Accra (Greater Accra) 06 July 2000
The second round of the ABC Premier League took off smoothly at all the league centres except for Accra where the Hearts of Oak versus Real Tamale United match was postponed because six of Hearts’ players are in the Black Stars camp towards Sunday’s World Cup qualifier with Sierra Leone.
Results signal a fierce competition for the lap as some clubs pulled surprising away draws while others encountered stunning defeats. Below are the scores:
Tema: Ghapoha 0 Kotoko 0 Sunyani: B. A. United 1 Okwawu 1
Obuasi: Goldfields 3 Olympics 0 Koforidua: Power F/C 1 Dawu 1
Sekondi: Hasaacas 3 K’bibirem 0 Cape Coast: Dwarfs 1 Bofoakwa 2
Kumasi: K. Faisal 2 Liberty 1 Hearts-RTU (postponed)
Standings of the teams at the
end of the 16th week – 016:
6th July 2000
Team Local/Region P W D L F A Pts GD
Hearts Accra, Gt. Accra 15 14 1 0 39 8 43 +31
Goldfields Obuasi, Ashanti 16 9 3 4 19 10 30 +9
Liberty Accra, Gt. Accra 16 8 2 6 24 18 26 +6
King
Faisal Kumasi, Ashanti 16 7 4 5 21 15 24 +6
Ghapoha Tema, Gt. Accra 16 7 3 6 22 20 24 +2
Bofoakwa Sunyani, Brong Ahafo
16 7 2 7 16 19 24 -3
Dwarfs Cape Coast, Central 16 5 5 6 18 21 20 -3
RTU Tamale, Northern 15
6 2 7 12 16 20 -4
Hasaacas Sekondi, Western 16 6 3 7 17 18 21 -1
Kotoko Kumasi, Ashanti 16 6 5 5 18 19 19 -1
Okwawu Nkawkaw, Eastern 16 4 5 7 16 19 17 -3
Olympics Accra, Gt. Accra 16 5 5 6 13 21 17 -8
Kwaebibirim Asuom, Eastern 16
5 2 9 16 29 17 -13
Power
F/C Koforidua, Eastern 16 2 8 6 8 12 14 -4
Dawu Dawu, Eastern 16 2 7 7 15 22
13 -6
B.A.
United Sunyani, Brong Ahafo 16 2 7 7 11 20 13 -9
(Nb. Kumasi Asante Kotoko were declared losers in their 9th week goalless drawn match with Accra Great Olympics for fielding two foreign players who needed a renewal of their work permit. Kotoko’s Burkinabe import, Clovis Cambu and Togolese Frank Atsou who were used in the match had their work permits expired and the process of renewal hadn’t been completed at the time. The porcupine warriors were made to forfeit four points.
Also Accra Great Olympics, with five wins and five draws suffered a deduction of three points from their build up for failing to honour an outstanding match against King Faisal who were credited with the points).
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Sekondi (Weatern Region) 06 July 2000
Sekondi Hasaacas thrashed visiting Kwaebibirem United by 3-0 in their second round first match of the ABC premier league played at the Sekondi Gyandu park on Wednesday.
Hasaacas attacked from the blast of the whistle and showed indication of carrying the day.
It came as no surprise when centre forward Issa Mohammed fetched the first goal for Hasaacas in the second minute.
The early goal gave Hasaacas the needed tonic for more goals but surprisingly they wasted three clear goal-scoring chances.
Kwaebibirem repulsed the challenge and redoubled their efforts with incessant attacks but could not hit the back of the net.
Back from recess, Hasaacas scored their second goal in the 46th minute from a spot expertly taken by Francis Turkson.
No sooner had the cheers that greeted the second goal died down then Kingsley Kwateng sealed the doom for Kwaebibirem in the 47th minute. Tried as they did, Kwaebibirem could not find the net till full time.
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Cape Coast (Central Region)
Tano Bofoakwa caused a major upset when they beat highly tipped Ebusua Dwarfs 2-1 in their match played at the Siewdu Sports Stadium at Cape Coast.
Ironically it was Dwarfs who scored the opener in the 15th minute through a penalty kick converted by Rashid Iddi, but the visiting team fought back to equalise in the 43rd minute through Alhaji Iddrisu.
Both teams resumed the second half well composed with Dwarfs making a number of substitution. However these changes did not deter Bofoakwa from increasing their tally in the 57th minute through Iddrisu.
After conceding their second goal, Dwarfs surprisingly resorted to defensive play with occasional counterattack but could not find the net.
