Blackout at Ohene Djan

As happened at the Essipong Stadium in the Benin-Mali game during the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, so did happen in the Hearts-SP Mirren league clash at the Ohene Djan Stadium last Monday.

And for 42 minutes after the break, the combatants, officials and fans as well, had to wait for the restoration of the floodlights.

The long break certainly took some steam from the game, which was progressing as the clock ticked.

The entire stadium went dark, and had to rely on the scoreboard for some illumination, which did not solve the problem, as the board also went dead after a while, but that was short lived.

After standing in anticipation for the restoration of the lights, the players resorted to warm up exercises with the officials standing undecided and confused, At a point, the lights showed no sign of recovery, which nearly made the officials call the game off. Thankfully, the light was restored after the enthusiasm among the fans had died down, and some had left the stadium.

The question most fans asked after the blackout was whether there was no standby generator at a stadium of such magnitude.

The game, however, regained its bite with the premiership newcomers dominating play, but it was Hearts who grabbed the winner, scoring two late goals through striker Eric Gawu, and former Kotoko winger, Douglas Nkrumah.