Substitute Isaac Mensah pulled a stunning late strike to notch a 3-2 win for Hearts of Oak over Ebusua Dwarfs on match-day 15 of the Ghana Premier League at the Accra Sports Stadium yesterday.
Despite being the side with the gleaming start in the early stages and notching all two goals in the first 20 minutes, it was Dwarfs who bounced back from two goals before the substitute Mensah grabbed the match winner for his side.
Hearts, whose Serbian coach Kosta Papic left them last week, had taken a well-deserved lead through striker Victor Adioo in the ninth minute – via a spot kick after speedster Patrick Razak was soiled in the penalty box.
The visitors could not stand the pace of Razak who kept the backline of Dwarfs on their toes with his brilliant runs on the flanks. It paid off when Razak was once again brought down in the box as Referee Jones Akubiem had no option than to point to the spot.
Aidoo made no mistake as he slotted the ball past goalkeeper Razak Issah to register his brace and the second for Hearts after the 20th minute mark.
Minutes on, it could have been a hat-trick for Aidoo, but his effort missed narrowly as the Phobians kept pressing for another goal.Credit, however, must go to goalkeeper Issah for pulling a stunning save to deny Ansah Botchway moments later.
However, before the stroke of first half, the visitors turned the game over and pulled one back through Moro Sumaila. It gave Dwarfs lots of energy heading into the break.
Back from recess, Dwarfs played with full of energy and in search of their equaliser, brought on Elia Kofi Jnr for Albert Hammond.
The changes paid off as the visitors took the game by storm, threatening the goal area of Hearts with decent efforts and in no time pulled the well-deserved parity in the 75th minute through a spot-kick.
Skipper Dennis Korsah sent goalkeeper Richard Attah the wrong way with a cool finish to put Dwarfs on level terms, with 20 minutes to end proceedings.
However, it was not over until it is over as the ‘Never Say Die’ spirit of Hearts bounced back in grand style as the ‘super’ substitute Mensah crashed home the winner – just in the second minute of the six minutes of additional time.
