Defending Premier League champions, Accra Hearts of Oak went through 90 minutes of labour against a cracked visiting Tano Bofoakwa side to maintain the the championship pace with a 1-0 win in their mid-week duel at the Ohene Djan Sports Stadium in Accra.

The Phobians who were seeking to successfully defend their title by overtaking point richer leaders, Kumasi Asante Kotoko met their match in the determined and well disciplined Sunyani lads who shuffled well all through and managed to win the admiration of the partisan home crowd.

Lawrence Adjei shot Hearts ahead on the 20th minute with a goal that ensured the host spent more time protecting their solitary win with occasional invasions that created panicking moments for their guest. Adjei who until the goal remained a passenger sent in a volley from an aerial scramble to spark a mass jubilation in the already charged stadium after the Phobians managed to deal well with the visitor's earlier threats.

The closest that Bofoakwa came to level up the scores was three minutes after the half hour mark when Moh Sandy dismayed all by side netting his effort after dancing past Hearts goalie, Eben Armah Dida.

The players chased almost all the loss balls, winning the 50-50 battles and controlled the game's pace with their physical presence with telepathy understanding, they toppled the Hearts midfield and fared better by the minute but gave false hope about their ability to pull but felt shy of scoring against the champions as the game wore on with their erratic finishing.

After the recess, the two teams returned with no change in their pattern of play but periodically created chances which could not alter the results even though the visitors managed to put the ball into the Hearts net but the assistant referee had his flag up for an off-side positioning to deny Bofoakwa the equalizer.