Soccer-Ghapoha hold Olympics to 1-1 draw
Sports racing: I'm that I'm" wins Ghana Airways Challenge Cup
Soccer-Ghapoha hold Olympics to 1-1 draw
Accra, 21st June 99 –
Visiting Tema Ghapoha FC held Great Olympics to a 1-1 draw in their first match of the second round of the ABC premier league, played at the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday.
Olympics kicked off and found the opener, as early as the third minute, through Wisdom Abbey.
Midfielder, Billy Sulemana took the ball from Ghapoha's Richard Darko and sent a 'through' pass for Abbey to shoot past goalkeeper Alfred Mills, who had moved off his line.
Ghapoha came strongly into the game after the goal and nearly came on level terms in the 12th minute through Bernard Bortey of Starlets fame, but goalkeeper Sam Quaye, made an acrobatic save of it.
In the 20th minute, Olympics came close to increasing the score through Abbey but this time, goalkeeper Mills was quick off his marks to save the situation.
The pace of the game slackened with the action being concentrated in the midfield until the 41st minute when Olympics nearly scored the second goal.
A two-man move between Sulemana and Charles Taylor found Abbey inside the Ghapoha penalty area, but the Olympics' striker delayed for the Ghapoha defence to clear the danger.
On the stroke of half time, Bortey would have levelled up for Ghapoha in a goal mouth action, but for goalkeeper Quaye who was at the right spot at the right time.
Back from recess, Ghapoha resumed the game on a blistering pace and nearly equalised in the 47th minute, but unmarked Kwabena Boateng failed to connect a beautiful cross from Fiifi Hanson.
Olympics took up the challenge and stormed the Ghapoha goal area in a bid to increase the tally but Farouk Iddrissu's shot from a Briamah Tahiru's cross, hit the posts with substitute goalie, Joseph Mensah already beaten.
Eight minutes later, Ghapoha scored the much-needed equaliser through their top marksman, Bortey.
Hanson sent a cross from the right flank to Boateng, whose header ricocheted off the woodwork onto the path of Bortey for him to shoot into the net.
After the goal, Olympics failed to find their rhythm as they committed series of blunders, but the Ghapoha attackers proved incapable of capitalising on the opportunity.
Olympics, however, came back strongly into the game at the closing stages but indecision, erratic shooting and lack of imagination in front of goal robbed them of the second goal
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Sunyani: Bofoakwa Tano beat visiting Dawu Youngsters 1-0 in their match played at the Sunyani Coronation Park on Sunday.
Fast-improving Osei Kwame scored the lone goal in the 40th minute. The goal came about when Dawu's goalkeeper Ismaila failed to have a full grasp of a long-range shot by left-winger Kwame Antwi.
Osei Kwame, running like a hare seized the rebound and with the opposing goalkeeper on the ground, shot into the empty net.
Earlier, the game had been a ding-dong affair as the two sides wasted goal-scoring chances with the home team being the worse offenders.
In the second half Dawu tried hard for the equaliser but goalkeeper Damba of Bofoakwa scotched all attempts at goal.
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Tamale: Real Tamale United (RTU) pipped visiting King Faisal 1-0 in their match at the Kaladan Park.
RTU kicked off under the instructions of referee J. Wellington and carried the game to their opponents but failed to get an early goal as their forwards wasted the many scoring chances that came their way.
They continued to dominate the game earning as many as four corner kicks but wasted all of them.
King Faisal sensing danger resorted to hard tackles that earned them two yellow cards.
In the 30th minute, RTU earned a free-kick in their goal area and their central defender Abdul-Rahman Bobby took a long drive into the Faisal goal mouth, which was expertly headed into the net by slippery centre forward Abass Iddrisu for the only goal of the match.
Both teams made two changes each with the visitors slightly on top but good goal keeping by keeper Mohammed Suraju in goal for RTU denied them from getting the equaliser.
In the 83rd minute, RTU again earned a free kick near the centre circle but Bobby's kick hit the goal posts and bounced back into play to the relief of the visitors.
King Faisal fought back to search for an equaliser but were unfortunate when a goal bound shot from substitute Kwabena Opoku was saved by Suraju to end the match 1-0 in favour of RTU.
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Accra Hearts of Oak confirmed their superiority over Afienya United when they beat them 1-0 in their match played at the Tema Sports Stadium.
Hearts, who beat Afienya 4-1 in the first round of the league, dominated the exchanges and scored the only goal of the match in the 20th minute when a corner kick taken by right winger Winfred Dormon was headed home by left winger James Zoglo.
Afienya nearly equalised in the 30th minute but centre forward Ablade Morgan, who was put through, shot straight into the waiting hands of goalkeeper James Nanor.
Hearts nearly increased the tally but inside left Yaw Sakyi wasted a golden chance in the 65th minute.
Afienya made a last minute effort to redeem their pride but tried as they did, they could not find the net as the defenders of Hearts thwarted all their efforts.
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Koforidua: Koforidua-based, Power FC beat visiting Okwawu United 2-1 in their match played at Koforidua.
Power took the lead in the 32nd minute when centre forward, Ato Sam headed the ball into the net after Douglas Odame of Okwawu had failed to clear the ball from the penalty area.
