Two matches short of the halfway mark and the dust seem to have already settled.

Contenders have moved to top gear whilst reality is gradually dawning on the early season pretenders.

The weekend action kicked off on saturday at the Golden city park in Berekum. It was derby day as regional rivals Berekum Chelsea and Bechem United chased their first win in 3 games.

The former took maximum points with a slender 1 goal win. Asante Kotoko moved within 2 points of top spot with 1-0 win over struggling Inter Allies. Champions Ashgold still cannot find the right balance to secure a win as they were held to a goalless draw by All Stars at home.

Hasaacas with all their defensive troubles still won’t put a foot wrong at home. They made sure Ebusua Dwarfs are rooted at the bottom after coming back from a goal down to win 2-1.

Confederation cup campaigners Medeama SC earned a valuable point at Dreams FC after rallying to cancel out a 2 goal deficit. West Africa Football Academy pipped Techiman City FC at home by a goal to nil.

The top of the table clash between in-form Aduana Stars and table toppers Hearts of Oak ended in a share of spoils. Hearts pegged Aduana back with a well deserved equalizer in the second half after fallen behind midway in the first half. The match between Liberty Professionals and New Edubiase United ended 2-0 in favour of scientific soccer lads.

THE EMERGING THREE HORSE RACE…

The preseason activity of Aduana Stars and Asante Kotoko coerced many a football pundit to tip them as overwhelming favourites to annex the ultimate.

However an early season blip in both camps very nearly warranted a rescripting eventhough it was still early days yet. Hearts of Oak has come forth as the surprise package of the season.

A strong force in the league but a seven year trophy drought had seen them plummeting down the drain. Their previous season showing coupled with their preseason form made it routine for anyone to write them off.

With only one thing on their mind that is to hide under the shadow of the under dog tag and upset the apple cart they started the season with a banger.

They lead the pack and have set the league ablaze especially on their travels. Aduana Stars were their own enemies in the early stages sparking a self induced internal wrangling which reduced their performance to a not.

A technical restructuring which brought back former trainer Tsioba Aristica has seen them thrive with goals managing a quintet of wins to move to second place.

The conservative Aduana has been transformed into an all firing team with the most goals in the topflight. Their top marksman Yahaya Mohammed is joint top on the goalking chart with 9 goals in 11 games.

Asante Kotoko who once languished at the bottom amidst their preseason ruthlessness are back firing again and have moved within 2 points of the top with two games to the halfway point.

They were expected to mount a challenge to reclaim the title Ashgold FC robbed them of but wavered as a result of a technical imbalance leaving them in the chasing pack. The storm seem to have weathered with the standing aside of their head coach David Duncan.

Wa All Stars looked a decent outsider from the start but a downslide in their performance has seen them drop out of the top 3. They will surely be in and around top 5.

However this sets up an intriguing three horse race in the title charge featuring the impressive travellers, Hearts of Oak, top scoring Aduana Stars and sniffy Asante Kotoko.

With the stage set and momentum at a crescendo expect this race to hot up and blaze like the flame in the belly of the beast.