Dolphin 4-0 Hearts

Coach Musa Abdullah of Dolphin kept Victor Ezeji on the bench and opted for the attacking trio of Joseph Aikhionbare, Enduarance Idahor and Kelechi Osunwa.

His attacking option yielded an early dividend when Kelechi Osunwa pounced on Idahor’s cross in the 15th minute to register Dolphin’s first goal.

Seven minutes later, Joe Tagoe came close to putting the visitor’s level but his strike went wide.

Idahor should have added Dolphin’s second but Hearts keeper, Sanni Muhammed pulled off two decent saves to keep his side in the game.

The home side began the second half with offensive in mind, as Aikhionbare made way for Victor Ezeji.

The substitution added bite to the attack and it was only a matter of time before the deserved second goal came in.

Kenedy Chinwo sent in a decent corner kick which was perfectly connected by Endurance Idahor in the 58th minute, to send the home crowd into freezy celebration.

Victor Ezeji made most of a team work in the second half to free Ochuko on the right; the right full back drove in a ferocious strike to the delight of the crowd at the liberation stadium.

The Ghanaians came out from their shell with substitute Bossman and Krumah, missing targets on two occasions.

Kelechi Osunwa thought he had scored his second goal of the day when he tapped in an Ezeji’s low drive but centre referee Abemine Andrew from Cameroon ruled offside.

Daniel Oppong completed the misery of Hearts when he got a last touch to Bola Bello’s tame strike, to register an own goal.

Cecil Jones Attuquayefio was furious with his boy’s performance, stressing that they lost to ill-preparedness and indiscipline.

“You don’t expect to win a game when you failed to train and focus on a game. They refused to turn up for training and they’ve paid heavily today,” he told Nigeriasports.com after the game.

He however praised Dolphin while noting that the officiating was fair and commendable.

“I hate to talk about officiating but to be honest the referee today was fair rather we lost to a good side in Dolphin.

For Coach Musa Abdullah, his boys won against a better side.

“We lost to one of the best teams in Africa. We respect Hearts and always will.

“We had a solid, tactical approach in mind and it paid off today, we can only hope for the best in the second leg.

Dolphin will travel to Accra in a fortnight hoping to make the second round of the Champions league.

Additional reports by Chigozie Chukwuleta