Hearts frustrate Kotoko’s Africa Cup bid.
Middle League commences on October 6
Hearts frustrate Kotoko’s Africa Cup bid.
Accra (Greater Accra), 4th October 99
Champion club, Accra Hearts of Oak did not only retain the ABC Premier League championship for the third time running but succeeded also in putting breaks on the continental dreams of arch rivals, Kumasi Asante Kotoko by beating them 2-0 in the last match of this year’s ABC/Premier league competition.
Kotoko who were tied with Cape Coast Ebusua Dwarfs at the second spot with 50 points finished the league fourth after Dwarfs and Real Tamale United both won their last matches.
It was Kotoko, who kicked off brilliantly at the Accra Sports Stadium and looked more purposeful with Godwin Ablordey, Baba Armando Adams, and Prince Adu-Poku looking marauding for goals. As early as the fourth minute Ablordey sent a flying cross to Adu-Poku but the ‘prince’ of soccer failed to nod home, to the relief of Hearts.
Hearts repulsed Kotoko’s early attack and nearly found the opener through Joe Fameyeh, but the 1998 goalking saw his scissors connection to Emmanuel Yartey's pass miss target narrowly.
The determination of both teams to carry the day saw them in a no-nonsense play that made Kotoko lose skipper Kalilu Dramani in defence when he was given the matching off orders for dangerous play in the 11th minute. Earlier, Kotoko’s Gabriel Opoku Ware and Hearts Amankwaa Mireku had been booked by FIFA referee Alex Quartey for exchanging blows.
Kotoko’s numerical disadvantage however did not affect them much as the game remained balanced with occasional threatening moves from each side.
In the 32nd minute, Kotoko's Baba Armando had all the opportunity under the sun to score the opener when he received a through pass from Ablordey but moments of hesitation robbed him of the chance when a Hearts defender came from behind to clear the ball from his foot. The first half ended scoreless.
Hearts came back from the break to waste another chance in the 53rd-minute when a free-kick taken by Fameyeh went narrowly past target. Both teams brought on fresh limbs as Kotoko pulled out Kofi Owusu for Awudu Adama in the 67th minute while Hearts brought on Osmanu Amadu for Fameyeh in the 71st minute.
The change seemed to have benefited Hearts the most as they jumped into the lead three minutes later through a header by Emmanuel Osei Kuffour after goalkeeper Michael Abu of Kotoko had punched Ishmael Addo's shot into his path in the 74 minute.
Addo, who had a brilliant afternoon scored the second goal four minutes from time when he outpaced Kotoko’s defencemen to send a curling drive past goalkeeper to send numerous Hearts fans into wild jubilation late that lasted late in the into the night.
Cape Coast : Cape Coast township yesterday was thrown into a state of ecstasy as supporters of Cape Coast Ebusua Dwarfs revelled deep into the night after their side clinched hard won 1 – 0 over Obuasi Goldfieds to grab the three maximum points at stake.
With that victory finished second on the league table and clinched booked a passage for next year’s Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) Winners cup.
It was a brilliant goal scored by Matthew Attiogbe after 43 minute that enabled
Dwarfs to earn their first ever ticket to African club championship. Attiogbe received a pass from defender, Matthew Kwame and in after a dribbling run, beat advancing goalkeeper Mike Robertson to planted the ball in the far corner of the net.
But Goldfields, who were also in contention for the second spot in case of any slip by their hosts or Kotoko have themselves to blame for wasting the numerous scoring chances that came their way. In the 16th and 20th minutes, speedster Lawrence Adjei and Nana Arhin had easy chances to score but fumbled on both occasions.
Disaster was however to befall the miners in the 67th minute when they were reduced to 10 men form a red card received by mid-fielder Yaw Owusu for a second bookable offence.
With fatigue setting in and their strength reduced Goldfields could not go beyond Dwarfs defencemen to find the equaliser until the final whistle.
Nkawkaw: Bottom club, Afienya United had their last taste of premier soccer ,at least for the next one year, when they were suffered a 1 – 3 humiliation at the hands of Okwawu United in their match played at the Nkawkaw Park.
Right from the blast of the whistle, Okwawu pressurised the visitors without mercy, earning two corner kicks in the 11th and 12th minutes. Still piling on pressure, Okwawu's Kwasi Asante got two golden chances in the 18th and 20th minutes but with only Afienya's goalkeeper David Sharpe to beat, he shot off target on both occasions.
In the 40th minute the Okwawu attackers atoned for their earlier misses when they found the net through Victor Aghoghoviwa’s point blank shot that goalkeeper Sharpe had no answer to. The ‘soccer mountaineers’ scored again four minutes later when Asante dribbled past two Afienya defenders, displaced the goalie and put the ball beyond his reach to end the half with a two goal lead.
After the break Okwahu maintained the pressure in search of more goals however, poor shooting robbed them of goals in the 48th, 52nd and 57th minutes.
They however netted their third goal in the 77th minute through Aghoghoviwa before Afienya’s substitute Mike Bortei-Doku registered a consolation for his side in the 84th minute.
Kumasi : Accra Great Olympics lost their fifth consecutive league match when they were licked 1-0 by King Faisal at the Kumasi Sports Stadium on Sunday.
After fumbling with two goal bound attempts in the seventh and 11th minutes Joe Agyeman shot his team into the lead in the 9th minute from the penalty spot when a hard pressed Olympics defender handled the ball in the box.
Faisal had the game well under control and should have increased their lead before half time but top marksman Nana Frempong wasted the scoring opportunity that fell to him.
Olympics also had their best chance to equalise in the 39th minute but Wisdom Abbey with only the goalkeeper to beat shot wide.