Okwawu equalised in the 50th minute, through substitute, Bonsu Boateng when he nodded home a cornerkick.
Power increased the tally to two in the 58th minute through inside left, Charles Asamoah.
Police had a tough time containing the spectators who trampled over the broken innerperimetre at the stadium and got as close as the touch line to cheer their team.
Three supporters of Okwawu rushed onto the field immediately the referee whistled for the commencement of the second half under the pretext of going to collect some 'juju' thrown onto the field by a supposed 'jujuman' of Power.
The incident brought the match to a standstill for some few minutes as referee Atsatsa of Tema looked on.
Again in the 78th minute, some of the spectators of Okwawu charged on assistant referee Oman Abubar of Tema to stop him from flagging Okwawu players for offside positioning.
This also caused play to be held up for five minutes as the Police tried to stop the spectators and to clear some of them, who had gathered behind the goal posts of Power.
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Kumasi: Kumasi Asante Kotoko lost 3-4 at home to Cape Coast Dwarfs in their match played at the Kumasi Sports Stadium.
Kotoko, who took the field brimming with confidence, took a commanding 2-0 lead after eight minutes in the grudge match as Dwarfs reeled under stabbing raids.
Inspirer Adams Armando shot his side into the lead in the fifth minute when he rounded up the tight Dwarfs defence and scored with a grounder to the blind side of goalkeeper Issaka Sulemana.
Striker Nicholas Addo raised the score to 2-0 in the eighth minute, by converting a spot-kick awarded when a defender of Dwarfs handled the ball in the "18".
Cheered on by their teeming crowd, Kotoko doubled their efforts as Dwarfs struggled to find their rhythm earning corner-kicks in the 15th and 19th but wasted both.
Dwarfs fought back and outside-left Micheal Osei pulled a goal back in the 20th minute with a powerful shot, which hit the roof of the net.
Dwarfs from the 30th minute were reduced to 10 men when FIFA referee Emmanuel Bissi of Sunyani flashed the yellow card in the face of Phillip Oguaah for foul play on Armando of Kotoko.
Moments later, the referee showed the player the red card for what appeared to have been dissent.
Kotoko's Jonas Akorli was also shown the yellow card in the 33rd minute for a foul.
Dwarfs conceded a third goal in the 44th minute when Armando's lob hit the cross bar but Isaac Asare lurking around, rounded the defence before putting the ball into the net.
Dwarfs resumed the second half a transformed side. Led by Stephen Owusu, they confused Kotoko with inch-perfect passes and deft touches, thus forcing Kotoko to concede three successive corners.
Stephen Owusu, who is gradually becoming a free-kick expert, reduced the score to 3-2 with a 30-metre free-kick, which rolled under goalkeeper Oscar Asamoah into the net as he dived to save the powerful shot in the 62nd minute.
Six minutes later, Dwarfs, who were on the rampage, levelled up as Michael Osei broke through the middle and chipped a low shot into the net with the Kotoko defence completely stranded.
Kotoko brought in Godwin Ablordey for George Siaw in the 72nd minute while Mohammed Polo took over from Nicholas Addo in the 76th minute but Kotoko could still not string their passes together.
Stephen Owusu, the man-of-the-match applied the "coup de grace" in the 78th minute, when his powerful free-kick sailed into the net beating goalkeeper Oscar Asamoah for the fourth goal.
Four minutes of time added on could not bail out Kotoko. The players slumped onto the field after the referee whistled for the end of the match.
At Swedru, All Black beat visiting Obuasi Goldfields 2-0.
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Teams P W D L F A Pts
Hearts 16 10 3 3 28 13 33
Olympi 16 8 4 4 16 14 28
Hasaacas 16 7 7 3 19 11 27
Goldfields 16 9 0 7 19 13 27
Dwarfs 16 8 3 5 23 20 27
Kotoko 16 8 3 5 23 18 24
Liberty 16 7 1 7 17 15 23
All Blacks 16 7 4 6 19 18 22
Power FC 16 7 4 6 14 14 22
RTU 16 6 3 7 21 19 21
Okwawu 16 6 2 8 17 19 20
Dawu 16 4 7 5 18 19 19
Bofoakwa 16 6 1 9 12 19 19
Faisal 16 6 3 8 14 17 18
GHAPOHA 16 3 7 6 10 20 16
Afienya 16 1 4 10 7 31 7
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Sports racing: I'm that I'm" wins Ghana Airways Challenge Cup
Accra (Greater Accra), 21st June 99 –
"I'm that I'm", ridden by S. Benjamin clocked 2.25 minutes to win this year's Ghana Airways Challenge Cup, horse racing competition held at the Accra Race Course on Saturday.
"High Command" took the second position, while "Pompoeius Magnus" placed third.
The tote was 1,200 cedis
The nine furlong race open to Division Three "A" horses, was sponsored by Ghana Airways Limited.
The Akwaaba Stakes, the first race for the day was won by "Secret Wife".
"Fair Play" won the Frequent Flyer Stakes which was the second race, while "Mansura" captured the Golden Traveller Stakes.
Mrs Shirley Ababio, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Ghana Airways, presented prizes to the winners.
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