Real Tamale United escaped relegation on the last day of the season when they handed Accra Hearts Oak their fourth consecutive defeat with a 4-1 thrashing in their Week 34 Ghana Premier League (GPL) fixture at the Accra Sports Stadium, yesterday.
Coming on the back of three straight defeats including a devastating Accra Great Olympics 3-0 humiliation last weekend in the Accra derby, Hearts responded well by taking the lead in the 10th minute with a superb strike from wonder kid Seidu Suraj.
But that was the only good thing with the Phobians on the day as they watched RTU rally with four unanswered goals to snatch the three points and swim to safety in the relegation waters that eventually drowned Eleven Wonders, WAFA and Elmina Sharks.
An 18th minute header from Roland Frimpong brought RTU at par before taking the lead in the 28th minute from the spot as David Abagna converted expertly.
Frimpong scored his brace in the 37th minute to put his side in cruise control.
Hearts then shot themselves in the foot with an own goal in the 76th minute by Mohammed Alhassan.
Hearts’ only hope of a silverware will be next Sunday’s MTN FA Cup final against Bechem United at the Baba Yara Stadium.
At the Accra Sports Stadium on Saturday, champions Kumasi Asante Kotoko ended the campaign with a 1-1 stalemate against Accra Lions, reports NANA BENTSI ODURO.
Abass Samari Salifu shot the home side ahead in the 53rd minute but Samuel Boateng’s effort in the 87th minute levelled for the visitors.
With Asante Kotoko crowned as league winners in the penultimate round of games and first-time league campaigners, Accra Lions confirming their stay in the top-flight, the game lacked the intensity and aggression of a top-tier game.
But Kotoko found their rhythm 20 minutes into the game as Richard Boadu, Fabio Gama, Ibrahim Imoro, Richard Lamptey and Franck Etouga led the charge.
The best chance of the half fell to Etouga, who was played through by Boadu but missed.
Lions had the leader when a free-kick executed around the Kotoko area was slotted home by the unmarked Salifu.
With just three minutes to full-time, Etouga pounced on a defensive mix-up in the Lions half to fetch the equalizer but was not enough to win him the goal king award which eventually went to AshGold’s Yaw Annor who netted a brace on the final day.
BY MICHAEL D. ABAYATEYE