Northern Region produced a devasting display against defending champions Ashanti Region, with Musa Ahmed Sharafadeen, scoring a memorable hat-trick in a 4-1 win in Tuesday's Group A match at the KGL Foundation Inter-Regional U17 Colts Championship.
The young forward delivered a dominant performance as he scored in the 21st, 29th and 34th minutes to set Northern Region up for the deserved victory at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence at Prampram.
Abubakar Salim scored the fourth goal for Northern Region before talented Ghana U17 youngster Narbi Joseph got a consolation three minute into regulation time for Ashanti Region.
The remarkable win has lifted the spirit and confidence of Northern Region following their 4-0 defeat by Brong Ahafo Region in their opening match.
The defeat is a big blow to the champions whose qualification to the semi-finals now hang by a thread. They have just a game to spare after playing three matches - winning one and losing two.
For Northern Region, the dominant win against the defending champions will serve a a morale booster to the team ahead of their remaining two matches in Group A.
Three goal hero Musa Ahmed Sharafadeen deservedly clinched the Most Valuable Player (MVP) and was presented with football by GFA president Edwin Simeon-Okraku.
In the second Group A game, Central Region narrowly beat Brong Ahafo Region 1-0 in a match which ended with 10 players each after two players were sent off.
Atta Kwadwo Painstil Snr scored the only goal of the match in the 24th minute to separate the two teams.
Central Region defender Elisha Nana Yaw Dadson was adjudged the Most Valuable Player (MVP) after a solid defensive display.
The Championship fixtures on Wednesday July 31, 2024, will see Greater Accra Region battling it out with Western Region at 10am local time before Upper East Region take on Upper West at 14:00GMT (2pm local time).
The matches of the Championships are being telecast live to various platforms including the GFA App, GFA Official Facebook page and Max TV.
The KGL Foundation Inter-Regional U17 Colts Championship, launched in 2021, has been an avenue for talent discovery for clubs, particularly Premier and Division One League clubs, with several players being beneficiaries of the esteemed competition.
The ten Regional Football Associations have selected the best U17 players from their Colts competitions to represent their regions in the Championship which is aimed at identifying, training and developing young talents for the national youth teams.
GFA Communications