Kotoko beat Hearts to win President’s cup

 

By Naabenyin Joojo Amissah.

[email protected]

Kumasi Asante Kotoko yesterday retained the President’s Cup they won in Accra against Hearts of Oak last year, when they defeated their arch rivals on penalty kicks at the Baba Yara stadium.

The defending champions beat the Phobians 4-1 via penalty kicks, which finally broke the impeccable record of Hearts’ assistant coach, Henry Willington, who until this loss, has not lost to rivals Kotoko in all competitions as Hearts’ coach.

The 2017 President’s Cup, which was first played on Sunday 2nd July, was rained off by a heavy down pour that halted proceedings and eventually ended the 70 minutes old electrifying encounter which ended in a pulsating drawn game.

Kotoko was the first to register a goal through the spot kick that was expertly converted by veteran Sadik Adams in the first half, after striker Obed Owusu was brought down in the penalty box of Hearts.

Though the Phobians came into the picture in the later stages of the half, their efforts at goal yielded no dividends as they simply could not find the keys to unlock the tight Kotoko defence built around Amos Frimpong.

However, the Never Say Die spirit of the Phobians resurrected their rather shambolic performance in the second half and this was the beginning of a real contest between the two sides on the day.

Hearts started the second half with great determination, kept their host under extreme pressure and kept dictating the pace of the game, a situation that forced Kotoko to be chasing shadows.

A solo move by Hearts’ defender, Rubben Gnage, through the midfield to the defensive area of Kotoko earned them a corner just five minutes into the second half.

Defender Vincent Atinga, who joined the Hearts’ attack from his defensive duties scored from the corner kick to restore parity for the Phobians.

The goal gingered the Phobians and enabled them to heap more pressure on their opponent in search of the winning goal but hard luck and lack of shooting accuracy never allowed their dreams to come through, until referee Agbovi abruptly ended the match prematurely.

Unlike the Sunday game when Kotoko completely took over the game and carried it into their opponents throughout the first half, the Monday version presented a contrary situation as both sides made series of incursions into the vital area of each other.

Both sides created decent chances but none was able to put the ball behind the net throughout the entire duration of the 90 minutes.

Kotoko eventually repeated what they did in Accra last year by winning on 4-1 penalty shoot out to end Hearts’ Willington’s supremacy.

Defender Amos Frimpong scored first for Kotoko while his counterpart in the rainbow jersey, Vincent Atinga missed. Evans Quao stepped forward and excellently scored the second for Kotoko but Rubben Gnage missed for Hearts.

Eric Donkor and Saddick Addams converted the third and fourth kicks respectively for Kotoko to win them the trophy.

Assistant coach, Henry Willington, who took charge when Hearts won in Accra by 3-1, this time was unlucky as Kotoko’s Steve Pollack provided the antidote to his master class play and tamed him via penalty shoot out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  By Naabenyin Joojo Amissah. [email protected] Kumasi Asante Kotoko yesterday retained the President’s Cup they won in Accra against Hearts of Oak last year, when they defeated their arch rivals on penalty kicks at the Baba Yara stadium. The defending champions beat the Phobians 4-1 via penalty kicks, which finally broke the impeccable record of […] Read Full Story