B.A.
United draw at home with Dawu
League
Week 4 Scores at a glance
Accra
(Greater Accra) 30 March 2000
Champion
club, Accra Hearts of Oak, added visiting Tano Bofoakwa to their
"victims" by thrashing them 4-1 at the Accra Sports Stadium to keep
their title hopes alive.
Hearts
banged in two goals in each half but it was the visitors who made history by
being the first team to put a ball in the net of the defending league champions
this season.
The
Phobians have scored a total of 14 goals in four matches with only one against.
Hearts, who
play Horoya club of Guinea in their second leg, first round match of the Africa
Champions League, in Conakry on 3 April, started the game on a fast note
against a well composed Bofoakwa side, but fizzled out after 15 minutes of
play.
Surprisingly,
it was the home team that found the net against the run of play with a
controversial goal in the fifth minute.
Charles
Taylor fired an indirect freekick into the net, which was ruled as "no
goal" by Tarkoradi-based class one referee E. M. Alhassan but after a
second thought rescinded his decision to rule it as a goal.
The
visitors, who did not take the referee's decision kindly charged on him and the
confusion that erupted held play for five minutes with referee Alhassan
flashing his yellow card on a host of Bofoakwa players who challenged his
decision.
It took the
intervention of Bofoakwa's club chairman J. Y. Appiah to convince his boys to
continue play.
Nineteen
minutes after that incident, Joe Fameyeh added the second goal from yet another
freekick.
Hearts
resumed the second half a well-knit side with "prodigal son" and
playmaker Emmanuel Yartey being a source of worry to the Bofoakwa defencemen.
Bofoakwa
brought on Kwasi Kyere for Antwi Manu to strengthen their attack but it was
Hearts’ midfielder Joe Ansah who latched unto Fameyeh's pass to slot the ball
into the net in the 63rd minute.
The
visitors replaced goalkeeper James Kwame with substitute Mohammed Alhassan in
the 68th minute but that could not stop Heart’s Ousmanu Amadu from adding his
name to the scoring sheet in the 86th minute.
Substitute
Kyere however pulled a consolation goal for Bofoakwa on the 90th
minute mark with a 30 metre shot and the player could have added another in
injury time but skipper Jacob Nettey denied him when he cleared the ball from
the goal line with goalkeeper Eben Dida completely beaten.
At the Tema
Sports Stadium, homesters Ghapoha beat Sekondi hasaacas by three goals to two
to collect the three points at stake.
GRi../
Obuasi
(Aashanti Region) 30 March 2000
Kumasi
Asante Kotoko did paint Obuasi town red on Wednesday all right but their
vociferous supporters who filled the Len Clay stadium went home disappointed.
The
fabulous boys crumbled to a painful 0-1 defeat to Obuasi Goldfields in their
fourth week ABC Premier League encounter.
It was a
76th minute incisive goal scored by substitute Soumah Momo Wandel, Guinean
import, when he capitalized on a defensive blunder by Kotoko’s Joseph
Hendricks, that broke the deadlock in the match that was full of tension in
front of a capacity crowd.
The match
started in a whirlwind fashion with Goldfields scaring the visitors with an
early onslaught but Arhin Duah's terrific shot in the 8th minute was nicely
saved by keeper Joseph Quansah.
The
homesters kept the pressure on Kotoko, wasting two cornerkicks in the 10th and
32nd minutes. However, in the 34th minute Kotoko nearly went ahead from a well
taken freekick by Shilla Alhassan's, but the player watched in disappointment
as the ball sailed narrowly over the bar.
The
exchanges became balanced for most part of the game until substitute Momo
Wandel scored the lone goal to set the handful of Goldfields supporters on a
singing spree.
GRi.../
Kumasi
(Ashanti Region)
Real Tamale
United (RTU) scored an authoritative 2-1 away win over King Faisal in their
match played at the Kumasi Sports Stadium on Wednesday.
Faisal
kicked-off and shot into the lead in the fifth minute when striker Nana
Frimpong scored with a powerful drive before RTU settled in their stride.
