League Action reports for week 14
Riot at Sunyani as Bofoakwa and B.A. United battle for supremacy
Asante Kotoko in surprise draw with Maxbees
Hearts whitewash Mine Stars to stretch lead
Olympics chalk away victory over Hasaacas
Liberty hand Goldfields heaviest defeat
Goalscorers
chart after 14th Week matches
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo Region) 20 June 2002 - Kumasi-based Class One Referee, Francis Osei Nsiah, was on Wednesday saved by security personnel on duty at the Sunyani Coronation Park from angry supporters of Bofoakwa Tano after the club's mid-week premier soccer league derby with local rivals, B.A. United which ended one all.
Referee Nsiah's "sin" was that he waited until in the 95th minute for United who were trailing 0-1 to come at par before finally whistling to end proceedings at 5.10 pm in the match which the second half was started at 4.05 pm. The behaviour of the referee became suspicious when at 4.50 pm his attention was drawn to full time by the fourth referee, Warrant Officer Class one Referee Nkrumah of Sunyani, but he ignored the signal.
The referee had earlier in the second half ignored what was perceived as a glaring penalty against Bofoakwa and also disallowed a goal scored by United after a cornerkick. The confusion associated with the tension-packed match started long before the commencement of the game.
It all started when Bofoakwa boys, instead of passing through the main gate, decided to enter the park through another gate that was not opened. They then decided to enter the park by scaling a wall, but some supporters of United, refused them entry. This resulted in a confusion and in an ensuing scuffle goalkeeper Muhammed Alhassan of Bofoakwa was badly bitten on the arm by an unidentified person.
Security officers, made up of military and police under the command of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Alex Yartey Tawiah, managed to cool tempers.
The match itself started with both sides playing it hard and as early as the fifth minute United's Daniel Bomfah was shown the yellow card for rough play when he intentionally used his hand to punch the ball in an attempt to score. Undeterred, Bomfah came to a scoring range in the 10th minute but his header was miraculously saved by keeper Alhassan.
Let off the hook Bofoakwa came into action but in their attempts at goal they were either caught in the offside trap or fumbled with the ball. In the 13th minute Bomfah gave a close-range shot but keeper Alhassan once again stood between him and a goal. Fortunes swayed here and there with the United boys slightly on top but they could not score. Just before the first half ended Kojo Opoku of United attracted the yellow card.
The two teams made some changes on resumption but it was Bofoakwa who first scored in the 79th minute through Kwaku Adu whose terrific shot zoomed into the net with goalkeeper Isaac Amoako trying vainly to save it. United thereafter covered every blade of grass on the park for the equaliser, but it eluded them till the 95th minute when Ampeah equalised.
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Koforidua (Eastern Region) 20 June 2002 - Koforidua-based Maxbees FC played a determined game to deny Kumasi Asante Kotoko the three vital points when they held them to a one-one drawn game in their match played at Koforidua.
Maxbees surprised Kotoko's teaming supporters with a first minute goal soon after kicking-off when Asamoah Dzifa, who received a long pass from the defence at the right-wing, trapped the ball or centre-forward Masawudu Mumuni to fire in a low shot to the far side of the Kotoko posts forcing Osei Boateng to sprawl in vain.
Kotoko accepted the challenge and launched a series of attacks on their opponents goal area but the defence of Maxbees, pivoted around Ben Adjei of Hearts of Oak fame, Sam Obuobi and Emmanuel Osei, denied them of an early equaliser, despite four corner kicks within 10 minutes.
However, in the 28th minute, Kotoko's incessant attacks were rewarded when Michael Osei tapped in the equaliser from a goal-moth scramble to set the stadium alight. Maxbees' attacking duo of Mumuni and Mustapha Ali received the yellow cards in the 24th and 32nd minutes but they managed to harass Kotoko but they could not alter the score till the break.
On resumption, Kotoko brought in Kwaku Dua to strengthen their attack but still finding the going very tough, substituted Nana Frimpong and Stephen Oduro with Frank Osei and Shilla Alhassan respectively in the 62nd minute. Even though the changes brought bite to their attack, Kotoko still failed to break through the tight Maxbees defence who adopted hard tackles and kept ballooning the ball out off the pitch.
Kotoko forwards squandered a series of corner kicks created by their onslaughts and failed to take advantage of the situation until referee Charles Dwomoh of Accra, whistled for the end of the game.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 20 June 2002 - Accra Hearts of Oak’s soccer ‘warlord’ Charles Taylor's second hat trick of the season ensured that Accra Hearts of Oak thumped Prestea Mine Stars 4-0 in their match played at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Resting some of their first team players for their epic clash against Kumasi Asante Kotoko on Sunday in Kumasi, Hearts warmed themselves gradually into the game with Taylor and Bernard Don Bortey doing most of the early running. As the pressure mounted on the visitor's, the question was for how long the resistance of the Miners would last.
