By: Yussif Alhassan Uthman
The First capital plus premier league returns this weekend with some exciting match-ups including five regional derbies across the respective match centres in Ghana.
The penultimate round of matches in the first round of the FCPPL will kick start on Saturday with Tema base Inter Allies playing as host to new boys WAFA at the Tema sports stadium. Both sides have enjoyed a start to the season with WAFA sitting third on the log on 21 points, just a point ahead of their host who are currently forth on the log. Inter Allies will without a doubt go into the fixture full of confidence as they are yet to lose a league fixture at home where as WAFA will be looking to become the first side to beat the “eleven is to one” at home in the ongoing campaign. A win for either side will take them second in the league standing with second place Aduana Stars not in action until Sunday.
The first game on Sunday will be the Ashanti-Adansi derby between New Edubiase FC and Asante Kotoko at the lenclay stadium in Obuase. The porcupine warriors will go into the fixture on the back of an impressive 5-0 victory against Wassaman United in the Elite cup competition and will look to consolidate their position in the middle of the log before the break. Edubiase on the other hand are looking to move out of the relegation zone and will surely fancy their chances against Kotoko having proved their capabilities against their regional rivals in recent time.
In Kpando, Heart of Lions will lock horns with Liberty professionals with the home side looking to bounce back from a disappointing match week-13 defeat away at Bechem United. Lions, currently seventh on the log will move into the top four with a victory on Sunday but may well know that victory is far from guaranteed as they may not know the sort of defense the Liberty team will put up on the day. Coach George Lamptey will either go with his usual youthful backline or opt for the more experience Maxwell Mensah, Karim Alhassan, and James Desarama and captain Alfred Nelson. Lions will have to prepare for any eventuality in order for their impressive home form to continue.
Second place Aduana Stars will play Bechem United in the first of two Brong Ahafo derbies on Sunday at the Dorma Park. The 2009-10 champions will hope to continue their impressive home form in their quest to keep pace with league leaders Ashgold. Their opponent, Bechem United might be in the relegation zone but a point in this fixture will be a big step towards safety as it will propel them out of the drop zone if other results go their way. The Bechem side will have to count on their star performer Noah Martey if they are to get anything in the game.
The second of the Brong Ahafo derby will see Struggling BA United come up against Brekum Chelsea at the Sunyani coronation park on Sunday. The Blues will be relieved to have won their appeal against the Disciplinary ruling that ordered for their forfeiture of games played after February 2- a decision that have seen them accrued 13 more points to their points tally and catapulted them to fifth on the log ahead of their short trip to rival BA United. Chelsea go into the as the bookmakers favourites but if they under estimate their rivals, it will be at their own peril especially after BA united shocked leaders Ashgold the last time they played at the coronation park
The Esipong sports stadium in Sekondi will be the venue of attraction for the Western Regional derby between Hasaacas and Medeama SC. The mauve and yellow will look to prove their critics wrong by beating their Western Regional rivals which will be a giant step in their Top four hopes. Both Hasaacas and Medeama are thriving on their home form but a derby has no respect for who plays home or away in football. A win for either of them will be a good result but a draw will be great for Medeama and detrimental to the hopes of Hasaacas finishing in the top four.
Wa all stars will host league leaders Ashgold at the Wa park. The miners will look to continue with their fine form in the league against the struggling wa all stars who haven’t had a good start to the season as per their reputation. Bashir Hayford’s men are known for throwing away leads at the top of the log in recent seasons and will no doubt be mindful of the threat posed by the wa side. They will surely hope that what happened last season when they threw away a comfortable lead at the top of the table will not happen again this term.
The biggest fixture of the weekend will take place the Accra sports stadium with Great Olympics taking on Accra Hearts of oak on Sunday. The Phobians will go into the game at the back of recoding a great result in their Confederations cup adventure away at Djoliba in Mali. For the first time since the 2009-10 season, the two sides will battle it out for the bragging right in the capital. Hearts will look to build on their recent performance in the confederations cup but Olympics will also give themselves a chance as they are the form side of the two in the league having won 2 and drawn 1 in their last three league outing keeping three straight clean sheets in the process
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