Ghana Premier League: Bofoakwa beat Hearts of Oak

Bofoakwa Tano defeated visiting Accra Hearts of Oak 1-0 in their betPawa Premier League encounter last Saturday to send the packed Coronation Park and the Sunyani township into a festive mood.

It was the second successive home victory for Bofoakwa with Skipper Saaka Dauda again becoming the hero of the day with the winning goal.

After a scoreless first half during which Bofoakwa dominated the visitors in all departments of the game, the home side returned with renewed energy and determination and nearly scored the opening goal one minute into the second half but paid dearly for poor finishing by Dauda.

However, a minute later, the forward atoned for his earlier miss when he seized the moment and scored the winning goal. In a swift buildup, midfielder Ernest Mwankurina gave a defence-splitting pass into the path of Saaka, who outsprinted his Hearts marker, Kofi Agbesimah, and slotted the ball at the far post beyond the reach of Hearts goalkeeper, Richard Attah.

With defeat staring in their face, Hearts responded by making some incursions into the vital area of Bofoakwa and earned two successive corner kicks but good goalkeeping by Emmanuel Kobi denied the Phobians of an equalising goal.

The Bofoakwa defence built around Kelvin Oppong, Emmanuel Ankrah and Clinton Baffuor thwarted all efforts by Hearts attack led by Ramos Kashala Wanet and Obeng Kwadwo Junior, as the Phobians failed to hit the back of the net during regulation time and six minutes of added time by Referee Imoro Osman.

It was Bofoakwa's first Premier League win over Hearts after 18 failed attempts as the Sunyani lads -- back in the topflight after 16 years of absence -- had failed to beat the Phobians since the 1993/94 season, following 13 defeats and five draws in 18 meetings.