Hearts coach Herbert Addo has admitted his side were outplayed by AshantiGold in their 1-1 stalemate on Wednesday.

However, he has praised his lads for their continued fight till they were rewarded with a goal five minutes from full time.

The Miners dominated play till end after an even opening fifteen minutes and scored the match opener on 30 minutes through Ivorian Didier Kore.

AshGold wasted many chances and were later punished for their profligacy. In the 85th minute, Hearts had a corner which was headed out but midfielder Emmanuel Laryea found the ball from outside the area and bang, his long drive went past goalkeeper Fatau Dauda in post.

”The first fifteen minutes we had many chances to score, empty nets but we managed to squander all,” coach Herbert Addo told supersport.com.

”They turned things and were playing all the football. In fact, their goal was a beautiful goal. Halftime we talked to the boys but still AshGold were superior. Our boys didn’t plays as we hoped. They had the determination, they were fighting but did not play the football we know them to have been playing in the last few games.

“Because of our determination, we were pushing, taking risks. We didn’t sit behind, we had to push. We brought on another striker and were pushing. Luckily for us, we had a corner and one of our midfielders picked on the second ball and scored. We just hard to defend.

“We were even lucky. Our goalkeeper had to make a world class save a minute to the end. The ball was going in and he managed to get the ball out – which was fantastic. If it was boxing, maybe we could have conceded the fight but if we had knocked them out in the first round, maybe it would not have gone to that extent. That is football. It was a good game, a good lesson. All in all, I think the result is fair,” he ended.

AshantiGold end the first round as league leaders with 29 points – four better than Wafa and Aduana Stars while Hearts maintain their 10th position with 20 points.

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