Home Score Away Inter-Allies 1-0 Great Olympics Medeama SC 0-0 Kotoko Bechem United 2-1 Liberty Professionals Wa All Stars 0-0 BA United Hearts of Oak 1-2 Hasaacas AshGold 1-0 Aduana Stars WAFA 2-1 Heart of Lions Berekum Chelsea 2-0 Edubiase FC
Abena Alice|myghanalinks - With 9 games to the end of the season, Match Day 21 took an interesting turn, yielding some unexpected results as Sekondi Hasaacas finally got their first away victory 'in like forever' and took the 'seasons advantage', 4 out of 6points over a hapless Accra Hearts of Oak side.WAFA kept up with their recent brilliant appearances - edging Heart of Lions by two goals to one courtesy of a last minute penalty kick in their fiercely contested derby at Sogakope and in the Accra Derby Inter-Allies completed the double over 'Senior Brothers' Accra Great Olympics.
League Leaders AshGold hit the 40point mark, making no mistakes at home as they pipped hitherto second placed Aduana Stars by a lone goal to open a 7point lead over their closest challengers Berekum Chelsea who won handily at home over visiting Edubiase FC.
Elsewhere, Medeama held Kotoko to a goalless tie, Bechem United won over visiting Liberty and lowly BA United surprisingly left the Wa Park with a share of the spoils.
Inter Allies 1-0 Accra Great Olympics
In the Accra Derby played at the Tema Stadium, Inter-Allies kept up their rejuvenation appearances following a 7 week period of near misses and close calls as they notched their second straight victory in as many weeks to complete the double over Great Olympics. It will be recalled that Inter-Allies won the first meeting of the season in Accra by the same margin.
The praise and adulation in this one belongs to danger man Sheriff Deo Mohammed who capitalized on a counter-attack after the referee seemingly ignored a foul on an Olympics player around the mid-field area to slot the ball home for the only goal of the day and the maximum points. Ropapa Mensah came close to increasing the tally but his beautiful bicycle kick was beautifully saved by Osei Boateng in goal for Olympics.
Olympics had their moments to at least draw level but Osei Kwame in goal for Inter-Allies denied Agbeshie Doetse in the 30th minute and in the waning moments of the game Olympics once again came close, earning 3 successive corner kicks but were unable to capitalize and had an appeal for a penalty denied after the ball appeared to have hit the hands of an Inter-Allies player in the '18'.
Allies jumped from 10th to 7th on the log on 30points whilst Olympics remained rooted to the 15th spot on 22points, a mere 4points adrift of safety and will do well to account for the 3points at the expense of visiting Bechem United on match day 21.
Medeama SC 0 - 0 Kotoko
At the Tarkwa T&A Park, Defending League Champions Asante Kotoko all but kissed their title defense goodbye as Ivorian import cum Striker Ahmed Toure failed to convert a 90th minute penalty kick to hand his side the maximum points. Rather, they settled for a point, dropped to the 10th spot on 29points and remain 11points behind leaders AshGold for the prized spot.
Medeama were eager and determined to take advantage of their home turf but failed to convert the good scoring chances that came their way but they will surely thank their stars for Ahmed Toure's miss from the spot.
The tie dropped them to the 9th spot on 29points and they will be fighting tooth and nail against a Liberty side that has suddenly gone 2 and zero in their last two outings.
Bechem United 2- 1 Liberty Professionals
At the Bechem Park, Accra based Liberty Professionals suffered their second straight defeat in as many outings, going down 1-2 to Bechem United who returned to the winning column following last week’s loss to Asante kotoko.
The home side ended the first half a goal atop their visitors courtesy of a 32nd minute before substitute Issah Nyamewero doubled the lead for Bechem in the second half but former Ghana U20 star Kennedy Ashia pulled one back for Liberty, converting from the spot in the 80th minute.
Liberty failed to find the equalizer as the home side stood strong in defence to rein in all 3points, take their points tally to 29 and move to the 11th spot on the log.
Liberty dropped to 8th on 30points and will have the opportunity to rejuvenate at home against Medeama SC come match day 22.
Wa All Stars 0 - 0 BA United
At the vaunted Wa Park, where more than a handful of the best teams in Ghana's elite division including AshGold, WAFA and Hearts have fallen prey, lowly BA United perhaps breathed a rare ‘sigh of life' into their fading campaign as they stunned the home side with a resilient and a rare away performance for a share of the spoils to take their total points haul to 17 though they remain solidly hemmed to the bottom of the log and a hefty 10points adrift of safety.