Taylor finally opened the scores in the 26th minute as he cleverly beat his marker to slot the ball beyond advancing Eric Asari. With the floodgates opened, Hearts doubled the score line in the 33rd minute with a diving header from Hassan Mohammed from Kwame Antwi's cross. Hearts could have rained in more goals if Wisdom Abbey had maintained his composure in front of goal as he threw away two begging chances in the 40th and 44th minutes.
The second half was not different from the first as Abbey continued to throw away the chances. Another example was in the 52nd minute when he was put through and with only the advancing goalkeeper to beat volleyed off target. Taylor was however again on hand in the 54th minute as he connected a loose ball into the net while the Miners goalie Asare lay down injured from a collision with his defender.
Injured goalkeeper could not recover and was substituted by Emmanuel Armah whiles Hearts also brought on Awudu Adama for Abbey in the 55th minute. Taylor then completed his hat trick in the 67th minute when he profited from a rebound after Adama's shot was pushed unto his path by goalkeeper Armah.
Mine Stars only clearest chance at scoring a consolation goal came in the 82nd minute through a goalkeeping error by James Nanor but Michael Thompson's goal-bound shot was scooped off the line by Hassan.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 20 June 2002 - Alhaji Grunsah's King Faisal beat visiting Power F/C 3-0 in their premier league mid-week encounter played at the Kumasi sport stadium.
Ben Wilson put Faisal into the lead in the 20th minute with a beautiful drive, which beat goalkeeper Nethaniel Hammond in goal for Power F/C. It was a cross from Dada Kwadwo to Ishak Debrah who perfectly laid a pass for Wilson to place the ball at blind side of the goalkeeper.
Power accepted the challenge and came close to scoring but poor shots upfront by Daniel Coleman denied them the goals till the end of the first half. The match played in a virtually empty stadium had nothing to write home about as both teams played as if nothing was at stake.
Faisal however increased the tally in the 77th minute when Ben Wilson finished up a beautiful pass from Joe Agyeman Junior. Joe Agyeman scored for Faisal in the 83th minute in a goalmouth melee. In the 88th minute Power had a chance to reduce the tally but Eric Boateng's shot missed the post narrowly.
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Cape Coast (Central Region) 20 June 2002 - Accra Great Olympic played an impressive game to beat Sekondi Hasaacas 2-1 in their premier league match played at the Cape Coast sports stadium.
After a goalless first half in which Hasaacas wasted a penalty taken by centre half, Sule Muntari in 37th minute, Olympics resumed the second half with greater determination. They dictated the pace of the game and forced Hasaacas to defend most of the time but they had to wait until the 50th minute when their left half back, Andy Pomeyie, opened the scoring with a classic shot when Hasaacas goalkeeper Seth Tabiri failed to make a first time save of a shot delivered by outside left Francis Mantey.
The goal gave Olympics the tonic to score more goals but their forwards made up of Paa Joe Kumah, Amui Quaye, James Tettey and Windfred Dormon squandered the chances that came their way. Olympic continued to dictate the pace and in the 69th minute Kumah atoned for his earlier misses as he picked a ball and raced pass a defender of Hasaacas and delivered a tricky one to the blind side of goalkeeper Fred Tabiri for Olympics second goal.
Realising the going very tough, Hasaacas made some substitutions and managed to score the consolation goal in the 73rd minute through Richard Afriyie during a goalmouth melee.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 20 June 2002 - Liberty Professionals handed Obuasi Goldfields their heaviest defeat in this year's premiership when they beat them 3-0 in their 14th week match played at the Accra Sports Stadium on Thursday. The match was drab and the home team could have won by a much bigger margin but for inaccurate shooting in front of goal.
Liberty opened the scores in the 17th minute through John Paintsil when he cleverly beat his marker before beating the goalkeeper Edmund Attah with a near post tap in. The first goal provided the tonic for more and William Tiero duly obliged when he thumped in the second with a grounder from the edge of the box.
Goldfield responded to the second goal by bringing on Kenneth Ababio for Owusu Agyeman to strengthen their back line. Back from recess, Goldfields gave an early indication of recovery when in the 46th minute a snap shot from Dan Asamoah also caught Cudjoe Addo in post for Liberty napping but he struggled to push the ball into touch for a corner kick, which was wasted.
Liberty's reply was emphatic as they stretched the lead to three with a well-placed Jonathan Qaurtey volley from the edge of box in the 57th minute to make the three points certain. Goldfield could not find a way through the tight defence of the Liberty and were confined to passing the ball among themselves in midfield without posing much threat to keeper Addo's goal.
