A bird must have whispered in the ears of David Duncan that the press were circling like hungry vultures following back to back defeats against Hearts of Lions and New Edubiase honeymoon season was over.
The post game presser
Dressed simply in a white cotton button down shirt and khakis the steely look in Duncan’s eye and the scowl on his face when he took his seat to field questions from the media was enough to send chills down your spine.
You wouldn’t have guessed that he was the manager on the winning side.
Asante Kotoko despite conceding 7 goals in their last 3 league games had managed to grind out a 3-2 nervous victory over Duncan’s boyhood club Great Olympics. Single word answers were supplied by Duncan when journalists present chose to focus on his team’s defensive frailties and competence. One reporter asked “You saw your team give up a 2 goal lead, how would you describe the performance of your defence?” Duncan curtly responded “spontaneous.” Another asked “What was your game plan like and how did you find a response after Olympics came back into the game.
Again he responded coldly “team effort.” Another journalist from the print media gave it another try “Technically what do you think is wrong with your players ?” The response was the same “Work in progress” The press room at the Accra Sports stadium erupted with laughter when a journalist who failed to identify himself asked. “What is the way forward for Asante Kotoko ?”
Duncan calmly answered “we will train tomorrow”. His passing words as he left the room was almost cinematic “You need to respect my work”.
The match
With all three veterans missing from the starting line-up Olympics looked intimidated in the opening exchanges of a match which was fairly well attended using recent attendance numbers as a bench mark.
Early possession from the away team could have yielded a goal if players of Kotoko kept their cool to move the ball around. The first quarter of the game revealed that Kotoko had perhaps been working on using attacking set pieces as a weapon while they slowly took time to work out their chemistry issues.
Olympics were forced to clear off the line twice in the space of 5 minutes following crosses which were delivered into the 6 yard box from corner kick situations and to the surprise of none present 17 year old Dauda Mohammed evaded a tangle of legs to poke home the opening goal for Kotoko.
Growing in confidence from going a goal up ace striker Ahmed Toure announced his presence in the game with a burst into the box from the left wing dribbling his way into the box before he was brought down for a penalty. Osei Boateng picked the right spot after a poorly taken spot kick from Toure to ensure that the game didn’t slip away.
Toure was having none of it as he again evaded a forest of legs in the box to score from close range to put the porcupine warriors 2-0.
Lack of concentration and reckless defending on Kotoko’s part presented Edmund Sekyi an opportunity to score with a low drive on the brink of halftime. The second period can be broken down into four words “the Ahmed Toure show”.
With the game finely poised Daniel Appiah showed pace and composure to finish after a counter attack to bring Olympics level at 2-2.
Running the channels, holding up play and taking on defenders Toure’s performance came to a climax in the 69th minute when he trapped a harmless looking pass with his left instep while he stuck out a hand to shield the ball from the oncoming defender.
A second touch to set the shot up for himself and bang the ball was in the bottom corner before Osei Boateng could react.
The quality displayed in that sequence to the goal would make any coach proud but Kotoko had clearly struggled to use the ball meaningfully in open play a more experienced Olympics side would have seen this game end differently.
The victory takes Kotoko up to 7th on the league log with 25 points,9 short of league leaders Ashanti Gold.
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By: Benjamin Nketsia/citifmonline.com/Ghana