Accra Great Olympics produced a spirited display to hold city rivals Hearts of Oak to a goalless draw encounter in the first leg of the 2019 Homowo Cup match played at the Accra Sports Stadium yesterday.
It was a game followers of the ‘Wonder Club’ will be proud of considering the team’s struggles in the Normalisation Committee (NC) competitions where they failed to perform to the satisfaction of the fans.
Comparing that to the current form of the Phobians, the expectation had been that the ‘Agosu’ lads would be buried under an avalanche of goals.
But that was never to be.
Despite conceding possession to the ‘Rainbow’ club which had a larger share of possession, Olympics kept it tight at the back and made it difficult for Hearts to have their way through.
The match itself was affected as a result of the many postponements, resulting in the poor attendance by fans.
The game was initially a one-sided affair as Hearts dominated the exchanges and kept the resplendently dressed Oly players under pressure.
The first 10 minutes was a battle between the Phobians and the Olympics goalkeeper, Stephen Odai, who pulled some heroic saves to keep his side in the game.
With Hearts parading marauding attacking machinery consisting of Kwadwo Obeng Jr, Kofi Kordzi, Michael Sarpong and Emmanuel Mintah, the incessant pressure was understandable.
But the back line of the Olympics side stayed resolute and defended with gusto to end the half scoreless.
The ‘Strike’ boys improved in the second half and gave the Phobians a few scares but also failed to make any major breakthrough.
With the likes of Philip Sackey, Obed Wiredu, Maxwell Quaye and others finding their rhythm, Oly was a delight to watch as they attempted to face the Phobians boot-for-boot.
But as both struggled in vain to find the back of the net, it became evident fatigue had set in as the tempo of the game dropped.
Hearts went close against in additional time but were denied by the Oly back men before the referee ended it.
The match will be replayed on Sunday at the same venue.
The match was part of activities to commemorate this year’s Homowo celebration of the Gas.
Hearts will be boosted by the return of their players that featured for the local Black Stars squad that participated in the 2019 WAFU championship that ended yesterday in Senegal.
BY ANDREW NORTEY
