A last-ditch header from Hans Kwofiedenied Hearts of Oak their first home win over Ashantigold in three years at the Accra Sports Stadium as the ‘Miners’ rallied back twice to deny their opponents a famous win in a pulsating match week two fixture of the Ghana Premier League (GPL)that ended 2-2 on Tuesday.
Just when Hearts attacker Kojo Obeng Junior seemed to have won the day for the ‘Phobians’ with his second goal of the night , Kwofie spearheading the Ashgold attack , popped up at the right spot to also claim a brace on the night from a Yaw Annor cross.
This was after Kwofiein the 56th minute had cancelled Hearts first-half lead through Obeng Junior.
The result extends Hearts failure to beat the ‘Miners’ in Accra since the 2015 season.
It was a night where both sides performed to the admiration of the few reporters and sports officials who werepermitted to attend.
Ashgold Coach Milovan Circovic seemed impressed with his sides output saying at the post-match “I want to see the boys play like this every time; with this we stand a good chance of winning the league.”
His disposition seemed different from the visibly disappointed Hearts Gaffer Edward Nii Odoom who appeared unsatisfied with the point, blaming the poor conversion of his forwards for the hard luck.
In the initial exchanges , Hearts struggled for possession, allowing the visitors to spray passes masterminded by orchestrator-in-chief Appiah McCarthy to enact their game plan.
This nearly resulted in an early goal for Ashgold as attacker Yaw Annor’s electrifying run ended with a screamer that was tipped to safety by Hearts goalkeeper Richard Attah.
The ‘Miners’ superiority gradually fizzled with Hearts midfield trio Frederick Botchway , Emmanuel Nettey and Benjamin Afutu taking the game for Hearts.
This allowed them to have their first taste of a goal threat in the 13th minute but Obeng Jnr could only head feebly to Raddy Ovouka’s cross.
Now in control , Hearts kept the Ashgold area boiling with Obeng Junior , Patrick Razak and Daniel Afriyie in the thick of things.
On one such occasion in the 28th minute , Obeng Junior squeezed in a shot that deflected off the goalpost.
He would, however, not be denied four minutes later when he gave Hearts the lead from a goal mouth melee inside Ashgold’s area.
From then on they seized total control and narrowly missed increasing their tally through Obeng Junior and Razak.
After the interval , the game’s pendulum switched in favour of Ashgold. They recomposed and leveled quickly through Kwofie who stretched to full limit to tuck home a brilliant inswinger from McCarthy.
McCarthy nearly had a moment of his own but watched his volley parried to safety by Attah.
The Phobians equally lurked dangerous and seemed to have found the winner 10 minutes from time when the hard-running Patrick Razak delivered an incisive cross that met Obeng Junior’s thundering head past Ashgold goalie Robert Dabuo.
The introductions of Mark Agyekum and Amos Nkrumah invigorated Ashgold who fought the final 10 minutes ferociously, culminating in the equaliser.
This was after Kwofie’s glancing header completed a move from his side that began with Hearts’ Nettey losing possession in midfield.
BY NANA BENTSI ODURO
