Kotoko capture top spot
Kumasi Asante Kotoko leapfrogged Aduana Stars to the top spot of the Premier League log despite being held to a scoreless draw by Inter Allies at the Baba Yara Stadium yesterday.
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On a weekend which Aduana rested following the postponement of their clash with Wa All Stars, Kotoko earned a vital point at home as young Inter Allies goalkeeper, Kwame Baah, denied the Porcupine Warriors scoring opportunities that could have earned them a fifth straight home win.
Baah denied Eric Donkor a goal from long drive outside the penalty area in the 22nd minute, and again deprived Abass Mohammed of glory from a perfect header in the 22nd minute that could have put Kotoko in the driving seat.
The Kotoko strikers lacked creativity and fluffed many scoring chances in the first half, but diminutive Emmanuel Gyamfi proved to be the team's livewire when minutes after coming on, missed a fine chance as his connection hit the upright narrowly and brought the hitherto quiet fans onto their feet.
Inter Allies attacked sporadically with arrowhead Frederick Boateng, Prince Baffoe and Kwame Amoako splitting the Kotoko defence marshalled around centre-back Abeiku Ainooson. But the visitors were as wasteful as their opponents.
In the 60th minute for instance, Amoako shot feebly into the hands of goalkeeper Felix Annan after a blistering run by Boateng to set up a scoring chance, as the action swung from one end to the other late into the game.
• At the Accra Stadium, Accra Great Olympics fetched their first win in open play after defeating Ebusua Dwarfs 1-0.
Osah Bernadinho’s third minute drive proved enough to give the home side the three points in a match largely dominated by the Cape Coast-based side, writes Kwame Larweh.
Olympics led an onslaught from the blast of the whistle and probed for an early goal and quickly got rewarded after winger Godfred Odametey’s corner kick resulted in a goalmouth melee for Bernadinho to pounce on the rebound and fire home a shot for the maximum points which eased the pressure on player/coach Godwin Attram.
Olympics held onto the lead as Dwarfs fought back in search of the equalising goal.
After the break, substitute striker Musah Ibrahim became a thorn in the flesh of the Olympics defence which drew on the experience of their captain Dan Quaye and Adom Ampofo to withstand the onslaught by the visitors.
• At the Tema Stadium, Tema Youth settled for a 1-1 draw against Medeama SC after Michael Kpovie gave the home side an early lead in the third minute, writes Benjamin Xornam Glover.
The Tema lads controlled the midfield but could not increase the tally until the 65th minute when Benjamin Bature cancelled the lead after he tapped in the ball from a long throw in.