The much awaited grand finale of the Normalization Committee’s women’s competition came off yesterday at the EL Wak Sports Stadium with Hasaacas Ladies lifting the trophy.
Hasaacas Ladies reassembled from two goals down to beat Ampem Darkoa Ladies 3-2 to win the Women’s Special Competition.
Speaking to Ohene Bampoe-Brenya on Happy FM’s ‘Anopa Bosuo Sports’, head coach Of Hasaacas Ladies,Yussif Basigi said his side were more determined than their opponents.
“After we leveled with them on a 2:2 score line,I knew we could win the competition because we had a similar experience against Sea Lions so I brought in players to change the face of the game. My team was so much committed than Ampem Darkoa Ladies”.
He debunked rumors by his opponents that referee Joyce Appiah gave them a dubious penalty to help then win the trophy
“I don’t want to criticize my colleague coach, Nana Adarkwa but is he saying that when he loses a game the referees cheated but if he wins then the referees were fair? Our penalty was a clean and clear penalty . The referee was right at the spot of the incident” he clarified
The game started with Hasaacas Ladies dominating in all aspect of the field. Hasaacas Ladies in the 10th minute hit the net but ref Joyce Appiah disallowed the goal for an offside.
Ampem Darkoa’s sent a long ball in that went pass Owusu Nyamekye Faustina to make it 1:0 in the 19th minutes. Ampem Darkoa after the first goal kept pushing until Owusu Nyamekye Faustina allowed a long ball to flipped through her fingers and Mavis Owusu capitalized on it to make it 2:0 in the 28th minutes. 10th minutes after that goal, Badu Evelyn responded quickly with a beautifully goal to give her side hope. The Black Maiden star girl made it 2:2 in the 45th minutes just before the half time whistle.
The second half began with Ampem Darkoa Ladies getting more chances but couldn’t utilize them . Ophelia Amponsah got a bright chance to give her side the lead but she was stopped by Hasaacas Ladies goalkeeper.
Linda Eshun in the 74th minutes sent a powerful shot which was blocked by Ampem Darkoa Ladies player and the referee called for a penalty. Captain and top scorer of the competition, Pepertual Agyekum scored to bring Yussif Basigi’s side the needed lead. With just three minutes to end the match, the rain started to fall with Ampem Darkoa pushing for an equalizer. After the 90th minutes of beautiful display of skills and good football, ref Joyce Appiah added three minutes to play but Ampem Darkoa Ladies failed to make use of it . Referee whistled for the end of the game .
By Ayishatu Zakaria Ali