Golden Lager premier football league match played at the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday.
Two goals from Nana Eshun in the 17th and 84th minutes and a third by substitute, Issaka Suliemana ensured that impressive victory for Olympics. Nana Arhin Duah scored the only goal for Goldfields in the 78th minute.
Olympics showed their determination to carry the day as early as the first minute when Razak Pimpong sent an excellent cross into the Miners' goal area but Goldfields' Eric Boakye moved in quickly to take the ball from Olympics' Wisdom Abbey who was in a good position to score.
In the ninth minute, Abbey nearly put Olympics ahead when his header from Nii Noi Dowouna's free-kick beat goalkeeper Michael Robertson in post for Goldfields but the ball grazed off the cross bar.
Olympics maintained the pressure on the Miners and broke the deadlock in the17th minute when Eshun's powerful shot from a free-kick, midway inside Goldfields' area, hit the back of the net.
Goalie, Robertson stretched full length and got his hands to the ball but there was so much power behind it that he could not stop it from entering the net.
Olympics came close to scoring again in the 27th and 30th minutes through Amui Quaye and Tahiru Briamah but they both missed the target narrowly.
Goldfields, having been kept inside their own half for a considerable length of time, repulsed the attack and nearly equalised through Momo Wandel but his powerful shot was blocked by Oly's defender Yaw Hammond.
The rebound fell onto the path of Aminu Musah, who blasted the ball off target from close range.
Olympics' Abbey, exploited a defensive blunder by Goldfields' Tony Baffoe and nearly scored in the 45th minute but the striker waited too long in the Miners' '18' and allowed the right full back to recover and clear the ball from the danger zone.
Goldfields resumed the second half with substitute goalkeeper, Fred Ollenu in place of Robertson and started probing for the equaliser, forcing Olympics to pull all their men into defence.
They nearly achieved their objective in the 60th minute but goalie Osei Boateng of Olympics expertly parried Priceton Owusu-Ansah’s header to touch for a corner which was wasted.
A minute later the Miners pulled out Wandel for Kamara Dini and Olympics brought on Nii Boye Sam for Bright Nartey in the 66th minute.
Olympics succumbed to the incessant pressure when Duah tapped the ball into the net after goalkeeper Boateng had parried Dini's shot to fetch the equaliser for Goldfields in the 78th minute.
After the goal, Olympics, desperate to win the three points at stake, threw everything into the game and deservedly restored their lead through a spot-kick in the 84th minute when Pimpong then in a good position to score, was brought down in the Goldfields '18' by Boakye for the penalty which was converted by Eshun.
Two minutes later, Boakye was sent off for a second bookable offence when he deliberately elbowed Amui Quaye of Olympics.
With a minute to go, Olympics' Suleimana made it 3-1 for his side when he took the ball away from Golfields' Kingsley Agyemang and fired it into the roof of the net from close range.
MORE
Okwahu lose narrowly to GHAPOHA
Tema : Ghapoha F/C put up an impressive performance to beat visiting Okwawu United 2-1 in their match played at Tema.
It was Okwawu who made several incursions into their opponents vital area for the first 15 minutes of the game but failed to score as their attackers were jittery up-front.
They continued their pressure and managed to score the opening goal in the 27th minute through right winger Nii Ayi Tetteh.
Undaunted, Ghapoha came into the picture and equalised in the 32nd minute through left winger Hope Aziz.
The game became a ding-dong affair in the second half and both teams exhausted their substitution but it was Ghapoha who benefited as they scored the winning goal in the 80th minute through midfielder Ben Kwame.
Okwawu launched a last-minute onslaught in a bid to redeem the goal but were rather struck by disaster when Accra-based referee Eben Fergurson, who gave a good account of himself, showed inside left Abdul Midjima the red card for dangerous play in the 83rd minute.
MORE
Dawu: Dawu Youngsters beat visiting Sekondi Hasaacas 2-0, scoring a goal in each half, in their match played at the Dawu Sports Stadium.
Both teams ended the match with 10 men as a player from each side was sent off in the first half.
Dawu took the lead in the 10th minute through centre forward Eric Mbroah.
In the 33rd minute Emmanuel Okyere of Hasaacas and Abora Ampiah of Dawu were sent off for exchanging punches.
Hasaacas played an all-attacking game from then on with swift passes but failed to score as inside left Lawrence Aidoo and striker Justice Appiah could not utilise the chances that came their way in the 60th and 70th minutes respectively.
Midfielder Asibi Nurudeen made it 2-0 in the 85th minute for the homesters.
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Tamale: Ebusua Dwarfs put up a plucky defensive play but in the end succumbed to a 1-0 defeat by Real Tame United (RTU) in their match played at the Tamale Kaladan park.
RTU, bubbling with determination, were held in check by Dwarfs until the 77th minute when inside left Shilla Alhassan broke the deadlock with a classic header.
Cheered on by their home fans, RTU pinned their opponents to their half of the pitch but lacked ideas in front of goal.
The homesters nearly paid for their inability to take their chances when Dwarfs nearly scored in the 72nd minute against the run of play as centre-forward Walters Mensah with only goalkeeper Suraju Mohammed to beat shot wide.
RTU atoned for their mistakes, and scored the match winner when Alhassan’s diving header went straight into the net.
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King Faisal, Hearts battle to a draw
Kumasi: King Faisal and Accra Hearts of Oak settled for a goalless drawn game in their match played at the Kumasi Sports Stadium.
The youthful King Faisal side stood gallantly against the league leaders, who for once had to play on the defensive as Faisal looked like sweeping them off their feet.
