�Dumso� Hits Baba Yara �As Local Stars Beat Burkina

The power crisis in the country raised its ugly head once again at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi yesterday, as the floodlights went off during the crucial Group B match of the ongoing Wafu tournament between hosts Ghana and Burkin Faso. The entire Baba Yara Stadium went into total darkness on the stroke of full time when the local Black Stars were leading 2-1. The power was eventually restored about 20 minutes later. When the game finally resumed, the Black Stars who played poorly on the day, managed to hold onto their slim lead to top Group B with six points and book a place in the final of the tournament. Ghana�s passage into the finals of the one-week tournament was made possible following Sierra Leone�s 2-2 game with Benin in the other group match at the Len Clay stadium at Obuasi. Ghana therefore topped the group with six points, closely followed by Benin with five points in Group B who would play the runner up of Group A on Thursday for the third place spot. The local Black Stars who suffered a 0-1 defeat at the hands of Benin on Saturday, started yesterday�s game with determination to return to winning ways, but they lost steam after a few minutes. Burkina Faso, who played better football, soon took charge of the game, passing the ball beautifully, and winning the support of the few soccer fans that watched the game. Against the run of play however, the Black Stars jumped into the lead in the 18th minute when Godfred Saka�s free-kick, which took a slight deflection, zoomed into the net. The Burkina Faso team deservedly cancelled Ghana�s lead via the spot in the 41st minute after Godfred Saka fouled a Burkinabe player in the box. Burkina Faso�s goalkeeper, Kabore Mohammed, nicely planted the ball on the blind side of goalkeeper Stephen Ahorlu to end the first half with one goal apiece. After the break, Burkina Faso still dictated the pace nicely as they clearly seized the midfield, with the Black Stars finding it extremely difficult to even posses the ball. As it happened in the first half, Ghana, against the run of play, jumped into the lead when Yahaya Mohammed out-jumped his markers to connect home Godfred Saka�s incisive cross. Burkina Faso took the challenge in good faith and started bombarding Ghana�s goal area with a series of attacks but they were denied by man-of-the match Stephen Ahorlu. As the game was about to end, the floodlights went off, sending the entire stadium into darkness which forced the referee to stop the game for about 20 minutes before power was restored. Burkina Faso then tried to cancel Ghana�s lead but yet again near misses upfront denied them a goad. Ghana ended the game as victors and booked a place in the finals.