Kumasi Asante Kotoko have taken a giant step towards a first league title in ten years after taking a five point lead in the Kinapharma Premier League with four matches to go.

Results of the 26th week matches played on Wednesday, Nov 5:

 Kumasi:   Kotoko    2-1  Stay Cool
 C. Coast: Hearts    1-1  Faisal  
 Accra:    Liberty   4-2  Goldfields
 Sekondi:  Hasaacas  1-0  RTU   
 Kpando:   Lions     1-1  Okwawu 
 Sunyani:  Bofoakwa  1-0  BA United 
 K'dua:    Power     3-2  Mine Stars
 Berekum:  Arsenals  3-0  Olympics 

Kotoko Take 5 Points Lead

In Kumasi,league leaders, Kumasi Asante Kotoko beat Stay Cool 2-1 in their match played at the Kumasi sports stadium.

Kotoko scored first in the 13th minute through Frank Osei in a goalmouth scramble after receiving a lob from Michael Osei. Kotoko who had control of the game after referee Samuel Kwarteng of Koforidua had whistled for hostilities to commence showed signs of massacring the visitors with tactical play..

Frank Osei was on target in the 18th minute but over elaboration caused him not scoring a goal when he came face to face with the opportunity to score but fumbled.

Stay Cool had a chance in the 25th minute but Seidu Zakaria missed the chance while Michael Osei also missed a chance for Kotoko in a minute later.

Stay Cool sensing danger brought in Wintson Tamakloe for Fabubini Tope in the 27th minute to strengthen their defence. Kotoko was awarded a penalty in the 33rd minute when Michael Osei was pulled down in the box by a defender and Aziz Ansah scored from the kick.

The visitors accepted the challenged and nearly reduced the tally in the 43rd minute but Ian Acquah wasted that chance by heading the ball into the waiting hands of goalkeeper George Owu.

They, however, managed to reduce the tally in the 57th minute when Odamptey Lamptey's long range lob beat goalkeeper Owu who had moved out of his line.

Faisal Dent Hearts' Hopes

At Cape Coast, Kumasi based King Faisal played a highly determined game to hold champion club Accra Hearts of Oak, to a 1-1 draw in their encounter at the Cape Coast sports stadium.

Kicking off under the instruction of Keta based referee Ebenezer Adega, Hearts of Oak attacked first, but King Faisal quickly took over the attack from them and scored the opener in the 6th minute through centre half, Prince Antwi.

Prince Antwi with a terrific shot connected a corner kick taken by Hamza Mohammed into the net.

Undaunted Hearts forced the tide in their favour and a two-man move between outside left Don Bortey and Lawrence Adjei opened up the guard of Faisal for Adjei to level up matters in the 10th minute.

The second half saw both teams struggling hard to carry the day after exhausting their substitutions but they goals still remained elusive. From then on, the game then became a ding-dong battle but in the dying minutes, Hearts of Oak nearly carried the day but Lawrence Adjei's powerful shot hit the wood work and rebounded into play for clearance.

Power Beat Mine Stars

Koforidua based Power F/C beat visiting Mine Stars 3-2 in their match played at the Koforidua Sports Stadium.

Power scored all their three goals through free kicks, two in the first half and one in the second half.

Power took the lead in the 7th minute when it had a free kick in behind the penalty box and their left full back , Samuel Owusu realising that Emmanuel Armah in the post of Mine Stars has moved from his mark , lobbed the ball over his head into the post.

Dennis Odoom, inside left of Power increased the tally for his side in the 21st minute when Power had another free kick behind the penalty box of the Mine Stars. This time at the right half of the field and he curled the ball just above the defence wall of Mine Stars into the post. Power had a golden opportunity to bury their visitors but Owusu wasted a penalty kick awarded them in the 40th minute.

Mine Stars who resumed the second half more strongly redeemed a goal in the 55th minute through their inside left, Abdul Samad who tapped the ball into an empty net after their centre forward, Prince Yeboah had dribbled a line of Power defenders including their goalkeeper, Abudulai Sullemana before placing the ball on the path of Samad.

Samad messed up a similar chance a minute earlier and the ball was cleared to safety by the defenders of Power.

Power who did not find their rhythm during the second half of the match, increased their tally to three in the 62nd minute when their left out , Douglas Nkrumah beautifully floated a free kick into the corner of the post .

The Mine boys who became charged and would not allow a total humiliation pushed hard into the goal area of Power and managed to score another goal in the 75th minute through their substitute Isaac Osei.

Getting to the dying minutes of the match, the Miners made several substitutions to strengthen their attacking machinery but it was Power who nearly increased the score line in the 85th minute but a goal bound short by their right out, Maxwell Hotor, was stopped from entering the net by the central defender of the Miners, Kwame Adjei.

Hasaacas Beat RTU

Sekondi Hasaacas beat visiting Real Tamale United (RTU) 1-0 in their match played at the Sekondi Gyandu Park.

Hasaacas went into action immediately after the kick-off putting considerable pressure on RTU.

In the fifth minute RTU gave way to mounting pressure enabling Richard Afriyie, outside left for Hasaacas to blast a shot into the net of RTU.

After the goal, RTU re-organised themselves and fought for an equaliser but by the stroke of hard luck, several goal scoring moves they initiated to outplay Hasaacas were flawed by the defence of the home boys.

