The first spook in the wheel of Herbert Addo’s side caused heartaches of unparalleled magnitude in the minds of many Phobia fans.
Berekum Chelsea had done the incredible to beat Hearts 4-2 even when they were down by 2-1 at halftime.
But the signs were already on the wall. Head Coach Herbert Addo had inferred it was going to be an easy battle because Chelsea were playing away from home.
“We are playing on a neutral ground,” he said in his pre-match interview.
“The playing field at Essipong [Sports Stadium] is better than that of the Kpando Park so I hope we will find our passes in the final third and score a lot of goals.”
Clearly, we all expected an easy game against Berekum Chelsea, who were serving a home ban, and so had to host us at the Essipong Sports Stadium.
Maybe, if we knew we were going to the Golden City Park, where Chelsea had beaten Hearts five times out of the last six meetings, the preparation and mental attitude for the match would have been better.
Instead, and because we had beaten XI Wise at the venue, we thought it was going to be an easy ride for us.
All we needed to do was just turn up and play fancy football.
But, no. Berekum Chelsea made it clear that they would not be pushovers, even better, they took the lead under a minute.
Chelsea defender Abdul Rasheed, whose throw-ins is like a missile, launched a long one into the box from the right side of the Hearts defense.
Kweku Andoh and Abraziz Abankwa allowed the ball to fly over their heads; Tetteh Luggard, in goal, thought his defenders would attack the ball. They all stopped for the ball to fall for Stephen Baffour to score the easiest goal Hearts will concede this season.
It was a big shock. The players were stunned. But slowly, they came back into the game. Admirably, they got on level terms in the 18th minute.
Kwame Kizito cushioned a header for Fiamenyo, the striker latched onto the ball. He dummied his man twice just on the edge before driving into the box, keeper moved a step forward. Fiamenyo blasted into the net.
The new Hearts striking darling had scored only one goal in 9 matches last season. He bettered his 2013/14 season record in just two games of the new season.
Hearts controlled the game. They took the lead again in the 37th minute. Gilbert Fiamenyo will take credit for the goal, but it all resulted from the chicanery of Kweku Andoh on the left side of the Hearts attack.
Emmanuel Hayford’s corner kick, from the right side, was headed out to the left. Andoh got to the ball first and turned away facing his half, but with the drop of a shoulder, he left his marker rooted.
The defender sent in a good cross across the face of goal. Fiamenyo ghosted in to connect into the net.
Hearts had overturned the result.
They had chances to score more. But they played to the gallery. It was as if they had to score the perfect goal. They played delightfully, before and after the break.
But something happened. A bit of complacency set in Herbert Addo’s side’s game. Chances fell to Isaac Mensah and Gilbert Fiamenyo, but the former was denied brilliantly by Michael Sai, whilst the latter saw his strikes blocked in the box.
Against the run of play, Berekum Chelsea struck the equalizer. Fumador was steered away from goal, but he managed to turn to shoot. Kofi Owusu, who was expecting a pass from the striker, kept running into the box. Tetteh Luggard positioned to save the shot, but he was wrong footed as the ball bounced off the running Owusu into the net.
Hearts had no response going forward. They still wanted the perfect goal, but Chelsea, knew how to score from a set-piece.
A corner kick caused problem in the Hearts box. Stephen Baffour, stood unmarked in the box, to shot at Luggard. The keeper deflected the strike back to the Berekum Chelsea man. He was not even aware the ball was coming but the speed with which it hit him took it past Luggard.
Hearts woke up from their slumber. Probed and probed, only to be robbed by another set-piece goal.
A corner kick was deflected out for a throw. Another missile into the box. It was allowed to bounce in the box. Substitute Bennett Ofori reacted quickest in the crowded box. The Chelsea man’s strike was handled weakly by Luggard.
Chelsea had made it 4-2 from 2-1 down.
At the end, Hearts were totally dejected. They were exposed by the set-piece skill set of Berekum Chelsea.
But this is not an inherent flaw in Herbert Addo’s defense. Andoh and Abankwa are not the tallest of centre-backs, and despite playing creditably well against WAFA, it would be miraculous to see the pair in defense again.
Goalkeeper Tetteh Luggard was, once again, the villain. Though he had no hand in any of the goals, individually.
It was a collective defensive collapse; but the body language of the team after the game, spoke of a side ready to restore our dented pride.
Who best to do it against than our new bogey-side Medeama.
Come on Hearts, show us your character.
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