The Porcupine Warriors put loud-mouthed
Aduana FC in their rightful place when they hammered the Dormaa
team in terrific fashion by 3-0 with goals from Frank Boateng,
Daniel Nii Adjei and the humbly gifted and flawless Stephen
Oduro – whose master strike was a perfect icing on the cake on
the bright Sunday afternoon.
Attendance at the commencement of the game
was low yet the numbers in the stands shot up significantly – a
situation many described as very encouraging.
Management members were not enthused with
the considerably less number of tickets the club was handed for
the game. The club had less than half of the tickets they
requested. Thus, there were some fans at the back of the stadium
even when the game got underway.
Aduana Stars attacked strongly and gave a
clear indication to cause an upset with their early minute
incursion, in which Kotoko centre backs – Awal Mohammed and
Henry Ohene Brenya both lost ground to the marauding Aduana
attackers.
With the entire Kotoko defence then in
complete tatters, it took the timely intervention of onrushing
goalkeeper, Isaac Amoako to save what was an extremely dangerous
situation inside the box.
Isaac Amoako, who was excellent in post
throughout, stopped the ball with his outstretched hand
immediately before the Aduana attacker could wreck havoc.
Kotoko’s passes, organization and movements
in midfield were eye-pleasing but the defence was constantly
caught napping anytime the visitors went on the offensive. The
pair of Henry Ohene Brenya and Awal Mohammed this time lacked
everything.
There was poor coordination between them.
Their interventions in most of the sticky situations as well
left much to be desired.
The flaws in Kotoko’s defence
notwithstanding, a brilliant midfield work initiated by Fatawu
Mohammed in the 24th minute enabled Daniel Nii Adjei to
perfectly locate Frank Boateng close to the box, and the lanky
midfielder, wasted no time to fire a tenacious salvo, which
amazingly slipped through both the hands and legs of the Aduana
goalie, Stephen Adams.
There was more to come for the shocked and
bemused Aduana team, who five minutes earlier had had their
player, Bernard Don Bortey sent off for insulting the referee.
The second half got underway with Kotoko
pulling out Yaw Frimpong for Prince Boateng and later, Frank
Boateng for the hyper-creative and talented midfielder, Stephen
Oduro.
Even playing at a numerical disadvantage,
Aduana Stars still held Kotoko firmly and attacked forcefully.
The fabulous lads remained defiant in
midfield and their efforts were fittingly rewarded when Albert
Bruce found well-placed Nii Adjei. From the right side of
attack, Daniel Nii Adjei cut deep into the box and shot right on
target to send the already jubilant crowd on their feet;
singing, dancing and cheering the players to triumph.
The electrifying atmosphere at the stadium –
from the popular stand to the VIP Lounge was a remarkable sight.
The brass band music was loud and the applause came, most times
for the well-measured passes from Stephen Oduro.
Aduana Stars put up a brave fight
nonetheless and capitalized on the endless errors of the Kotoko
defence to cause a few scary moments.
Their doom was however imminent. With five
minutes left on the clock, Kotoko put Aduana Stars well beyond
the point recovery when Stephen Oduro in a terrific move toward
goal, dummied his marker and beautifully placed the ball right
at the back of the net to make it 3-0. That goal was greeted
with a massive standing ovation and jubilation all over the
stadium.
On the whole, it was a brilliant effort by
Coach Bogdan Korak and his team yet the mal-functioning of the
Kotoko attack coupled with his fragile defence especially in
this game must be promptly reviewed before the Porcupines trek
to Accra to face the Phobians.
Alex Asamoah and Nathaniel largely were
quite in the game, having lacked the needed and useful support
from the middle.
It is difficult to ascertain exactly what
went wrong with Awal Mohammed and Ohene Brenya on the day.
Bogdan Korak really has work on his hands before the Accra
clash.
Kotoko line-up: Isaac Amoako, Yaw Frimpong/Prince Boateng,
Prince Anokye, Awal Mohammed, Henry Ohene Brenya, Michael
Akuffu, Frank Boateng/Stephen Oduro, Daniel Nii Adjei, Fatawu
Mohammed, Nathaniel Asamoah, Alex Asamoah/Albert Bruce.
Aduana Stars: Stephen Adams, Emmanuel Ansong, Godfred
Saka/Bentil Joseph, Francis Larbi, Akuoko Emmanuel, Adomah
Johnson, Asiedu Samuel, Bernard Don Bortey, Mugre Joseph, Ali
Nurudeen, Darkwah Daniel/Robert Yeboah.
