It was a tense but joyous, exciting and historic moment at the Blue Skies Park in Dobro, as the hosts, Accra Youngwise FC booked their ticket into the Round of 16 after defeating Premier League side West Africa Football Academy(WAFA). Youngwise came into this game as underdogs, despite their impressive results in both the division one league and The MTN FA Cup.
Youngwise eliminated FC Nania and Okyeman Planners at the preliminary and Round of 64 stages respectively. Both games were won on penalty shootout after a tie in 90mins.
WAFA on the other hand eliminated Akatsi Allstars in an overwhelming 4-0 victory. This made them obvious favourites coming into this game.
The hosts took the lead thanks to their talisman striker Baffour who took advantage of a rebound situation to slot in the opener. He increased his tally to 8 goals in all competitions this season. The visitors grabbed the equalizer few minutes later after a little fumble in the box of the hosts.
Interim Coach of Youngwise FC, Archie Silas who doubles as the goalkeepers’ trainer was pushed to make three forced changes. Inspirational captain Ernest Osei and two others were all pulled out from the game because of injury.
The experienced goalkeepers’ trainer was very determined to outshine his opposite number Dr Prosper Nartey-Ogum who is also a tactically astute and experienced coach.
The second half saw more attacking football from both teams especially from the hosts. Youngwise missed a lot of chances and at a point, WAFA was saved by the woodwork after a powerful header from defender Grippman who picked up his second MVP in the ongoing MTN FA Cup. He coordinated the defense very well at the back and made sure the goalkeeper was protected each time there was an onslaught. His central defense partner Glorious Edem was also solid at the back and did a lot of clearances from the goal area. After 90 minutes, the game headed straight to penalty shootout.
Both teams scored their first five takes with some amazing shootouts. At some point in time Goalkeeper Bright Annor of Youngwise almost got a save but was unfortunate to have let that slip by his side.
However he managed to give a powerful save to the sixth kick which gave way for Baffour to send Youngwise to the Round of 16 for the first time.
As to who they meet at the next stage is another story for another day but till then, it’s a great historic victory for the ants family.
Emmanuel Monnie Junior
@EAuthenticpro
Authentic PRO is a sports writer and a sports pundit with keen interest in Ghanaian and African Football. Though a global sports writer, I love projecting African Football and other disciplines on the continent.
