MTN FA Cup dreams come alive for Dreams FC
Dawu-based Dreams FC defeated King Faisal 2-0 to win their first ever MTN FA Cup in Sunday's final at the Kwame Kyei Complex at Abrankese, Ashanti Region.
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The victory was the icing on the cake for the Dawu-based side after their best ever performance in the premier league where they finished sixth. They became the 18th club to win the second most prestigious competition since its inception in 1958.
For Faisal, it was another disappointing season after they were relegated from the topflight as the 16th-placed club on the betPawa Premier Leaguer log.
Dreams scored in either half of the game to secure their biggest prize in Ghana football, with Abdul Aziz Issah setting his side on course with the opening goal in the 20th minute while Sadiq Alhassan made victory certain with the second goal in the 71st minute.
Although King Faisal were playing at their adopted home grounds, it was Coach Karim Zito's side which controlled the exchanges and exuded a lot of confidence on the ball, signalling their intention in the seventh minute of the game when Issah's goal-bound shot deflected off a Faisal player for a corner kick.
Dreams did not relent in their onslaught and relied on long balls as they probed for the opener which paid off when Agyenim Boateng Mensah squared a pass to Issah on the right and outsprinted his marker Baba Yahaya into the Faisal penalty box before unleashing a left-footed shot beyond the reach of goalkeeper Adams Abdul Jabal for the opening goal.
Huzaf Ali nearly increased the tally three minutes later but his shot at goal brought the best out of goalkeeper Jabal who dived to punch the ball to safety.
Faisal came into the game in the latter minutes of the first half, and again raised the tempo of their game early in the second half as they fought back in search of the equalising goal.
However, their dominance of the exchanges in the second half was undermined by a defensive error by goalkeeper Jabal who made a poor clearance of a back pass by Joseph Adu Dwomoh. The poorly cleared ball fell into the path of Mensah who immediately launched an attack by releasing the ball to Godfed Attuahene on the right and he unselfishly squared the ball to unmarked Alhassan, who had come off the bench, to score the second goal with ground shot which the Faisal goalie failed to stop.
Dreams held on to their advantage until referee Gideon Nii Cofie brought the exchanges to an end, throwing the stadium into a spontaneous eruption of celebration from the Dreams FC faithful.
GFA President, Kurt Simeon-Okraku, who founded the Dawu-based club, presented the trophy to Dreams captain Ibrahim Abdulai, to mark a new milestone in the club's history.