Wa All Stars who perhaps underrated their opponents gave it their all but found the visitors rock-solid and unyielding as the latter neutralized all their scoring chances. All Stars will rue this tie in a league where home victories counts for everything and away victories are rare as they fell out of the top four (3rd) to 5th on 31points.
Hearts of Oak 1 - 2 Sekondi Hasaacas
At the Accra Sports Stadium, two rapid-fire goals - a double from Emmanuel Ankobeah, both within 7 minutes was all it took for visiting Sekondi Hasaacas to finally bring the doors down on their non-winning away drought, earn the maximum 3points at stake and leave the Phobians in search of answers as they dropped from the 11th to the 12th spot on 26 points, just a point away from the safety of the drop zone.
The “do-the-do” boys who came to Accra in search of their first away victory in almost 2 seasons had no time for pleasantries; hitting the back of the net in just under a minute as they caught the Phobians' defence napping to leave the home fans stunned.
The visitors sent the reeling home team into panic mode as Emmanuel Ankobeah made it a double to give his side a more than comfortable 2-0 lead to end the first half.
Smelling an upset and the long sought after break through on the away front, Hasaacas remained solid on the defensive end as Hearts staged a come-back and redemption to avoid another home defeat with Coach Herbert Addo throwing in more attackers for the Phobians after recess.
Hearts broke through in the 65th minute with Philip Boampong hitting the back of the net via a corner kick, but alas the damage had already been done as Hasaacas held on to their slim lead to secure all 3points, a rare and amazing back to back win for the 'do-the-do' boys.
The well-deserved victory catapulted Hasaacas from 9th to 6th on 31points and perhaps a chance to break into a top four as they aim for a rare 3rd consecutive victory at the expense of Wa All Stars come match day 22.
For Hearts, the loss marks the continuation of a very disappointing season; 6 wins out of 21 and they will do well to start preparing for the long trip to Aduana with the latter eagerly looking forward to return to winning ways.
AshGold 1 - 0 Aduana Stars
In the topmost encounter played at the Len Clay Sports Stadium, table toppers AshGold remained perfect at home, successfully defending their turf and edging visiting Aduana Stars by a lone goal.
Striker Yakubu Mohammed's 9th goal of the season at the 50th mark was all it took to leave the visitors huffing and puffing for the elusive equalizer till the referee's final whistle.
The win took AshGold's points haul to an enviable 40, 7 clear of the closest challenger as they remained on course to win the 2015 FCPPL title.
The loss dropped Aduana to the fourth spot on 32points with the opportunity to regroup at home come match day 22 over a miserable Accra Hearts of Oak side.
WAFA 2 - 1 Heart of Lions
In the Volta Regional Derby of the match day, Sogakope based - WAFA once again proved the doubters and naysayers wrong, slaying the visiting Lions by two goals to one in a thrilling and very competitive game that went right down to the wire to leave the latter searching for their second victory of the second round after 5 attempts following their match day 16 3-1 dismantling of the Porcupine Warriors.
Kennedy Boateng converted from the spot in the final and waning minutes of the game to hand the maximum spoils to the home side after Osman Sackey had canceled out Bashir Uman's 18th minute opener.
The victory catapulted hitherto 5th placed WAFA to the 3rd spot on the log with 33points, same points tally as Berekum based Chelsea who took the second spot by virtue of goal superiority. WAFA though will face a severe test as the play as guests of Edubiase next weekend.
The 'Giant Slayers' did not move on the log, they remain two spots off the bottommost spot and just a point adrift of the safe spot.
Berekum Chelsea 2 - 0 Edubiase FC
At the Golden City Park, Berekum Chelsea kept their recent exploits and successes afloat, impressively earning 7 out of a total of 9points following their 2-0 drubbing of visiting Edubiase FC to move to the second spot on the log.
Edubiase held their ground against their hosts but cracked in the 63rd minute as Kingsley Osei Effah struck the back of the net for the opener before Stephen Baffour took advantage of a goalkeeping mishap to double the lead for Chelsea.
The loss left Edubiase at the 13th spot on 26points, right where they were at the start of the match day.
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correction: Our earlier report indicated that Medeama SC lost the first of the seasons' meeting in Kumasi, both sides settled for a draw. We have since corrected that and we do apologize for that.
