By: Jerome Otchere

Date: 05-12-11

Coach Maxwell Konadu has indicated that he would not change his winning team unless he has good reasons to do that. And even in that situation, the Kotoko technical handler insists that the changes would not be more than three. According to him, there is little wisdom in making significant changes to a setup which is delivering.

Maxwell Konadu said this after leading Kotoko to halt Cape Mysterious Dwarfs’ ten-match unbeaten record. A perfect 59th minute header by hard working midfielder, Daniel Nii Adjei piercing header gave Asante Kotoko the vital win in the match that saw both teams entertaining the reasonably good crowd with delightful football skill. Nii Adjei was through by Baba Abdul Rahman who combined well with David Ofei before delivering the sharp cross.

Coach Maxwell Konadu who was celebrating his birthday on Sunday said he knew Dwarfs would be difficult to beat. “We knew from day one that it was going to be difficult to beat Dwarfs because of the way they play. We needed to be patient, to play the ball around before we could attack. We did that until the minute that we had the goal” said Coach Maxwell Konadu.

The coach then explained why he would not change his winning team. “If we are changing the setup, it will not be more than three players. That is the way it is! Sometimes, you rest certain players for others to come in but we need to do that cautiously because you cannot change the whole set up” he stated.

For the first time this season, Kotoko missed the services of midfielder Michael Akuffu who is on a red card suspension. Apart from Akuffu, injury-prone Yahaya Mohammed also missed the game. Touching on the absence of the two hard working midfielders, Coach Maxwell Konadu dismissed suggestions that the team actually missed the services of the two players.

“Those who played did a great job. We did not miss them. Everybody worked hard in the match. That is the most important thing” he argued adding that his team is keen on improving after ever game. On that score, it is right to point that Kotoko really showed improvement on Sunday.

Goalkeeper Soulama Abdoulaye again was not actually tested on the afternoon. He made useful interventions at certain crucial moments. Soulama Abdoulaye’s problem however was that he often got his shots inside misdirected. He as well spent too much time before kicking the ball inside, thus not helping the team to initiate attack for that premise.

In defence, both Yaw Frimpong and Abdul Rahman were at their usual best. The former however lost concentration at certain stages therefore losing a number of balls he could have easily picked to either initiate or support the buildup towards goal. Captain Ohene Brenya was perfectly uncompromising. His partnership with Awal Mohammed, who has developed interest in surging forward lately, was solid.

Whereas Ohene Brenya mostly came in with clearances including hard but legitimate tackles, Awal Mohammed was more flexible. Awal showed good skill on the ball, often dribbling and surging forward to support the attack. And just like Ohene Brenya, Awal Mohammed in addition used his height effectively to thwart the efforts of the Dwarfs attack.

Kotoko’s problem on Sunday was evident in midfield department. Lone goal hero, Daniel Nii Adjei was flawless. He made highly useful contributions much like Afranie Yeboah and David Ofei who until the latter parts of the first and second halves did not show sufficient brilliance. Playing his debut league, Augustine Okrah had a lot to deliver yet before being taken off in the 40thh minute, Okrah had been less convincing.

Thus Kotoko midfield weakness lasted as long as Okrah, Afranie and Ofei struggled to find their rhythm. Ahmed Toure and Nathaniel Asamoah both had quite a fair outing although it showed that the two attackers are now the cynosure of all eyes and would as a result be marked well.

Substitutes Michael Anaba also fared quite well and despite showing his usual flashes of brilliance, Stephen Oduro came in late. Back from injury Kofi Nti Boakye also spent barely a minute on the field before proceedings ended.

On the whole, it was a good show by Kumasi Asante Kotoko who by the win maintains their top spot on the league table with 21 points. The performance of Referee Solomon Mordey was also commendable because he stamped his authority well on the game especially in the 81st minute when Dwarfs’ Coach Professor J. K. Mintah was shown the exit from the bench for walking onto the field during a temporary hold-up to insult the referee.

Kotoko: Soulama Abdoulaye, Yaw Frimpong, Baba Abdul Rahman, Ohene Brenya, Afranie Yeboah, Nii Adjei, David Ofei/Stephen Oduro, Augustine Okrah/Michael Anaba, Nathaniel Asamoah, Ahmed Toure/Kofi Nti Boakye.