ADDIS ABABA – The Addis side Saint George succeeded in collecting the full three points with 1-0 away win over the lowly South Police side on Friday at Hawassa International Stadium in the Ethiopian Premier League football club competition.
This was seen by their fans as remarkable away victory. With this win St. George are chasing the season’s title along with Coffee, Hawassa Kenema and Adama Kenema . Last week in a tough Addis derby St. George managed to share a point with Coffee after finishing a goalless tie. Same day, Mekelakeya conceded a 5-1 heavy defeat at the hands of the visiting side Adama Kenema. This result was little expected prior to the game.
Considering the 1-1 first half result, it was even difficult to guess that Mekelakeya would allow Adama Kenema to harvest four goals in the second half. Their coach Seyoum Kebede admitted that Adama were in good form to gain the three points. But, he said, winning with such wide margin was beyond his expectation.
“Adama deserve the three points. As I saw the game winning with wide 5-1 margin was a disaster for us. One factor for this debacle could be the red card shown to our two players,” Seyoum said at the end of the game. The coach of Adama Kenema Sisay Abreha expressed his delight after culminating the game with comfortable victory.
“When we came to Addis Ababa we were determined to get the full three points. We got that but the number of goals is our bonus. We are happy about the addition. What matters most for us is the point. We are now in the front chair for title contest. We will do everything possible towards that end,” coach Sisay added. For St. George the Friday result helped them to close in on the gap with league leaders.
For South Police the defeat added one more pressure towards their free fall. Though the game didn’t yet reach half way mark, the possibility of revival is possible but the trend South Police had shown so far is the opposite. They are now languishing at the bottom. The good part of the two matches was that there was no cowed disturbance in both cases.
The country’s football governing body, the Ethiopian Football Federation, EFF, is worried about the crowed disturbance during football matches. St. George were punished to play in closed Addis Ababa Stadium against Hawassa Kenema after the game was interrupted due to crowed disturbance. The fans of both clubs were to blame for the interruption of the match on Sunday.
As per the regulation the game was played the next day, Monday, in an empty stadium. This was a punishment for the fans of both sides. That was why both fans sat down outside the stadium to hear the result. But on Friday the atmosphere at the Addis Ababa Stadium and Hawassa Stadium was totally different from the previous one.
Many St. George fans went to Hawassa. Reports from Hawassa confirm that they were dancing and chanting at the stadium but there was no disturbance inside and outside of the pitch. The same was true at the Addis Ababa Stadium. The games organizing body expects things to continue this way until the end of the game.
The Ethiopian Herald January 8/2019
BY SOLOMON BEKELE
