Hearts of Oak earned  a narrow 1-0 win over Bechem United in the Ghana Premier League’s Saturday only game. 

Youngster Thomas Abbey netted from close range to bag his fourth goal of the season at the Gyeabour Park in the Brong Ahafo Region.

Bechem were boosted by their victory at Aduana while Hearts preparations suffered a setback as influential midfielder Emmanuel Hayford and defender Reuben Gnage were ruled out.

David Duncan named Selasi Adjei and Cobbinah in attack and their partnership yielded fruits when Cobbinah prodded home a fabulous effort to keep his scoring run in Hearts’ last three games.

Moro Abubakar’s influence in the middle caused more problems for Miroslav Bogdanovic’s side to initial attacks while Romeo Agban and Thomas Abbey had the free will to torment the hosts’ defence.

Under the second minute, a Stephen Tetteh pass found Selasi the box but the former Amidaus man’s effort went just wide. But the next minute, the game’s only goal arrived.

The artistry of Agban lubricated the visitors defence laying a squad pass for Selasi who flicked to Abbey whose calmness allowed him to pick his spot remarkably.

Bechem tried to fight back just two minutes after the opener but Philemon McCarthy became the difficult for them.

Bechem could have levelled on the stroke of full-time but McCarthy produced a more classier save to keep the Phobians in the lead. The introduction of Oleenu Ashitey even caused further problems for the home side as his great tenacity made things had for the Bechem defence.