Asante
Kotoko continued their steady rise to the top echelons of the
2010/2011 Glo Premier League on Wednesday when they chalked a
1-0 triumph over Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs in front of an
impressive crowd at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium.
Newly signed
striker, Nathaniel Asamoah broke the deadlock with a marvelous
44th minute strike across goal which fortunately for Dwarfs
deflected off the body of their defender before beating
goalkeeper Adade Foli to give the Porcupines a deserved home
win.
Expectations
were reasonably high after last Sunday’s win in Wa and
particularly playing on an afternoon that the club had
officially announced its reunion with telecommunications giants
MTN. Rightly so, Coach Bogdan Korak and his charges lived up to
the billing.
To a larger
extent, the Porcupines played constructively. They made good
efforts right from the start to split the closely-nit Abusua
Dwarfs defense and their hard work paid off just before the
interval.
With the 22
players and match officials wearing black armbands to signify
mourning, a minute silence was observed for departed Referee P.
P. Awuah.
When
Sunyani-based Referee Yao Ametepe signaled the two teams into
action, the atmosphere at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium was truly
colourful.
The match
officials spotted luminous blue shirts over black shorts whereas
Kotoko donned all-red apparel against Abusua Dwarfs’ yellow
shirts and beautiful light green shorts.
Spectators
were not many right after kick off but the numbers grew
gradually as the game wore on. The Amakom end of the pitch was
nearly full by the end of the thrilling midweek duel.
Coach Bogdan
Korak maintained practically the same squad that recorded an
impressive 2-0 win over All Stars with Ivorian forward, Ahmed
Toure being the only newly introduced player.
Toure was
paired with Nathaniel Asamoah upfront and though that was fine
pair, not much was derived from it in terms of goals. The pair’s
movements upfront – strength, speed and ball control especially
in the case of Toure, who was playing his first game for Kotoko
after nearly four seasons ago, showed that with a little more
time, he would hit the mark expected of him.
Umar Gariba
and Nii Adjei featured in the left-back and left-wing positions
respectively as witnessed in the All Stars encounter. Gariba
still showed signs of a player yet to have absolute control of
affairs in his position.
His recovery
was not good and tackles not particularly spot on. Before being
substituted after 65 minutes, Gariba however made a number of
useful interventions like Daniel Nii Adjei who featured well in
his unfamiliar role.
Yaw Frimpong
performed excellently with his pace, decent and slippery runs
into the goal area except that his crosses into the penalty box
often did not come as good.
Ohene Brenya
was unyielding as ever and again Awal Mohammed was a master of
his own art, intercepting both aerial and ground balls with
poise. His delivery on almost every occasion attracted roaring
applause from the crowd.
Frank
Boateng, easily the man of the match, outwitted his markers with
cheeky ease, weaving through even the closest Dwarfs’ midfield
and defensive network to string accurate passes in support of
the attack.
Just like
substitute Samed Oppong, Sabato Mohammed’s presence in the game
was not felt that much. The same cannot be said of Michael
Akuffu whose output was generally purposeful. Goalkeeper Isaac
Amoako was also at his usual best.
Gradually
the team is picking up the pieces and would become a stronger
unite with time. Most spectators in their post-match analysis,
were heard commending the leadership of the club for recruiting
quality players whose performance coupled with the sound
technical direction has yielded positive results.
Kotoko is
now 5th placed and plays at the
Golden
City Park
this Sunday against league leaders Berekum Chelsea.
Kotoko line-up:
Isaac Amoako, Yaw Frimpong, Umar Gariba/Prince Anokye, Ohene
Brenya, Awal Mohammed, Michael Akuffu, Sabato Mohammed/Samed
Oppong, Frank Boateng, Nathaniel Asamoah, Ahmed Toure/Afranie
Yeboah, Daniel Nii Adjei.