Led by
Potabui Alfa, RTU were at ease and went into the offensive, creating holes in
the shaky Faisal’s weak defence until it crumbled in the 38th minute.
Potabui
took advantage of the incessant raid by RTU to slam in the equaliser for the
northerners, receiving cheers from the handful of spectators at the stadium.
The striker
made victory certain for his side when he fetched the match-winner two minutes
after the restart of the game with a powerful grounder that caught Faisal’s
keeper Sampson Appiah wrong-footed.
After the
goal, Faisal launched an all out attack to level up but the RTU defence,
pivoted around Musah Ibrahim did overtime to stop the monarchs in their
strides.
RTU had to
play with 10 men from the 66th minute when Ibrahim Klun was sent off by Berekum
based referee Osborn Boamah Darko for a second bookable offence but that did
not change the story till the final whistle was blown.
GRi.../
Sunyani
(Brong Ahafo Region)
Still
searching for their first Premier league win, B. A. United on Wednesday sent
their fans home depressed when they failed to utilise home advantage to beat
Dawu Youngsters at Sunyani Coronation park. They managed a 2-2 draw.
The
homesters however gave an indication of carrying the day when they cancelled
Dawu’s early lead and shot ahead before the break. However lack of
concentration robbed the ‘soccer apostles’ of victory.
Dawu took
the lead through Eric Mbroh in the 10th minute but United cancelled
it through striker Awudu Halima who scored a picturesque goal in the 38 minute
from good old Ntow Gyan’s pass.
A terrific
shot from United's Abdulai Weah in the 41st minute put his team on top before
half time.
United
surprisingly returned from the break out of steam and the visitors capitalised
on it to equalise in the 62nd minute when John Plange hit a volley into the
roof of the net.
GRi.../
Cape Coast
(Central Region)
Cape Coast
Ebusua Dwarfs had the shock of their lives when Liberty Professionals stormed
their backyard to ditch them a painful 2-1 defeat at the Cape Coast Ebusua
Stadium.
Dwarfs had
led from a 38th minute penalty goal converted by Rashid Iddi but
goals by Liberty’s Daniel Amoah and Ablade Morgan in the 90th minute and 92nd
minute shocked the homesters.
The Cape
Coast lads had started the game with a series of incursions into the half of
Liberty but were unable to score due to lack of cohesion upfront until they
netted from the penalty spot.
Liberty
came back better organised in the second half and were able to beat the defence
of Dwarfs on many occasions ending it with the two dents on the homesters.
GRi.../
Koforidua
(Eastern Region)
Koforidua
based Power F/C beat visiting Asuom Kwaebibirim United 1-0 in their match
played at Koforidua, through a goal scored by inside left Dennis Odoom in the
54th minute.
It was one
match in which the Kwaebibirim boys gave a good account of themselves yet lack
of experience deprived them of at least a point.
Kwaebibirem’s
midfielder Elvis Opoku was a delight to watch as he exhibited excellent ball
dribbling and inch-perfect passes from the midfield.
On the few
occasions that the Power boys took control, they prove superior of the two and
deservedly clinched the win 54 minutes into the game.
Power again
came close to scoring in the 75th and 76th minutes.
In the
first instance, a well taken cornerkick found the head of centre forward
Maxwell Owusu but was redirected out of the post, while Anthony Opoku, with
only the goalkeeper Jerry Agyei to beat, failed to connect properly as he side
netted in the second.
GRi.../
Nkawkaw
(Eastern Region)
Accra Great
Olympics held Okwawu United to a pulsating 1-1 drawn game in their fourth week
match played at the Nkawkaw Stadium. Both goals were scored in the second half.
Okwawu kick
off when Kumasi-based class one referee J. B. Debrah signalled the two teams
into action but they quickly lost the ball to Olympics who dictated the pace of
the game at the initial stages.
However,
Okwawu came back strongly, earning a corner kick in the 10th minute but it went
wasted.
In the 18th
minute, Okwawu had a chance to score but again, striker Kwasi
Kyeremanteng
shot off target. Okwawu again wasted good chances that fell to them in the 38th
and 42nd minutes to end the first half scoreless.
