Lousy marking and indecision cost Kotoko at Berekum

David Kyei, Berekum

22:48 GMT, 26-04-10

Two minutes of momentary loss of concentration and acts of indecision was all Berekum Arsenal needed last Sunday to inflict a painful 2-0 defeat on Kotoko at the Golden City Park.

With a backdrop of two successive wins in the last two matches, Kotoko travelled to Berekum with full confidence of achieving two important feats: first, to record their first three consecutive wins and secondly break the jinx that Kotoko has suffered from at the Berekum Park for many years.

All these intentions became a mirage as the team selected for the day failed to sustain their concentration until the final whistle.

From their kick of the ball to commence proceedings, Kotoko displayed a compact performance of a 4-3-3 formation that saw the midfield engineered around in-form Afranie Yeboah, Ganiyu Yahaya and Daniel Nii Adjei seizing warding off supplies to the Arsenal's attack.

The initial good performance was nearly rewarded in the 17th minute, but Ganiyu Yahaya feebly shot into the arms of goalkeeper Thomas Tuah Asare who was not seriously tested throughout the match.

Godfred Ofosu attracted the first yellow card of the match when he decided to assert himself with a hard tackle in the 26th minute. Prior to the incident, Ofosu had suffered several incidences of bullying from his comparatively bigger opponent, Bennett Ofori without any protection from Referee Atikese.

45 minutes passed without any serious danger to the Kotoko goal area due largely to the good work of defender Ofosu Appiah, who completely neutralized and reduced Arsenal's top scorer and danger man, Francis Aggrey to a mere passenger in the game.

Apart from the feeble shot from Ganiyu in the early stages of the match, the Kotoko attack of Kabiru Moro, Louis Agyemang and Osei Kwame ‘lazied’ about in the game with no clear sign of a fight for victory from them.

Two minutes into the three minutes time added on, the Berekum Arsenal midfield picked a loose ball and sent a long pass to the right of their attack. Michael Ofosu Appiah went for one of his all day, failed attempts at winning a single aerial ball situation. This failed attempt gave a free ball to Eric Asiedu who also sent in a sweet pullout for Abubakar Sidique Hadjie to connect with a powerful bicycle kick, which is surely going to be in contention for the goal of the season, to record their first goal which not long after sent the match to recess.

As though the first goal by Berekum Arsenal was not a strong enough wake up call and less than a minute in the first half, first goal getter, Abubakar Sadique Hadjie, once again thought the Kotoko players a lesson in the need to be on alert and focused for the whole duration of the match when he pounced on a loose ball just behind the arch of Kotoko's 18 yard box, and zoomed a volley to beat Isaac Amoako in the post.

Having had a bad day from the start of the game, Coach Johnson Smith pulled out

Michael Ofosu Appiah and brought on Frank Boateng in the 55th minute. Frank moved up and swapped positions with Osei Kwame jnr who was having a terrible time at the left out.

The swap brought some life into game of Osei Kwame who was shifted to his comfortable left full back position, but Frank Boateng fizzled out as the game progressed.

Johnson Smith decided to reorganize his team by bringing on Stephen Manu for Louis Agyemang in the 66th minute. However, his plans were dealt a big blow a minute with the expulsion of Isaac Owusu for a senseless and unnecessary punching of an opponent.

He went for an aerial challenge and was duly awarded an infringement. As he readied himself to effect the kick, he left the ball and went straight to punch his offender.

Referee Atikese wasted no time in showing him a straight red card for the offence and the display of lack of sportsmanship.

Coach Smith had no choice but to abandon his plans. He therefore did a tactical change by pulling out Ganiyu Yahaya for Michael Boakye.

True to the saying that every misfortune has a disguised blessing the expulsion of Isaac Owusu saw  Michael Boakye come on to play his first league match of the season. Though he was not a supper player so to speak, his presence at the back and partnership with Ofosu Appiah brought stability at the Kotoko back.

He also showed by his performance that given more games, he will become of the trusted defenders in the team. Despite not being too endowed in height, he won almost all the aerial balls he went in for.

To consolidate their gains, Coach Ebo Mends also took out three tired limbs in his team for fresh ones. This really worked out well for his game plan and therefore could be fully justified in the wild jubilation that he went into after the match.

For the record, the Accra representative of Berekum Arsenal and also the chairman of Division one league board, Mr. Ntow Fianko deserves commendation for the good work he did to avert attacks on Kotoko and her supporters.

He had a tough time controlling the hooligans, but succeeded any way in doing his work to perfection.

Kotoko

Isaac Amoako, Godfred Ofosu, Michael Ofosu Appiah/ Frank Boateng, Isaac Owusu, Ofosu Appiah, Afranie Yeboah, Daniel Nii Adjei, Haruna Ganiyu/ Michael Boakye, Kabiru Moro, Louis Agyemang/ Stephen Manu and Osei Kwame jnr.

Unused subs

Kwadwo Poku, Francis Akwaffo, Soulama Abdoulaye