Kotoko lift LG Top Four Cup

KUMASI Asante Kotoko were today crowned champions of the LG Top Four tournament after holding Accra Hearts of Oak to a scoreless draw in their return fixture at the Accra stadium.

Todays’s match was for academic purposes as Kotoko ended the month-long contest four clear points ahead of Hearts.

Ahead of the game, Hearts had vowed to avenge the 0-2 loss they suffered in Kumasi, but they looked goal-shy as their strikers blew away some glorious chances that could have changed the complexion of the game. The biggest culprit was Emmanuel Osei Kuffour who missed an open chance in the Kotoko penalty box in the 69th minute.

With very little at stake, the match did not witness the anticipated sell-out crowd. However, it had all other ingredients of a typical Hearts-Kotoko affair. Prior to the match the atmosphere had been filled with rumours of Kotoko kidnapping Hearts’ star Charles Taylor, and this further deepened the tension in the match.

There were pockets of trouble in sections of the stands as rival fans pelted each other with missiles and on the field, the game sometimes looked more of a martial arts contest than the ‘beautiful game’ being expressed by the nation’s top clubs.

The physical nature of the game reached its sour point when Hearts’ midfielder Charles Allotey was given the marching off order for a second bookable offence, when he fouled Kotoko’s Stephen Oduro on the stroke of half time.

Perhaps Allotey had a premonition that he would see red as he played in a pair of red boots.He contributed much to the roughness of the game. His tackles were reckless and was lucky to have stayed for 45 minutes.

If the first half looked more of a rough-house game, the second half was unexciting except for some deft touches by Oduro and Kuffour, and some goalmouth action at both ends of the field that brought life into the contest.

It was only after Allotey’s dismissal that some level of sanity was restored in the game. Unlike the Kumasi encounter, Hearts had the lion’s share of clear-cut chances yesterday. Strikers Wisdom Abbey and Bernard Dong-Bortey, spotting a clean-shaved head, were unimpressive and less threatening. Kuffour enjoyed a lot of possession but lost his scoring touch.

In defence, goalkeeper Sammy Adjei and centre-back Emmanuel Osei were in total control of the game and did not allow Kotoko’s strikers Isaac Boakye and Shilla Alhassan room to operate effectively. Osei was rock-solid and put up a man-of the-match performance.

Adjei was very alert in posts to prevent Boakye and team-mates from capitalising on some early chances and as the match wore on, the tide turned in Hearts’ favour. Kuffour missed a 32nd minute chance and three minutes later Emmanuel Osei nearly rifled home a 22-metre free kick.

Hearts still looked dangerous and nearly hit the back of the net in the 37th minute from a three-man move between Dong -Bortey, Kuffour and Lawrence Adjah-Tetteh.

The second half was virtually uneventful until the latter minutes of the game when both sides began pressing hard for a goal.

The best chance fell to Kuffour but with only goalkeeper Louis Quainoo to beat, the striker surprisingly shot wide. Kotoko then turned the heat on their opponents late into the game but their desperate shots could not find the right angle to beat Adjei.

Boakye who scored a spectacular goal against Hearts in the first leg in Kumasi, nearly connected home a Yusif Chibsah pass after the Hearts goalie left his mark late, but the striker’s 88th minute shot narrowly missed target.

However at the end of the day it was the Kotoko players, officials and supporters who sang the championship mantra when captain Joseph Hendricks was handed the glittering LG trophy for a wonderful month-long performance.

Hearts: Sammy Adjei, Dan Quaye, Amankwa Mireku, Dan Oppong Emmanuel Osei, Adjah Tetteh, Charles Allotey , Joe Ansah, Wisdom Abbey, Emmanuel Kuffour, Don Bortey/Turkson

Kotoko: Louis Quainoo, Aziz Ansah, Godfred Yeboah, Dan Acquah, Joe Hendricks, Michael Asante, Stephen Oduro, Yussif Chipsah, Edmond Owusu Ansah/Anars Mohammed, Isaac Boakye, Shilla Alhassan/Frank Osei