Soccer News of Monday, 26 November 2001

Source: .

Star Premier League Results 29th week

 Goldfields  2 1  Liberty Profs. 
Hearts 2 0 Dawu Youngs
Kotoko 2 1 Maxbees FC
Ghapoha 0 1 Arsenals FC
RTU 4 1 Bofoakwa Tano
Okwahu Utd 0 0 Great Olympics
Hasaacas 3 2 Adansiman FC
Kwaebibirem 0 1 King Faisal
League Table

Arsenals worsens the plight of Ghapoha


Berekum Arsenals beat Tema Ghapoha by a lone goal to worsen the plight of relegation threatened Tema based club at the Accra Sports Stadium on Saturday in the 29th Star premier League match encounter.

Led by their inspirational Skipper John Painstil of the Black Satellites fame, the Berekum-based club broke the deadlock in the 75th minute of the game when the skipper delivered a powerful drive into the net after pouncing on the ball from a corner kick.

The first half saw both sides wasting numerous chances which came their way with the worst offenders being Ghapoha who kept on fumbling in front of the goal post as if they have nothing at stake.

Most of the chances in the first half came to Ghapoha in the 8th,9th 26th and 29th minutes while Arsenals had theirs in the 14th and 29th minutes.

The early stages of the second half also witnessed the wasting of begging chances by both sides until John Painstil broke the deadlock in the 75th minute.

Even though the goal gingered on Ghapoha to search for the equalizer, they continued to throw away the chances while Arsenals continued to make dangerous incursions into their penalty area in a bid to increase the tally.

Asante Mampong- based Referee Gyansah Muller's final whistle came amidst jubilation by the handful supporters of Arsenals while the Harbour boys left the field looking dejected.

RTU thrash Bofoakwa 4-1

Real Tamale United moved further away from relegation when they beat visiting Tano Bofoakwa 4-1 in the Star Premier League match played at the Kalandan Park on Sunday.

Bofoakwa scored first in the 44th minute through inside right Charles Owusu when he capitalised on a defensive blunder to beat Suleman Abukari in goal for RTU. Bofoakwa kept the lead till the end of the first half.

RTU supporters nearly attacked their technical bench for resting most of their first team players in such a crucial match. RTU was a transformed side in the second half when they made three changes. They brought on Gilbert Ayekade, Joseph Adjei and Ibrahim Musah for left-full back Abdul-Rahman Bobby, inside-left Weah Abdulai and outside-left Faisal Suleman respectively.

The change yielded dividends in the 53rd minute when RTU's mid-fielder chipped the ball past James Dobuo in goal for Bofoakwa for the equaliser in a goalmouth melee.

RTU's registered their second goal through a penalty converted by skipper Hamza Mohammed in the 59th minute. The penalty was caused when two Bofoakwa players brought down Ayekade in the penalty box.

The high temperature seemed to have a toll on the Bofoakwa players who were visibly tired in the second allowing RTU to dictate the pace of the game. Substitute Adjei made it three for RTU when he beat three Bofoakwa players on the run before slotting the ball into the net in the 64th minute. Adjei placed a neat pass for Komi Adzagba to score the fourth and the easiest goal in the 74th minute.

Hassacas beat Adansiman

Sekondi Hasaacas beat visiting Adansiman 3-2 in their match at the Sekondi Gyandu Park. Robert Mensah of Hasaacas took advantage of a defensive blunder by Adansiman in the third minute to put his side ahead.

The goal threw Adansiman into disarray and Hasaacas stepped up its attacking machinery with sharp passes particularly on the wings.

But a quick break by Adansiman enabled Osei Kofi to equalise in the 11th minute. Hasaacas stepped up the attack again and goal thief Robert Mensah scored his second for Hasaacas in the 41st minute to put the scores at 2-1 before half time.

Back from recess Kwame Addo put Adansiman on level terms in the 54th minute through a header but Richard Afriyie found the winner for Hasaacas in the 82nd minute for the maximum three points.

Goldfields win

At Obuasi, Goldfields managed a 2-1 win over Liberty Professionals in their encounter at the Len Clay Stadium.

