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Aduana takes charge as title race gathers steam

Thomas Abbey of Hearts of Oak Christian Thompson/BackpagePix

Aduana Stars are the new leaders of the Ghana Premier League after earning a point against Medeama on the weekend, raising Stars one point above WAFA in the standings.

This season has effectively been a race between the two sides, and the Dormaa club piled on the pressure as WAFA sat out the weekend's round of matches after their game against Kumasi Asante Kotoko was postponed.

It meant Aduana's point away at Tarkwa against Medeama proved crucial, but WAFA have two games in hand.

In the absence of a two-way title battle, the weekend was effectively about avoiding relegation, with Bolga All Stars looking doomed, Great Olympics fighting back, and AshantiGold getting sucked back down after a second straight loss.

AshantiGold were dragged back into the bottom three after veteran Papa Arko's goal downed them at Liberty Professionals. The result meant a further slide down the table for the Obuasi side, but was a massive boost for Liberty in their own bid to avoid relegation.

There was joy too for Elmina Sharks, who continued their bid to avoid the drop with a 2-1 win over Bechem United, courtesy a brace by Felix Addo. The win, their fourth in four games, takes them up to 38 points, five above the final relegation spot.

Great Olympics could do with that sort of form but at least they earned a vital win over Inter Allies which left them just three points from safety.

One of those relegation spot looks decided after Bolga All Stars lost at home, this time a 0-4 routing at the hands of visiting Berekum Chelsea, who recorded their first away win in two years.

In Accra, Thomas Abbey put in another solid shift to enhance his claim for best player on the local scene as Hearts of Oak beat Tema Youth 3-1 to consolidate their hold on third place.

Abbey scored twice and put in an overall shift that left his boss Frank Nuttall hugely impressed. "Thomas Abbey is an exceptional player, he did very well today and that second goal was world class," Nuttall told the media.

There were four goals in the mid-table clash between Ebusua Dwarfs and defending champions Wa All Stars in Cape Coast that ended 2-2.