Following RTU's abortive attempt at goal in the 20th minute, the match became deadlocked with both sides unable to dominant play for a long spell and this remained the pattern of play until the first half ended.

In the second half, the two teams launched attacks having polished up their attacking machineries during recess.

As the match gathered momentum, Hasaacas made several incursions into the goal area of RTU whose defence closed their ranks and thwarted these efforts.

RTU, on the other hand responded to these attacks up front and played fiercely but they could not get the equaliser till full time.

Lions and Okwahu share honours

Kpando, Nov.5, GNA-Kpando Heart of Lions playing at home on Wednesday drew one-one with visiting Okwawu United in their Kinapharma Premier League match played at Kpando.

There was no rpt no score during the first session.

Thomas Okaija of Lions was brought down in the 58th minute during a goalmouth scramble in the penalty box and Ibrahim Kudemor scored from the spot kick to give his side the leader.

However, in the 70th minute Osei Bonsu playing at outside right for the visitors equalised for Okwawu.
From the on the match became a ding-dong affair until the final whistle leaving the scores at one all.

Bofoakwa Beat B/A

Bofoakwa Tano sold a classic game to reverse their recent losses to their local rivals, B.A United, beating them by a lone goal in their encounter at the Sunyani Coronation Park.

The lone goal was scored in the 19th minute by hardworking Richard Awuah who deftly controlled a loose ball in midfield, swept past two defenders before unleashing a thunderbolt.

The Bofoakwa boys who were playing at home could have secured a cricket score but for erratic shooting, as their strikers created begging chances but wasted them to the anguish of their supporters. Strikers Tahiru Abdulai, Richard Awuah and Nkrumah Emmanuel agonizingly made a mess of the chances, as they came face to face with agile goalkeeper Mohammed Ahmed Nurudeen of United.

Sensing danger, the strikers of United led by good old Prince Adu-Poku piled a lot of pressure on their opponents but the defence of Bofoakwa, pivoted around Nana Gyamfi alias Disco, thwarted all their efforts.

In the 22nd and 28th minutes, Bofoakwa could have scored two more goals but goalkeeper Nurudeen made spectacular saves that drew loud applause from the spectators.

United put their acts together and piled pressure on their rivals in an effort to equalize, but the defence of Bofoakwa repulsed all their moves to keep their lead till half time.

BA United began the second half in a whirlwind fashion but lost control to their opponents whose lead striker Awuah pounced on a loose ball and nearly scored his second goal.

Both teams made changes but it was Bofoakwa who benefited as they continued to pile incessant pressure on United. Accra-based FIFA referee, Alex Quartey who handled the match had to flash his yellow card on two players from both Bofoakwa and United to restore sanity into the game, which had degenerated into rough play midway through the second half.

When a shot from Bofoakwa's Tahiru Abdulai hit the crossbar in the 89th minute with United's Keeper Nurudeen completely beaten, it was clear that for once in recent times, Bofoakwa would carry the day in a local derby to bring back smiles onto the faces of their teeming supporters.

Supporters of Bofoakwa at the final blast of referee Quartey's whistle, poured onto the field and into the streets of Sunyani to celebrate their historic victory.

Libert Humble Goldfield

In Accra, Liberty Professionals humbled Obuasi Goldfields with a 4-2 convincing win when the two crossed swords at the Accra Sports Stadium. Both team fighting for a slot to play in this years lucrative Coca Cola Top 4 tournament sold out a crafty game to the fans to announced what will be in store in case they qualify.

With the pendulum tilting from one side to the other, both team threatened each other occasionally with aspiring goal kings, Goldfield's Shaibu Yakubu and the homesters Asamoah Gyan leading the onslaught. However, it was the Dansoman lads who benefited from the exchanges when they shot into the lead 11 minutes into the game when Baffoe Felix lobbed a George Yamoah's set up past advancing goalkeeper Isaac Amoako.

The visitors defence pivoted around experienced Princeton Owusu Ansah combined well to keep the silky Liberty attackers at bay until they were caught pants down with sloppy marking that brought the goal. Poised to cancel the deficit, Yakubu combined effectively upfront with Cameroonen international, Valentine Atem and the former blasted the ball past goalkeeper Kotei Blanckson to increase his personal goals tally in the league to 13 and thus remained firmly at the top of the chat.

The visitors inspired by the equalizer carried out series of onslaughts to the vital area of their hosts and with delightful inter-positional play upfront, Daniel Nortey shot them ahead in the 22nd minutes.

Gyan kept his sides dream of playing in the Top 4 Competition and his desire to clinch the goal-king title alive when he scored twice within five minutes to increase the goal tally to 3-2.

Shaibu who received little support from his rather selfish partner, Atem upfront had the chance to bring his side on a level pegging to end the half, but the Liberty defence held him in check any time he made the effort.

From recess, Coach Oti Akenten of Goldfields pushed Owusu-Ansah to the middle and introduced petit Ofosu Amoah and for Nortey. The substitution benefited the Miners immensely as they played almost the third quarter of the game in the Liberty's half.

However, it was their opponents who increased the tally to four in the last quarter of the game through Francis Obeng to put their victory beyond doubt.