Clubs Hockey Championships: GRA teams off to flying start

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA)’s men’s and women’s hockey teams have made a blistering start at the ongoing 36th Men’s and 27th Women’s African Cup for Club Champions (ACCC) in Harare, Zimbabwe, with both sides winning their opening two matches.

The Royal Ladies, defending champions in the women’s division, began their title defence in style last Saturday, cruising to a 2-0 victory over Kenya’s Lakers. Captain Elizabeth Opoku and standout performer Vivian Narkuor struck the goals that gave the Ghanaians a perfect launchpad.

They turned up the heat in yesterday’s second match, hammering host nation Zimbabwe’s Bulawayo Ladies 6-2 in a dominant display that nearly guarantees a place in next Saturday’s final. Narkuor scored twice, skipper Opoku netted a hat-trick and player of the match Mavis Berko added the sixth goal to seal a commanding win.

The GRA men were equally ruthless. After edging Zambia’s Hotspurs 1-0 in their opening match last Saturday, they stormed to an 8-0 demolition of Bulawayo yesterday, putting themselves on the brink of the semi-finals. Luke Damalie led the charge with a hat-trick, while Ignatius Blankson, Ernest Opoku Obeng, Ibrahim Mohammed and Henry Quartey each added a goal.

Prince Adjetey’s decisive strike decided last Saturday’s narrow win, but goalkeeper Eugene Acheampong earned player of the match honours with a series of crucial saves that kept the opposition at bay.

Both GRA sides face their third and final group matches today against Hippo Hockey Club of Zimbabwe. The tournament format sees the top two teams in the women’s round-robin pool contest Saturday’s final, while the top two in each men’s pool advance to the semi-finals on Friday, ahead of the grand finale on Saturday.