By Ken Bediako
BONUS POINT FOR AWAY WINS
Dec 23 1984 – June 22 1985
Elias Teye’s GFA introduced the bonus point for away victories. The world-wide FIFA three points system for a win was then not the norm.
The competition thus became extremely keen as all clubs were eager to earn three points away from home.
Defending champions Hearts made a good start with a well executed 2-0 win over close rivals Asante Kotoko at Accra Stadium. Ofei Ansah and Karimu Alhassan were on target. In two other tough pairings, Corners drew goalless with Okwawu in Kumasi and Wise beat RTU 2-1 in Sekondi.
Kotoko bounced back the following week to beat Wise 1-0 in Kumasi with Yahya Kassum scoring in the very first minute.
RTU were the week’s top scorers, they beat Bofoakwa 3-1 in Tamale. Kwame Danger, Dauda Ahmed and Mohammed Choo were RTU’s marksmen and Kwasi Owusu got Bofoakwa’s lone goal; Olympics beat Corners 2-0 in the other exciting fixture in Accra. Amoah Tawiah scored the two goals both from the penalty spot.
Hearts led the scoring chart in the third week with a 3-1 home win over Bofoakwa. Malik Jamil, Crankson, Sam Yeboah scored for Hearts and Osei Duah for Bofoakwa.
Other notable wins were Kotoko 2 (Asare Boateng, Ebo Mends) Arnold Warriors 0; RTU 1 (Ibrahim Tanko) Zebi 0; Corners 1 (PMK Kusi) B. A. United 0.
Corners recorded their first home win in week four beating RTU 1-0. ‘Zion Train’ Thomas Boakye was the match-winner.
Hearts beat Arnold Warriors 1-0 at Tema and Hasaacas beat Okwawu 3-0 at Gyandu in two other thrillers.
Okwawu’s 4-0 win over Bofoakwa was the highlight in the 5th week. Charles Antwi, Salisu Mohammed, Addison Manyah and Bright Owusu were on target. Other thrillers: Zebi 0 Hearts 0; RTU 1 Olympics 0; Kotoko 0 Corners 0.
The 6th week did not provide any surprises but the 7th week gave new entrants Arnold Warriors their first win, 2-0 at the expense of Bofoakwa at Apeguso, whilst Corners drew 1-1 with Hearts in Kumasi.
Newsmaker in the 8th week was Anane Kobo, former RTU’s wizard scorer who got his first goal for his new club Asante Kotoko in the 2-0 win over Hasaacas in Kumasi. Saarah Mensah got the second goal.
Opoku Afriyie also hit the headlines when he got the lone goal for Hearts in the local derby against Olympics.
Okwawu beat Arnold Warriors 2-1 in the Nkawkaw thriller.
Accra Great Olympics’ George Alhassan scored a hat-trick in the 3-1 win over Wise in Accra in the 9th week. Kotoko’s 1-0 win over B. A. United was their first away victory and Arnold Warriors beat Zebi 1-0 at home.
Three exciting 10th week results were: RTU 1 Kotoko 2; Okwawu 1 Zebi 0; Arnold Warriors 0 Corners 1.
Eleven Wise kept their championship hopes alive with three back to back wins to top the table, they beat BAUnited twice, 1-0 at Sunyani in the last fixtures of the first round, and 2-1 in the reverse fixture in the second round at Gyandu.
Here are some interesting results as the league progressed.
14th week: Bofoakwa 2 Corners 0; Kotoko 1 BAUnited 0; Arnold Warriors 2 Zebi 0
16th week: Kotoko 2 Oly1; RTU 3 Hasaacas1; Wise 0 Zebi 117th week: Oly 0 RTU 0; Hasaacas 3 B.A.United 2; Bofoakwa 2 Okwawu 1.
18th week: Kotoko 1 Zebi 0; Oly 2 B. A. United 0; RTU 2 Corners 0.
Hearts suffered their only defeat in the 19th week on May 26 when Bofoakwa beat them 1-0 at Sunyani. Ahmed netted the matchwinner in the 25th minute. This defeat enabled Kotoko to close the gap at the top by two points following their 1-0 win over Arnold Warriors at Tema.
Kotoko were top scorers in the 20th week with a massive 6-1 win over Bofoakwa in Kumasi. Joe Tex (4, 78), Yahya Kassum (9, 61), Ernest Apau (31pen), Ebo Mends (36) scored for Kotoko. Kankam scored the only goal for Bofoakwa.
At this stage the two traditional league winners, Hearts and Kotoko, fought a neck and neck race. In fact, with the last fixtures to clear, only two points separated Kotoko and Hearts who topped the table.
As if by design, the deciding fixture rested on the shoulders of the two giants at the Kumasi Sports Stadium. Kotoko needed a home victory to put them at par with Hearts, which meant the championship would then have to be decided by goal difference. Hearts, on the other hand, needed only a draw to maintain the status quo.
A light rainfall a few hours before kick-off gave Hearts supporters some hope of good things to come: it is their belief that rains portend good luck for them. But an early avalanche of attacks by Kotoko resulting in the loss of the services of Hearts reliable goalkeeper Owusu Mensah dimmed the hopes of the ‘Phobians’.
However, completely against the run of play, midfielder Joe Amoateng pounced on a loose ball and scored the only goal of the match giving Hearts three solid away points and the league title. It was a dramatic finale to an exciting league programme.
This was a disastrous season for the Brong Ahafo teams. Both Bofoakwa and B. A. United were relegated.
The most exciting player was Accra Great Olympics’ George Alhassan who returned from South Korea after a short stint with professional football midway through the league to win the goal king title.
He scored 11 goals.
Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.