Okwawu took
the lead in the 58th minute through a penalty taken by dependable central defender
George Tutu when Olympics midfielder Larkotey Lartey brought down inside left
Abetia Aryeh in the penalty box.
Olympics
played like wounded lions after the goal adopting a new strategy that saw coach
Paul Lartey sending on Bright Nartey for centre forward Wisdom Abbey. The
change proved useful and the ‘Dade’ boys fetched the much-needed equaliser in
the 65minute through inside left Amui Quaye’s header to an inswinger.
GRi.../
Sunyani: B.A. United 2 Dawu 2
Tema : Ghapoha 3 Hasaacas 2
Obuasi: Goldfields 1 Kotoko 0
Kumasi: K. Faisal 1
RTU 2
Cape Coast:
Dwarfs 1 Liberty 2 Koforidua: Power F/C
1 K’bibirem 0
Nkawkaw: Okwawu 1 Olympics 1
Accra: Hearts 4
Bofoakwa 1
Table of
the ABC premier league after 4th week matches - 004
Team Local/Region P W D L F A Pts GD
Hearts Accra, Gt. Accra 4 4 0 0 14 1 12 +13
Liberty Accra, Gt. Accra 4
3 1 0 4 1 10 +3
Ghapoha Tema, Gt. Accra 4 3 0 1 8 4 9 +4
Goldfields Obuasi, Ashanti 4 3
0 1 7 4
9 +3
RTU Tamale, Northern 4 2 1 1 3 1 7 +1
Bofoakwa Sunyani, Brong Ahafo 4 2
1 0 4 5 7 -1
Hasaacas Sekondi, Western 4 2 0 2 6 6 6 0
Power
F/C Koforidua, Eastern 4 1 2 1 1 1 5 0
Okwawu Nkawkaw, Eastern 4 1 0 3 3 3 4 0
Dwarfs Cape Coast, Central 4 1 1 2 4 6 4 -1
Dawu Dawu, Eastern 4 0 3 1 5 6 3 -1
Kotoko Kumasi, Ashanti 4 1 0 3 2 7 3 -5
B.A.
United Sunyani, Brong Ahafo 3 0 1 2 3 5 2 -2
King
Faisal Kumasi, Ashanti 3 0 1 2 2 4 1 -2
Olympics Accra, Gt. Accra 2 0
1 1 2 4 1 -2
Kwaebibirim Asuom, Eastern 4
0 0 4 0 10 0 -10
Accra Great
Olympics have an outstanding match against B.A. United while it failed to
honour its
match with
King Faisal of Kumasi on 23 March 2000.
GRi../
Lagos (Nigeria) 30 March 2000
Nigeria's
Dutch coach Jo Bonfrere has included seven players from the Olympic team in his
squad to face unfancied Eritrea next month in an African zone first round,
first leg qualifier for the 2002 World Cup.
The first
leg is on 9 April in Asmara and the second a fortnight later in Lagos.
"I'm
not under-rating the Eritreans but I want to give some of the Olympic team
players much-needed experience," Bonfrere said on Tuesday.
The seven,
including Christopher Kanu, younger brother of Arsenal's 1999 African Player of
the Year Nwankwo, were in the team that beat Zimbabwe 4-0 last weekend to edge
out Angola on goal difference and qualify for the Sydney Olympics.
After
securing the qualification Bonfrere said he was going to overhaul the Olympic
squad before the Games.
The
Dutchman, in his first spell as national team coach, led Nigeria to the 1996
Olympic gold in Atlanta.
He parted
company with them after the Olympic feat, saying his winning bonuses had not
been paid, but was re-appointed in December for the 2000 African Nations Cup in
which Nigeria were runners-up.
Bonfrere
said the omission of other high-profile players from the Nations Cup squad did
not mean they no longer figured in his future plans.
"Despite
the new faces my squad is a strong one as I don't want to risk losing in Asmara
and come to Lagos to struggle for a win."
Eritrea,
who gained independence from Ethiopia in 1991, has a fledgling team and failed
to qualify for the 2000 Nations Cup finals when they finished third behind
Zimbabwe and eventual group winners Senegal in a play-off.
GRi…/