Hearts of Oak kicked off their season by sharing the spoils in a 2-2 drawn game with AshantiGold at the Accra Sports Stadium on Tuesday evening.
The Miners came twice from behind to snatch a point from the jaws of defeat as Hans Kwofie twice pulled parity for them after Kwadwo Obeng Junior had handed the lead twice to the Phobians.
It was a game packed with thrilling action of energetic-driven game and skill which saw former CF Fuenlabrada winger Yaw Annor get the better side of the exchanges between him and Raddy Ovouka on the left wing.
AshantiGold took control of the game right from the blast of the whistle with Appiah McCarthy, Roland Amuzu and Annor staying in the thick of affairs.
Hearts goalkeeper Richard Atta had to be at his best to palm out a fiercely powered long range effort from McCarthy on the 21st minute mark as the Miners perpetually caused problems for Hearts.
As the first half wore on Hearts gradually came into the game with Ghana U20 captain Daniel Afriyie, Patrick Razak and Obeng Junior posing threat in attack.
Obeng Junior should have put Hearts in the lead on the 28th minute but he narrowly missed before Afriyie picked the pocket of the Miners defence and laid a pass to him unmarked inside the box. The forward calmly put the ball home for his opening goal of the season.
Hearts should have doubled the advantage after the break when Obeng Junior was played through by Emmanuel Nettey but the forward disappointing passed the ball into the hands of AshantiGold keeper Robert Dabuo while Razak was unmark onside.
Moments later the Miners levelled things up when Kwofie raced to connect home a low cross from the right when the entire Hearts defence was beaten and caught ball-watching in the 55th minute.
Hearts pressed and pressed deservedly restored the lead when Patrick Razak artfully beat Kwadwo Amoako with a combination with brilliance and energy and swung in a weighted cross for Obeng to powerfully steer home a header which Dabuo failed to stop.
But, Kwofie responded by dashing through Mohammed Alhassan and Nuru Sulley to head the ball home to end the game 2-2 in the nick of time.
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