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Dawu (Eastern Region) 20 June 2002 - Dawu Youngsters put the smiles back on the faces of their supporters when they beat visiting Real Tamale United (RTU) 2-1 in their Premier League match at Dawu on Wednesday.
The victory which is the second home win for Dawu this season has brought a ray of hope for the club’s continued stay in the Premier League. When Asante Mampong based referee Christiana Tetteh signalled for the start of the game, the comparatively short Dawu players pinned their opponents to their own half, but the tall and lanky RTU boys who were superior in the air effectively blocked the onslaught.
However, in the ninth Dawu earned a penalty that was expertly utilised by Issah Ahmed for the first goal. RTU fought back tenaciously and eight minutes later Philip Amoako capitalised on defensive blunder and delivered a thunderous grounder, which entered the net for the equaliser. In the second half, Dawu’s Osei Kofi won the day for his side when he put the ball into the net to bring the final scores to 2-1. – Daily Graphic.
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Goalscorers chart after 14th
Week matches
Accra (Greater Accra) 20 June 2002 - Leading goal scorers in the Premiership after the 14th week Premier League matches were honoured on Wednesday.
12 - Charles Taylor (Hearts)
6 - Amui Quaye (Olympics) Don Bortey (Hearts)
5 - Ernest Papa Arko (liberty) Frank Awuah (Goldfields) Godwin Ablordey, Frank Osei, Nana Arhin Duah (Kotoko) Osei Bonsu (Okwawu)
4 - Abubakar Yahuza, Kwabina Boateng (Faisal) Masawudu Mumuni (Maxbees) Michael Osei, Nana Frimpong, Stephen Oduro (Kotoko) Joseph Adjei (RTU) Paul Ofori (Dawu)
3 - Eric Adu Poku (Arsenals) Raja Nurudeen (Power) Kenneth Sarpong (Hearts) Bawa Mohammed (BA United) Eric Mbroah, Issah Ahmed (Dawu) Gariba Haruna (Hasaacas) Andy Pomayie (Olympics) Ben Wilson (Faisal) William Tiero, John
Painstil (Liberty)
2 - Wisdom Abbey, Awudu Adama, Charles Allotey, Frank Turkson (Hearts) Abdul Samad, Prince Yeboah, Kwasi Mensah (Mines Stars) Joe Okyere (Kotoko) Kwabina Opoku, Joe Agyman (Faisal) Alfred Nii Larbi, Ablade Morgan (liberty) Kwaku Duah, Charles Benson, Kojo Poku (Bofoakwa) Ofosu Amoah (Goldfields) Justice Appiah, Dennis Odum (Power) Isaac Asante (Okwawu) Addai Owusu (B.A United) Charles Asamoah, Richard Afriyie (Hasaacas) Frank Awuah, George Eranio (Arsenals) Paa Joe Kuma (Olympics)
1 - Laryea Kingston, Awuley Quaye, Adjah Tetteh, Hassan Mohammed (Hearts) Joe Louis, Joe Sam, Hamza Mohammed, Shila Alhassan (Kotoko) Kenneth Ababio, Issah Rahman, Dauda Siedu, John Quansah, Asare Boateng, Aminu Musa, Solomon Laryea, Alfred Arthur (Goldfields) James Amartey, John Cudjoe, Joe Tagoe, David Sharpe, Sumaila Iddrisu (Olympics) Andrew Antwi, Osman Sakora, Angelon Dedon, Bawa Mohammed, Lawrence Kenyah Charles Ampiah (BA United) Eddy Acquaye, Daniel Babayara, George Tutu (Okwawu) Issah Shaibu, Asamoah Dzifa (Maxbees) Samuel Owusu, Awal Mohammed, Sefa Boateng (Power) Mutalib Abdul, Mohammed Inusah, Atta Yawson, John Ainoo, Maxwell Kensah, Ebo Mensah, Salu Muntari (Hasaacas) Philip Amoaku, Albert Ayikade, Mohammed Baker, Alhassan Weah, Alhassan Habib, Mawe Mohammed, Bobby Rahman, Kwame Acheapong (RTU) George Biara, Kennedy Ayew, Issaka Tanko, Kelvin Asamoah (Mines Stars) Tahiru Abulai, Kofi Asiedu, Anthony Mintah, Kwaku Adu (Bofoakwa) Kamara Dauda, Paul Otu, Samuel Bakai, Baba Sule, Chronicle Kwame Amadu, Osei Kofi (Dawu) Kwame Adjei, Seth Antwi (Arsenals) Joe Agyeman Jnr, Ishak Debrah (Faisal) Jonathan Qaurtey (Liberty).
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