Accra Hearts of Oak yesterday burst the bubble of a stubborn Danbort FC side with a 1-0 win at the Accra Sports Stadium. Vincent Atinga’s spot kick in the 63rd minute saved the blushes of Frank Nuttall’s side who nearly paid for underrating the second tier side.
Ironically, Sadick Abubakar was the unsung hero for the visitors but his over-exuberance in tackling players of the opposing side cost his side when he whacked Patrick Razak in the box for referee Charles Bulu to award the penalty. Atinga sent goalkeeper Prosper Gbeku in the wrong direction to give the partisan sparse fans something to celebrate.
Before then, Hearts were just an ordinary side with the attacking duo of Kwame Kizito and Cosmos Dauda wasting glorious scoring opportunities.
Cosmos had the fans gnashing their teeth when he received a through pass from skipper Thomas Abbey but his attempt to squeeze a shot to the near post was palmed away by goalkeeper Gbeku in the 18th minute.
Moments later, Kizito also missed a good opportunity. It was Fatau Mohammed who spotted him from a free-kick in the area of Danbort, but Kizitor’s header at close range rather went wide to the disappointment of the fans.
Three minutes before recess, Danbort made their intentions clear as they managed to break through the tight Hearts defence when Samson Acquah rounded Robin Gnagne, but goalkeeper Ben Mensah was quick to clear the ball from danger. and moments later Ernest Bannoh also saw his shot missing the post from a corner kick to the relief of Hearts.
From recess, Coach Frank Nuttall initiated a different game plan as he introduced his experienced guards by replacing Daniel Kordie, Cosmos Dauda, and Isaac Mensah with Samudeen Ibrahim, Patrick Razak and Paul Acquah respectively.
The changes brought positive results as Hearts started pounding the goal area of Danbort, with Razak and Samudeen combining effectively to torment the central defensive partnership of John Mensah and Seth Sowah in rapid succession.
Abubakar who could not contain the pace of Razak brought him down in the 63rd minute for a penalty which Atinga scored.
Danbort never gave up as they continued their search for the equaliser, and in the 71st minute, Ibrahim Laar was pushed off the ball by Gnagne for an obvious penalty but referee Bulu ignored it. They continued their search for the equaliser but it never came until the match ended, thus ending their dream of reaching the next stage of the MTN FA Cup competition.
From Wa, All Stars played a more determined game to defeat Berekum Chelsea 2-0 at the Malik Jabir Stadium yesterday to sail to the semi-final stage of the MTN FA Cup competition.
All Stars dominated the exchanges and shot into the lead in the 17th minute through Nasiru Moro who put up a man-of-the-match display.
Just two minutes after recess, the home side increased the lead, after Seth Amoabeng fired home the second goal from the edge of the box.
Moments afterwards the rains set in to mar the beauty of the game, but the referee managed to control the game until the final whistle.
Source: Daily Graphic
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