The free-scoring Hearts attackers were not allowed much room to operate as the iron-clad Faisal defence proved unyielding, keeping the visitors front-runners at bay.
Faisal kicked-off brilliantly but were denied a goal in the third minute when a shot from striker Kwadwo Anane bounced off a Hearts defender
and zoomed towards the goal but was cleared off the goal-line by another defender with goalkeeper James Nanor completely beaten.
Hearts in a swift-counter attack split open the Faisal defence but a shot by Emmanuel Kuffuor missed the side-post.
Rampaging Faisal went onto the attack in the 11th minute but the defence of Hearts was able to take care of two attempts at goal by Nana Frimpong and Kwabena Opoku.
Hearts missed a chance in the 19th minute when Robert Sabah galloped along the left and sent a powerful shot which missed the post narrowly
Soon after, Kuffuor, who sneaked through an off-side trap by Faisal, failed to score from close range.
Faisal took absolute command of the game as Hearts offered little resistance but they could not score, especially in the 40th minute when Nana Frimpong shot wide from the box.
King Faisal resumed the second half full of fight as they put Hearts on the defensive, earning six corner-kicks between the 46th and 60th minutes but could not utilise any of them.
Faisal replaced Nana Frimpong with Joe Loius in the 62nd minute and Hearts brought on speedster Kenneth Sarpong for Emmanuel Yartey in the 68th minute.
Sarpong soon announced his presence as he rounded the defence of Faisal and sent a cross to Yaw Sakyi, who headed over the bar in the 69th minute.
Hearts had their glorious moments in the 74th and 83rd minutes but Desmond Amoah missed the post on both occasions.
Faisal staged a last-minute rally as they pinned Hearts to the wall but over-lapping full back Robert Oduro's shot was pushed over the line for a corner which was wasted in the 87th minute.
MORE
Sunyani: Fabulous Kumasi Asante Kotoko managed a 1-0 victory over Boafoakwa Tano in their match at the Sunyani Coronation Park when Prince Adu Poku scored with only five minutes to the end of proceedings.
The homesters should have themselves to blame for squandering countless scoring opportunities that came their way.
Bofoakwa, who were playing without their top striker, Osei Kwame, played an improved game and nearly scored through William Agyapong in the 13th and 17th minutes but he missed the target on both occasions.
Agyapong once again wasted a golden opportunity when Kotoko's goalie, Michael Abu mistakenly kicked the ball into his path but the Bofoakwa striker shot wide from close range in the dying minutes of the first half.
Kotoko came back from the break to play a determined game with Baba Amando, Awudu Adama and Adu-Poku constantly raiding the vital area of Bofoakwa.
No wonder they scored the match winner in the 85th minute as Adama's powerfull shot, which was blocked back into play by Bofoakwa's goalie Mohammed Damba, was headed into the net by Adu-Poku.
At Agona Swedru, All Blacks beat Power F/C 2-0.
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Soccer-ABC premier league standings
Accra (Greater Accra), 9th August 99
Standings of the 16-club ABC Golden Lager football Premier league after Sunday's matches tabulated under played, won, drawn, lost, goals for and goals against.
Ghana Premier League---Latest Positions (22nd Week Fixtures ) 8th August, 1999
Team Locale/Region P W D L F A Pts GD
Hearts Accra, Gt. Accra 22 14 4 3 42 18 47 +24
Goldfields Obuasi, Ashanti 22 13 0 9 28 14 39 +10
Kotoko Kumasi, Ashanti 22 10 3 6 30 21 39 +9
Olympics Accra, Gt. Accra 22 10 7 5 26 20 37 +6
Hasaacas Sekondi, Western 22 10 6 6 25 18 36 +7
Dwarfs Cape Coast, Central 22 10 5 7 29 24 35 +5
RTU Tamale, Northern 22 10 3 9 29 25 33 +4
Okwawu Nkawkaw, Eastern 22 10 2 10 26 22 32 +4
Dawu Dawu, Eastern 22 6 9 7 25 26 27 -1
Liberty Accra, Gt. Accra 22 8 2 11 19 22 26 -3
Power F/C Koforidua, Eastern 22 7 5 10 16 20 26 -6
Faisal Kumasi, Ashanti 22 7 7 8 22 24 25 0
All Blacks Swedru, Central 22 7 5 10 22 27 23 -5
Bofoakwa Sunyani, Brong 22 7 2 13 15 30 23 -15
Ahafo
GHAPOHA Tema, Gt. Accra 22 5 7 10 16 27 22 -11
Afienya Afienya, Gt. Accra 22 1 5 15 9 39 8 -30
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Soccer-Allen Gyimah to run Kumapin Stars
Mampong (Ashanti), 9th August 99 –
The Jamasihene, NanaGyimah Kesse the first, known in private life as Mr Allen Gyimah, who retired from active football administration a decade ago, has re-surfaced as the new Chairman of Kumapim Stars, a second division club at Asante Mampong.
Nana Gyimah Kesse, prior to his retirement from football administration, was the Chairman of first division Kumapim
Stars and his resignation from the club invariably led to the relegation of the club to the second division a decade ago.
Mr Ben Owusu Adade, Head of Kumapim Stars Management Committee said at Asante Mampong on Saturday that he was happy that Nana Kesse has finally agreed to run the club.
The Jamasihene said his decision to accept the chairmanship is a manifestation of his love and preparedness to serve his people in all shades of life.
He appealed to all and sundry to contribute in cash or in kind towards the running of the club.
GRi../