Danlad’s Heroics Seals Victory Over Hearts Of Oak

Asante Kotoko secured its second Democracy trophy after beating arch rivals, Hearts of Oak 4-1 on penalties in head coach, Eric Tinkler first game at the Baba Yara Stadium. 

The porcupine warriors made their intentions clear from kick off creating goal scoring opportunities which forced the Phonians into an ultra defensive mode in the opening minutes of the first half. 

Tinlker's men dominated possession and piled the pressure to get an early lead but Benjamin Asare in post for Hearts of oak bailed his side out with excellent saves. 

The porcupines thought they had the breakthrough in the eighteenth minute when new boy Emmanuel Sanja lofted a pinpoint cross with his left foot onto the path of Emmanuel Mamah, who guided his header perfectly into the top right corner, sending the stadium into frenzy, but the assistant referee ruled it out for an offside, which replays later proved that it was a wrong call denying Kotoko in the first half. 

The tempo of the game went up from there on with the Phobians finally getting out of their shells to attack, forcing Amoah into a goal-line clearance, but the solid central defensive partnership between Hamazata and Amoah justified the gaffer's choice for the fixture. 

The second half saw both teams making changes to their personnel, as Gyau, who had been with the National U-23 team for most of the pre-season, replaced Isaac Opoku Agyemang who was making his debut for the club. Walid Fuseini, Donzo Morifing, Hilary Adabo, Aristote Tamuzi were introduced to push for the goal, but near misses meant that the game would only be decided on penalty shoot-out.

Walid Fuseini, Adabo, Tamuzi all converted their penalties to give the Warriors an edge in the shoot-out. Goalkeeper Danlad Ibrahim, who was making his second debut for the club after two years with Ethiopian Coffee, made three saves in the shoot-out to give the team a second straight victory over the visitors. 

The win now prepares the Warriors for their opening Premier League fixture against newly promoted side, Debbibi United in Berekum next weekend.