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Sunyani (Brong Ahafo Region)
Brong Ahafo United and Okwawu United shared honours when the two fought to a 1-1 draw in their match played at the Sunyani Coronation Park.
B. A. United were the first to score in the 13th minute when their playmaker, Kwabena Dodzie trapped a long pass from midfield displaced goalkeeper Michael Abu in post for Okwawu before slotting the ball into the empty net.
After the goal, the homesters surprisingly recoiled into their shells, allowing the Okwawu players who were equally unimpressive to have their share of the game.
On resumption of the second half, Okwawu brought on Seth Osei and Richard Mireku in place for Vincent Agyemang and Osei Bonsu.
In the 76th minute Ernest Boateng who hitherto had been anonymous out-jumped his markers and headed the ball over onrushing goalkeeper Ransford Kudjo to equalise for his side.
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Tema (Greater Accra) 06 July 2000
Tema Ghapoha F/C and Kumasi Asante Kotoko settled for a goalless draw in their tension-packed Premier League match played at the Tema Sports Stadium on Wednesday.
Kotoko, who were determined to avenge the 1-2 defeat they had suffered at the hands of their opponents in the first round, pinned Ghapoha to their own half as soon as FIFA Referee, E.F. Okuampah of Koforidua signalled both teams into action.
Kotoko earned two corner kicks in the 15th and 18th minutes but wasted both. Ghapoha's prolific goal getter, Don Bortey nearly snatched the leader in the 44th minute but he fumbled in front of goal.
The game became balanced in the second session with both teams exhausting their substitution lists but could not break the deadlock.
Kotoko nearly had the last laugh in the 86th and 89th minutes but left winger, Lawrence Amankwaah and substitute, Michael Osei missed the golden opportunities that came their way.
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Obuasi (Ashanti Region) 06 July 2000
Obuasi Goldfields played a great game to beat visiting Accra Great Olympics 3-0 in their match played at Len Clay stadium at Obuasi.
The victory came as a result of a brilliant play by Ofosu Amoah, a graduate from Sam Okyere's academy, who, combining skills with commitment and a sense of purpose, master-minded all the three goals.
Having wasted three clear scoring chances including a 32nd minute penalty, Goldfields improved upon their game with little Ofosu Amoah spearheading the attack.
No wonder in the 34th minute, Ofosu Amoah sent a clinical cross for Momo Wandel to score with a header.
Olympics sensing danger, replaced defender Samad Yusif with Nana Eshun to beef up their defence but the visitors conceded another goal in the 37th minute, a minute after the substitution.
Ofosu Amoah's continual harassment in the opponent's goal area fetched the homesters a corner-kick, which Kenneth Ababio chipped for Isaac Boakye to score with another header to give his side a 2-0 lead at half time.
Disappointing Olympics made two changes in the second half, but it was Goldfields who kept up their goal-scoring spree with a 62nd minute goal from the head of Momo Wandel to seal the doom of the visitors.
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Ho me Away
P W D L F A P W D L F A Pts GD
Hearts 8 8 0 0 24 5 7 6 1 0 15 3 43 +31
Goldfields 9 8 1 0 14 3 7 1 2 4 5 7 30 +9
Liberty 7 6 1 1 13 3 9 2 2 5 12 16 27 +6
King Faisal 9 5 1 3 17 10 7 2 3 2 5 6 25 +6
Bofoakwa 8 5 2 1 12 5 8 2 1 5 7 15 24 -1
Ghapoha 9 6 1 1 20 9 7 1 1 5 3 13 23 +1
Hasaacas 9 4 3 2 13 8 7 2 0 5 4 10 21 -1
Dwarfs 9 5 2 2 12 8 7 0 3 4 6 13 20 -3
RTU 7 5 1 1 9 2 8 1 1 6 3 14 20 -4
Kotoko 7 3 1 3 11 9 9 3 3 3 7 10 19 -1
Okwawu 7 3 3 1 9 3 9 1 2 6 7 16 17 -3
Olympics 7 3 1 3 6 10 9 2 4 3 7 12 17 -8
Kwaebibirem 7 5 0 2 11 11 9 0 2 7 5 18 17 -13
Power 9 2 6 1 7 4 7 0 3 4 2 9 14 -4
Dawu 7 2 4 1 8 6 9 0 3 6 7 15 13 -6
B.A. United 8 2 5 1 6 5 8 0 2 6 5 15 13 -9
(Note: Three points deducted from Oly's accumulated points for failing to honour
their match against King Faisal. Four points subtracted from the accumulated
points of Kotoko for fielding two unqualified players.
Hearts vs. RTU match rescheduled for Tuesday, July 11 2000.
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