Ghana ended Rwanda's campaign to secure a slot in the semi-final contest of the ongoing 16th African Youth Championship in Kigali, Rwanda. The Satellite's "opportunistic" goal scoring machine Ransford Osei made two clever cracks in the second half of the game, which secured Ghana two goals ahead of their Rwandan counterparts. Ghana leads the pack in Group A and is billed to play Nigeria in the semis. This endorses Ghana’s qualification for the World Youth Cup in Egypt for the first time since 2001. It had looked like it was going to be a difficult Saturday for the Satellites as expressed by team coach Sellas Tetteh, but the boys enjoyed a fine run of form on the pitch. Rwanda began the youth championship with a 2-1 victory over Mali at the Amahoro Stadium where they suffered their thrashing from the feet of their Ghanaian counterparts. The game had a storming start, characterised by thundering tackles and goalmouth scrambles. Perhaps what would have secured the opener for the Satellites was Samuel Inkoom’s intelligent cross onto which Ransford Osei latched close to the penalty area of the Junior Wasps but that effort was met with a fierce resistance. Another Inkoom header at the netting of the Rwandans was given a quick clearance by the ever-ready opponents. The Satellites Agyeman Badu was the next to get a glimpse of goal but his powerful strike curled way off the Rwandan goalpost on 13 minutes. A foul, minutes after his strike, could not dampen his spirit on the turf. Although Dede Ayew was occasionally caught dithering on the ball, he was most of the time a force to reckon with, weaving his way into hotspots in Rwandan territories. The Wasps in one of their many attempts at goal, steered a powerful corner-kick into the Satellites’ penalty box but it was given a quick clearance which secured the host team a throw-in. A little work on this bug was directed again at the Satellites’ goalkeeper Daniel Adjei but it was a small job for the Liberty asset. On 39 minutes a header by the Rwandans in the Satellites’ goal area could have fetched a clean opener for them but Jonathan Badu’s clearance saved the Ghanaians. Rwanda’s next corner kick on 42 minutes was way too far to struggle over. With the first half ending goalless, the second half was billed to be a thriller. Osei picked a stinging dig, driving a shot into the unguarded netting of the Rwandans to give the Satellites their deserved opener on 59 minutes. The fired-up hosts were soon to get more aggressive, but the Ghanaians’ confidence was imposing. For what was to be the Satellites’ final endorsement of their victory over the Wasps, Inkoom established another connection with Ransford Osei which the ‘magician’ transformed into another goal for the Satellites. The Rwandans’ Haruna ghosted into the penalty area of the Satellites on 82 minutes but could not direct his header on target. The result put Ghana on top of Group A with seven points, with Ransford Osei leading the goal scoring chart with three goals from three games. Story by Fiifi Koomson