Never Say Die – Richard Attah secures FA Cup for Hearts of Oak
Hearts beat Ashanti Gold in FA Cup to extend record
Accra Hearts of Oak have established themselves as the team of the season with a resilient performance against Ashanti Gold in Accra to annex the 2020/21 MTN FA Cup trophy.
Having won the league weeks ago to mark their return to their glory days, they kept their feet on the ground to chase a season’s which has become a reality. Their sterling performance in the season saw them brush aside in a journey that included Liberty Professionals, Windy Professionals, Accra Youn Wise, Elmina Sharks and Medeama before the final against the competition top scorers, Ashanti Gold.
Against Ashanti Gold was going to be a tough test for the Phobians with the Miners making progress with their performance with each passing round of the competition. And that run of improvement saw them dispatch Berekum Chelsea in an emphatic fashion in the semi-finals in under 30 extra minutes.
The match started with the Phobians getting the first chance at goal which required Kofi Mensah to make a timely save to deny Patrick Razak in the first minute of the game. Ashanti Gold then took over from there and piled pressure on the Phobians that required the backline to give in their all to withstand the pressure. The first 45 minutes however ended with the Miners unable to make their pressure count as it ended with no goals.
At the start of the second half, the Phobians warmed themselves quickly into the game to produce a near-even performance with a couple of chances to show. The Miners who were still on the upper side forced Richard Attah into a brilliant with 15 minutes of regulation time to play. Neither side could produce the opening goal of the game as the time in the half wore on and the 90 minutes ended with no goal to either side.
Hearts had a couple of decent chances in the first half of the extra 30 minutes but could not produce a goal from them. Ashanti Gold then took over the game once again and subjected Hearts to pressure that but heroic defending from the Phobians and wastefulness from the Miners could have settled the game to avoid penalties.
After a goalless 120 minutes of football with no goals to show forth from either side, referee Daniel Laryea supervised what would go down in history as one of the nervy FA Cup finals in Ghanaian football history.
Hearts of Oak skipper, Fatawu Mohammed led his side to the spot kicks by taking the first which he scored to set the tone for the nervy drill. Amos Addai missed the first kick for the Miners and Accra Hearts of Oak took a 2-goal lead when Emmanuel Nettey scored his kick. Ampem Dacosta then scored to start the Miners comeback and his goal was given more weight when Caleb Amankwah missed Hearts third kick. Robert Addo then scored the fourth for Hearts with Afriyie Barnieh missing the fifth kick for Hearts to allow the Miners to level the charts. Though David Abagna missed the Miners third, Owusu Banahene and Frank Akoto scored to level it at 3-3 to now leave it open for either side to win.
Mohammed Alhassan, Victor Aidoo, Raddy Ovuoka, and Ibrahim Salifu scored theirs for Hearts of Oak before Benjamin Afutu missed the chance to maintain Hearts lead and handed the chance to Ashanti Gold to take the trophy. That miss muted the stadium which has seen cheers turn into nervous whispers of prayers. Yaw Annor, Opoku Agyemang, Amos Nkrumah, and Richard Osei Agyemang all scored for the Miners before Seth Osei who had the chance to win it for his side following Afutu’s miss earlier also missed his effort to leave it to the goalkeepers to decide the two clubs fate.
Richard Attah then expertly drove a shot from 12 yards to beat his opposite number, Kofi Mensah before seeing his counter waste his effort to grant the Phobians the double as the dead stadium erupted with loud shouts of Phobia to mark their triumph.
Accra Hearts of Oak have thus won the trophy they last won 21 years ago and extended their historic hold on the competition’s trophy as the most successful team in its history. They have also completed the league and FA Cup double for the first time in over two decades, the last coming in 2000.
By: Clifford Adumbire | myactiveonline.com
