Hosts, The Black Princesses of Ghana defeated the Falconets of Nigeria 2-1 to emerge the winner of the Gold Medal Match in the Final of the African Games Women’s competition on Thursday night.
The Falconets were off to a bright start as they got the lead in the 23rd minute through Loveth Edeh Njideka after an error from Ghanaian goalkeeper, Afi Amenyeku. A few minutes later, the Hosts came close to getting the equalizer but missed from close range. Nigerian Forward, Delight Isaac had the chance to double the Falconets’ lead before the end of the first half but disappointedly got denied by the woodwork. In the second half, Nigeria picked up where they left off as Jumoke Alani heads wide Chioma Olise’s corner as they continued to put pressure on Ghana.
In the 78th minute, the Black Princesses scored an equalizer as Tracey Twum scored with a powerful shot inside the penalty area after the Falconets failed to clear the lines. Falconets Coach, Christopher Danjuma was forced to make a change during the stoppage time as goalkeeper, Faith Omilana had to be replaced by Anderline Mgbechi due to an injury sustained. The match ended 1:1 after 90 minutes and went into extra minutes. Mukarama Abdulai scored the winner in the 98th minute for Ghana after receiving a pass from Mafia Nyame to give the Black Princesses a 2-1 lead. Nigeria came close to scoring an equalizer but the defence of Ghana cleared the chance created.
The Hosts held on to the lead to win the game 2:1 in front of a large crowd in Cape Coast. The Black Princesses of Ghana are now African Gold Medallists for the second time since beating Cameroon to win gold in Congo Brazzaville in 2015.