Faisal still dictated the pace of the game after the break as Olympics played on the defensive but the front-runners of Faisal kept on wasting scoring chances. In the 77th minute overlapping full back Nii Nanka Bruce shot off target and when Ronaldo Mohammed failed to hit the back of the net in the 86th minute from close range Faisal had to content themselves with their thin victory.
Dawu: Dawu Youngsters yesterday survived the scare of an early goal against them to beat Liberty Professionals from Accra 3-1 in their ABC Premier League match played at the Dawu.
Liberty took the lead in the 15th minute when Papa Arko left his markers to blast home
from the penalty box but two penalty kicks, expertly converted by Nii Darko Ankrah in the 17th and 27th minutes gave Dawu the lead.
Speedster Tahiru Abdulai made it three for Dawu in the 35th minute when he took a pass from midfield and raced through the Liberty defence to curl one past goalkeeper Cudjoe Addo in Liberty’s goal.
Sekondi : Loss of concentration cost Sekondi Hasaacas greatly as two rapid goals in the first half and another in the in the second made them bow 3-1 at home to visiting Power F/C in their 30th week league match.
Hasaacas, who lost at home to Asante Kotoko last week, started the match fully in control and deservedly took the lead in the 42nd minute. The joy of the Hasmal fans had hardly died down when Power equalised through Kafui Kingsley who chipped the ball through the legs of goalkeeper Ernest Commey. Two minutes later Power registered their second goal.
Power put victory beyond doubt when Acquah Harrison netted from a spot kick in the 52nd minute at a time when Hasmal were being booed by their fans for their luck-lustre performance.
Tamale : Real Tamale United pushed Swedru All Blacks out of the premier league when they sent them parking with 4-1 hammering to leave them 15th placed with 32 points.
RTU scored first in the 17th minute through Abass Iddrisu and hanged unto the lead till the second half when Imoro Razak equalised for the ‘Black Magicians’.
RTU who had their eyes on the league table’s second spot redoubled their efforts and regained their lead in the 60th minute. Slippery Abass Iddrisu crowned an afternoon of good football with a hat-trick when he scored two more goals for his side in the 74th and 79th minutes
Tema: Tema Ghapoha yesterday ensured their continued participation in the Premier league with a 1 – 0 win over struggling Tano Bofoakwa to clinch 36 points.
It was goal that certainly came the hard way as the Tema lads had to probe for pretty 89 minutes before securing the badly needed goal.
Ghapoha’s goal came after a good run on the right by Fiifi Hanson who then centred for David Pomanie to tap in.
GRi
ABC/Premier League- standings at the end of the last matches on Sunday, 3rd October, 1999.
Team Locale/Region P W D L F A Pts GD
Hearts Accra, Gt. Accra 30 19 5 6 57 27 62 +30
Dwarfs Cape Coast, Central 30 16 5 9 40 29 53 +11
RTU Tamale, Northern 30 16 4 10 48 30 52 +18
Kotoko Kumasi, Ashanti 30 16 5 9 38 31 50 +7
Okwawu Nkawkaw, Eastern 30 15 3 12 36 29 48 +7
Goldfields Obuasi, Ashanti 30 15 2 13 34 26 47 +8
Faisal Kumasi, Ashanti 30 12 8 10 34 31 44 +3
Hasaacas Sekondi, Western 30 12 6 12 29 27 42 +2
Olympics Accra, Gt. Accra 30 11 8 12 28 25 41 +3
Liberty Accra, Gt. Accra 30 12 3 15 30 30 39 0
Dawu Dawu, Eastern 30 9 10 11 35 38 37 -3
Power F/C Koforidua, Eastern 30 9 9 12 26 33 36 -7
GHAPOHA Tema, Gt. Accra 30 8 12 10 24 32 36 -8
*Bofoakwa Sunyani, B/A 30 10 3 17 20 43 33 -23
All Blacks Swedru, Central 30 10 5 15 32 42 32 -11
Afienya Afienya, Gt. Accra 30 2 8 20 12 48 14 -36
NB: Even though the league ended on 3rd October GFA is yet to come out with a decision on the 28th week match between Okwawu United and Obuasi Goldfields which ended abruptly in the 80th minute at Nkawkaw on September 26. A replay ordered on 1st October did not come on. The nil-nil score at the time of the incident is reflecting on the table.
With the standings at the end of the league, Dwarfs and Real Tamale United qualify alongside Hearts Oak who have won the league title, for continental soccer next season. Swedru All Blacks and Afienya who are the last two from the bottom are relegated to the Division One.
*13th placed Bofoakwa Tano will engage the third placed in the Division One Middle League which is yet to be played for a decider on who plays in the Premier League next season.
GRi…/
Middle League commences on October 6
With the premier league over, the thrills in football at the local scene will shift to the Division One where the Middle League which qualify two clubs to the premier division will be honoured, starting Wednesday, October 6.
Six clubs, B. A. United, Venomous Vipers, Adansiman, Kwabibirim, Arsenal and Maxbees are vying for the two positions. Below are fixtures.
Wednesday 6th October Sunday 10th October
Adansiman Vs Kwabibirim Kwabibirim Vs Arsenal
Arsenal Vs Vipers Maxbees Vs Adansiman
B.A. United Vs Maxbees Vipers Vs B.A. United
Wednesday 13th October Sunday 17th October
Maxbees Vs Kwaebibirim Vipers Vs Kwaebibirm
Arsenal Vs B.A. United B.A. United Vs Adansiman
Adansiman Vs Arsenal Maxbees Vs Vipers
Wednesday 20th October Wednesday 27th October
Kwaebibirim Vs B.A. United Play-off between 3rd placed in the
Vipers Vs Maxbees Division One League and 14th placed
Adansiman Vs Arsenal in the Premier League.
GRi…/