Owusu Afriyie's late header is the first goal of the 2023/24 Ghana Premier League season and was enough for Real Tamale United to pick a slim 1-0 victory over Hearts of Oak in the season opener at the Aliu Mahama Stadium.
The 'Phobians' started well with a high pressing approach earning them the first corner kick of the game in just three minutes from kickoff but was a wasted effort.
Despite furthering on with some chances creation, it was the host that came so close to scoring but their effort was denied by Richard Attah.
Hearts of Oak appealed for a penalty on the 26th minute after Martin Karikari struck into the hand of an opposing player in the box but referee rather whistled for an offside which had happened earlier.
Four minutes on, miscommunication between Kelvin Asibey and goalkeeper Richard Attah nearly resulted into the opener for the homesters but Mankuyeli fired wide for a restart.
Attah to the rescue once again after 36 minutes, having pulled another huge stop to deny Lord Hillary Adabo from taking the lead at a close range.
After a goalless first half, both sides returned still looking very cautious without any dangerous goal attempts in the opening minutes.
Subsequently, Hearts of Oak settled down but were making no any dangerous incursions despite swinging series of passes among themselves mostly in their half.
The 'Pride of Norths' finally snatched the lead with a heartbreaking goal on the 93rd minute from Afriyie Owusu who scored with a brave header from a corner kick. Nobody saw that coming.
It ended 1-0 for Real Tamale United who have now extended their dominance over Hearts of Oak in their last five meetings.
