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Kotoko ‘spare’ Hasaacas once again
By David Kyei, Sekondi
Erratic goal conversion,
miscommunication and a refusal to fight a little harder on the
part of some players of Kotoko was what characterised Kotoko’s
play at the Essipong Park when Kotoko travelled to lock horns
with the local side, Sekondi Hasaacas, in the 21st
week fixtures of the Glo Premier league.
Kotoko went into the match
with a promise as they had history on their side in matches
involving the two sides. For 22years, Hasaacas has not been able
to beat Kotoko in the Western region.
The build-up to the match
was that of a friendly but cautious one as supporter leadership
and officials of both club sides in the region had held series
of stake holder meetings to thrash out issues of mutual consent.
Kotoko breezed into the
twin-city at a little past 7pm, to find the Western region
circles council under the able leadership of Mr. Nti, having
laid all the necessary infrastructure and logistics for the
success of the team.
Right from Anchaaban, they
led the team in a convoy to their usual lodging place and stayed
with the team till late, and reported very early to continue
from where they left off.
On the match day, the team
had a smooth access and entry to the stadium and to the dressing
rooms. With results of other matches played in the day coming
in, pressure came to bear on most of the supporters who were
seen in their smaller groups discussing how important it was for
Kotoko to win the match if they had to put their championship
aspiration on course.
The team also went onto the
pitch with a big smile as benefactors and supporters of the club
based in Tema, Alhaji Lamini and Baffour Sarpong Kumankuma had
rolled out a huge winning bonus package for them as their
personal contribution to the success of the club.
Kotoko kicked off the match
with their intentions for success clear as the heavily packed
midfield the launched an immediate attack on their opponents.
That attempt was
well-catered for as former Kotoko goal tender, Saani Mohamed
made a clean save of the situation.
The intension for success
continued with incessant raid on their opponents and in one of
such moves, Kabiru latched onto a long pass from the midfield
and took the Hasaacas defence on a run.
He menacingly entered the
18yard box and with no little option left to stop him, Hasaacas
defender, Elom Gyimah, pulled him down for and infringement
which enterprising referee, Christine Dzigah wasted no time in
pointing to the penalty spot.
Isaac Amoako quickly jogged
from his goal post to effect what is gradually becoming his
trademark kick, but strangely went back as the players appear to
have agreed on Kabiru taking the kick.
With hopes high for Kotoko
fans for an early lead, Kabiru Moro stunned himself and the
entire stadium when he feebly shot into the hands of a wobbling
Saani Mohamed who was in post for the Sekondi side.
This miss haunted Kabiru
for the rest of the period until Affum scored his opener for
Kotoko.
Paa Kwesi was forced to
make his first substation as early as the 11th minute
when Baffour Gyan collided with an opponent and injured his knee
in the process. In order not to aggravate what was causing the
pain, Baffour was pulled out for Kwabena Yaro who served as a
worthy substitute.
The gloom on Kotoko faces
were wiped in the 19th minute when Edward Affum
picked a ball from the right and zoomed past his marker. He
continue his run into the six yard box and whilst everybody
including even the fans in the stands were expecting him to
release the ball to his colleagues who were better placed in the
goal area, Affum discovered a small space between the Hasaacas
goalkeeper and the goal post, and squeezed in a chip.
The interesting thing
during the celebration was that, whilst Affum and the others
were all smiles savouring the moment, Kabiru was seen busily
gesturing his apology for the earlier miss to the fans.
The goal incensed Hasaacas
who went on a charge on the Kotoko goal area, but all their
attempts were scuttled by the tight Kotoko defence that had been
built around Prince Boateng, Gideon Baah, Isaac Owusu and Ofosu
Appiah, with Jordan Opoku providing their front cover.
Having been relieved by the
Affum goal, Kabiru got back in his strides and started
tormenting his opponents’ goal area. He was once again unlucky
to find his diving header connection to a Coffie cross miss the
post narrowly.
The fitness of the Kotoko
team was fully manifested as any collision that they had with a
Hasaacas player resulted in the later most often being stretched
off the pitch.
Worried with the lousy
shooting upfront, Gideon Baah went on a solo run but had his
last effort shot hit the foot of Saani Mohamed for a corner
kick in the 42nd minute. Strangely and quite
unprofessionally on the part of the former Kotoko goalkeeper, he
rushed to stamp on Gideon when none of the match officials were
looking on.
Kotoko held on to their own
until the 45th minute when Joe Agyemang capitalised
on a Kotoko defensive lapse to coolly tap in their equalizer.
Amidst the jubilation, the referee whistled for the end of the
first period moments after Kotoko had passed the ball.
The second half was no
different in terms of poor shooting and goal conversion this
time on the part of both teams who took turns in wasting chances
with the worst culprit on the Kotoko side being Francis Coffie.
Coffie for strange reasons
has lost all the power and dexterity that made him an effective
and feared left winger. He continually blew away chances that he
could score even with his eyes close in times past.
Paa Kwesi brought on Osei
Kwame jnr and Daniel Nii Adjei for Francis Coffie and Edward
Affum respectively, but these substitutions only helped in
strengthening the midfield and not the attack.
The hither to beautiful
game was almost marred when supporters of Hasaacas charged onto
the pitch in the 92nd minute in protest for what they
thought should have been a penalty against Kotoko.
The security men on duty
did a good job by driving them out of the perimeter and cordoned
off the place for the safety of the referees and the teams.
At the end of hostilities
and for the records, two Kotoko players, Gideon Baah and Ganiyu
Yahaya attracted the yellow cards for foul situations.
Kotoko
Isaac Amoako, Prince
Boateng, Gideon Baah, Isaac Owusu, Ofosu Appiah, Ganiyu Yahaya,
Edward Affum/Osei Kwame jnr, Jordan Opoku, Baffour Gyan/Kwabena
Yaro, Kabiru Moro and Francis Coffie/Daniel Nii Adjei.
Unused subs
Mutalabi Mohamed, Alex
Asamoah, Michael Ofosu Appiah and Soulama Abdoulaye |
