Soccer-Hearts score 2-1 victory over Ghapoha
Kotoko and Accra Great Olympics settled for a 1-1 draw
Okwawu United beats Dawu Youngsters 1-0
Afienya United and Bofoakwa Tano draw 0-0
Ebusua Dwarfs beat King Faisal 2-1
Soccer-ABC premier league standings --Latest Positions (23rd Week Fixtures )
Soccer-Hearts score 2-1 victory over Ghapoha
Accra (Greater Accra) 16 Aug '99
Accra Hearts of Oak scored a 2-1 victory over Ghapoha F/C in their 23rd week ABC Golden Lager premier football league match played at the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday.
Joe Fameyeh and Yaw Sakyi got the two goals for Hearts in the 19th and 59th minutes while Ghapoha scored through Emmanuel Quansah in the 53rd minute.
Hearts kicked off on a brilliant note but found it difficult penetrating the Ghapoha defence, pivoted around Richard Nii Noi, Ben Kwame and Foster Mensah.
The Tema boys made their first threatening move into the Phobinas' goal area in the 18th minute through Aziz Doe.
He exploited a defensive blunder by Hearts' central defender, Sani Wahab to his advantage and fired from close range but goalkeeper James Nanor saved the situation.
Hearts responded immediately with a counter attack which earned them the first goal through Fameyeh.
He received a pass in the centre circle, sneaked through the Ghapoha defence and shot past goalkeeper Joseph Mensah into the net.
The Phobians continued their unrelenting attack on the visitors and nearly increased the scoreline in the 35th minute but Sakyi's header from Ishmael Addo's cross missed the target.
From then on, Ghapoha came into the picture and were in control of affairs till the recess but they could not score.
Ghapoha came back after the break with greater determination and cancelled the goal in the 53rd minute through Quansah.
The bulky striker beat Hearts' goalie, Nanor with a diving header from Kwabena Boateng's cross.
Three minutes later, the Phobians pulled out Robert Sarbah who had a bad day for Kenneth Sarpong.
Hearts' attacking machine immediately bounced back to live as Sarpong started combining effectively with Fameyeh and Sakyi.
In the 59th minute, Sakyi scored the match winner for the Phobians when he finished off a two-man move between him and Fameyeh.
Ghapoha substituted Benard Bortey with Quansah in the 64th minute but it was Hearts who nearly scored again in the 70th minute through Addo.
He slipped through an offside trap by Ghapoha but with only goalkeeper Mensah to beat, the Hearts' striker shot wide.
Ghapoha forced the tide in their favour and nearly scored in the 72nd and 75th minutes through Boateng and Doe but for the alertness of goalkeeper Nanor.
The Tema boys maintained their pressure with 10 minutes to go and made things uneasy for the Hearts defence but to no avail.
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Kotoko and Accra Great Olympics settled for a 1-1 draw
Kumasi Asante Kotoko and Accra Great Olympics settled for a 1-1 drawn game in their match played at the Kumasi Sports stadium.
Both goals came in the first half
Kotoko scored first through inside left Baba Armando Adams who nodded home a free-kick taken by Joseph Hendricks in the 41st minute.
Olympics were unperturbed by the goal and kept the goal area of Kotoko boiling with incessant raids for the equaliser which came two minutes later also through a header by centre forward Wisdom Abbey.
A free-kick taken by left full back Nii Noi Dowuona was headed home by Abbey.
Kotoko kicked-off under the instruction of Takoradi-based FIFA referee F.K.
Mensah and earned the first corner-kick in the third minute but wasted it.
In the sixth minute, a free-kick taken by goalkeeper Osei Boateng of Olympics was intercepted by Prince Adu-Poku but before an empty net the Kotoko striker shot wide to the amazement of the crowd.
The second half was uneventful as both teams did not give good account of themselves till the final whistle.
Armed securitymen at the stadium had to fire warning shots to disperse the supporters of Kotoko who had gathered around the VIP lounge for the blood of referee Mensah, claiming he was biased against Kotoko.
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Okwawu United beats Dawu Youngsters 1-0
Okwawu United played an improved game to beat Dawu Youngsters 1-0 in their match played at the Nkawkaw Park.