Fast-improving Aminu Musah scored a personal goal for Goldfields and aided Nana Arhin Duah to net the second to fetch the three points for his side. After wasting four corner kicks in the 3rd, 7th, 16, and 22nd minutes Goldfields allowed the visitors to dictate the pace of the game which enabled them to cruise into the lead in the 38th minute when Papa Arko scored from a corner kick taken by Moses Tetteh.

Liberty resumed the second half bringing on Yaw Inkoom for Addoquaye Pappoe but it was Goldfields who threw two corner-kicks away in the 50th and 55th minutes. The miners substituted Dauda Seidu with Daniel Nortey in the 59th minute and in the 63rd minute Aminu snatched the much-awaited equaliser when he beat Addo Cudjoe in posts for Liberty with a curling strike.

Liberty improved their game after replacing Albert Neequaye with Emmanuel Asante in the 74th minute but Asante was injured in the second minute of being on the field and was replaced by David Boateng.

In the 84th minute however, Nana Arhin Duah scored the match winner when he headed home to Aminu's cross to give Goldfields a 2-1 victory. In Kumasi, Porcupine Warriors Asante Kotoko beat visiting Maxbees 2-1 in their league match played at the Kumasi Sports Stadium.

All the three goals of the encounter were scored in the first half with Kotoko scoring in the 28th and 38th minutes respectively, while Maxbees scored their only goal on the stroke of half time.

After dominating play, Kotoko shot ahead in the 28th minute through Charles Asamoah, whose connection to a cross-caught Maxbees goalkeeper Samuel Nortey off balance.

Then in the 38th minute, veteran Joe Okyere raced with the ball to the right and centred for Joe Sam to fire a fierce non-drop shot to the roof of the net for Kotoko's second goal. Maxbees re-doubled their efforts after this goal and earned a free kick outside the penalty box of Kotoko in the 41st minute but wasted it.

The visitors laid siege to Kotoko goal area and in the 44th minute succeeded in pulling a goal back through Clement Coffie.

Both sides made changes on resumption with Kotoko sending on Felix Yeboah for Annas Mohammed while Maxbees pulled out the goal scorer, Clement Coffie for Burt Plange. The changes gingered Kotoko into action and in the 54th minute, Aziz Ansah cleverly lobbed the ball over the head of goalkeeper Nortey who had moved out of his post but the ball sailed over the bar.

In the 69th minute, Maxbees Ben Adjei's goal-bound shot hit the side post and rolled out with goalkeeper Osei Boateng completely displaced.

Hearts win league again

Two first half goals from three time goal-king, Ishmael Addo, ensured Hearts rapped their fifth consecutive league title in style with a 2-0 victory over Dawu Youngsters in their penultimate Star Premier League match at the Accra Sports Stadium.

Hearts victory was came as a matter of course as they dominated from the start to finish, leaving their opponents to do occasional breaks that were foiled by the hard tackling Hearts defence.

Hearts had the first taste of what Dawu had in stock for them when Eric Mbroah in the 7th minute stamped goalkeeper James Nanor who had to be substituted because of the injury. Hearts playing an unfamiliar strategy with Osei Kuffour deep in midfield to pull all the strings, found the opener in the 26 minute when Charles Taylor broke from his markers, beating two Dawu players on the run before passing to Addo to slot the ball beyond Sumaila Abdullah.

Hearts midfield dominance ensured the ball stayed in the half of Dawu most of the time but the goals just failed to come as Bernard Don Bortey and Addo wasted chances after chances. Ishmael could not be denied his second goal as he finished off a well centred cross from the right to make victory certain.

In the second half, Hearts reduced the match to mere a training session as they were contended with playing the ball among themselves rather than making serious incursions at goal scoring.

Dawu first real chance came in the 54th minute but their leading marksman Awudu Adama failed to capitalise on a mistake by substitute goalkeeper Laud Quartey and left Hearts off the hook.

Dawu again came close in the 71st minute when a header from Baba Sule seemed sailing into the net but Jacob Nettey was on hand to scope the ball of the gaol line. Before the match, there was a brief ceremony where Addo was presented with three balls for his three hat-tricks during the season whiles Emmanuel Donkor also took a ball for his against Liberty.