Okwawu started piling pressure on Dawu right form the start, forcing Dawu's agile goalie, Sumaila Abdulai to make three brilliant saves in the first 10 minutes.
In the 17th and 25th minutes, Okwawu had two clear chances to score but with only goalkeeper Abdulai to beat, Nii Aryee Tetteh and Kwesi Asante shot off target.
Dawu accepted the challenge and started putting their game together but the defence of Okwawu repulsed their attack.
Okwawu were still in control after the break and in the 50th minute, Tetteh's direct shot at goal hit the cross bar.
Okwawu scored the only goal of the match in the 70th minute when substitute William Afoakwa's header beat goalkeeper Sumaila.
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Afienya United and Bofoakwa Tano draw 0-0
Afienya United drew 0-0 with visiting Bofoakwa Tano in their match played at the Tema Sports Stadium. It was a match Afienya should have won by a wide margin but poor finishing up-front, robbed them of all their scoring chances.
Afienya started wasting chances in the fifth minute when midfielder Dada Dotse, in front of the goal post, headed the ball into the hands of goalkeeper Eric Amponsah.
Let off the hook, Bofoakwa also took their turn in the 25th minute when good old Ben Kusi blasted off target from close range.
The second session was no exception as both teams continued to waste chances with Afienya as the worst offenders.
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Ebusua Dwarfs beat King Faisal 2-1
Cape Coast Ebusua Dwarfs beat King Faisal 2-1 in their match played at the Cape Coast Stadium.
Dwarfs got the opener in the 25th minute through inside left Michael Osei who lobbed the ball over on-rushing goalkeeper Nicholas Ware of Faisal.
King Faisal lifted their game and mounted pressure on the homesters.
It, therefore, came as no surprise when centre forward Haruna Gariba cancelled the lead with a header in the 35th minute.
On resumption, both sides made desperate efforts to carry the day but the defence of the two teams did not give in.
Just as everyone thought the match was going to end in a deadlock, left winger Steven Owusu, was fouled outside the penalty area of Fiasal.
Midfielder Joe Sam shot straight in to the right corner of the net for the match winner.
At Koforidua, Power F/C and Liberty Professionals drew 0-0 and at the Gyandu Park, Sekondi Hasaacas beat Swedru All Blacks 1-0 while Tamale Real United scored an away 1-0 win over Obuasi Goldfields at the Len Clay Stadium.
GRi../
Soccer-ABC premier league standings --Latest Positions (23rd Week Fixtures )
15 August, 1999
Team Locale/Region P W D L F A Pts GD
Hearts Accra, Gt. Accra 23 15 4 3 44 19 50 +25
Kotoko Kumasi, Ashanti 23 10 4 6 31 22 40 +9
Goldfields Obuasi, Ashanti 23 13 0 10 28 15 39 +9
Hasaacas Sekondi, Western 23 11 6 6 26 18 39 +8
Dwarfs Cape Coast, Central 23 11 5 7 31 25 38 +6
Olympics Accra, Gt. Accra 23 10 8 5 27 21 38 +6
RTU Tamale, Northern 23 11 3 9 30 25 36 +5
Okwawu Nkawkaw, Eastern 23 11 2 10 27 22 35 +5
Dawu Dawu, Eastern 23 6 9 8 25 27 27 -2
Liberty Accra, Gt. Accra 23 8 3 11 19 22 27 -3
Power F/C Koforidua, Eastern 23 7 5 11 16 20 27 -6
Faisal Kumasi, Ashanti 23 7 7 9 23 26 25 -1
Bofoakwa Sunyani, Brong Ahafo 23 7 3 13 15 30 24 -15
All Blacks Swedru, Central 23 7 5 11 22 28 23 -6
GHAPOHA Tema, Gt. Accra 23 5 7 11 17 29 22 -12
Afienya Afienya, Gt. Accra 23 1 6 15 9 39 9 -30
22nd Week results:
Accra, Hearts 2 Ghapoha 1 Tema, Afienya 0 Bofoakwa 0
Kumasi, Kotoko, 1 Olympics 1 Nkawkaw Okwawu 0 Dawu 0
Sekondi, Hasaacas, 1 All Blacks 0 Obuasi Goldfields 0 RTU 1
Koforidua, Power, 0 Liberty 0 Cape Coast Dwarfs 2 Faisal 1
GRi../