Sports

Kotoko to face Aduana Stars’ wrath at Dormaa

Aduana Stars will vent their anger on Asante Kotoko today when they clash in a top 11th week Ghana Premier League match at the Dormaa Park.

Kotoko dropped points at home on Sunday when they survived several Ashantigold onslaughts to draw in Kumasi and hope to make amends against the Dormaa side.

But an even worse situation of Aduana who suffered their biggest defeat of the season (5-2) in the hands of Liberty Professionals will make the host hungrier than anticipated and will throw every arsenal at their disposal at the Porcupine Warriors.

Past battles between the two have always produced fireworks with the host proving with time they have the wherewithal to face the ‘Asanteman’ warriors.

Aduana has been at their stubborn best against Kotoko in the past two seasons especially and managed to win points off them even in clashes at Kotoko’s Baba Yara Stadium fortress.

Aduana has also been buoyed by Kotoko’s average performance lately, irrespective of the fact that they managed to pull slender wins.

In spite of the weekend’s loss, hitman Yahaya Mohammed registered two goals to prove he will still be a tough customer for the Kotoko defence and his presence in the Aduana setup should be a matter of concern to Kotoko’s coach Maxwell Konadu who have spoken about the need for his side to improve almost every weekend.

He has every reason to be concerned about the performance of his side because their display has been far below expectation and a false reflection against the caliber of players in the camp.

In Emmanuel Gyamfi, Augustine Okrah, Justice Blay, Abdul Wahab, Christopher Nettey, Felix Annan, Patrick Yeboah and others, Kotoko possess the finest of local talents and very experienced due to their association with the respective national teams for which much is expected of them.

Kotoko can best be described as the local based national team, having plucked brightest talents from a number of teams locally and a few from outside but on the field of play, that is yet to bear the desired fruit as they struggle to even command a top two position on the current league table as a result of the exploits of Ashgold, Medeama, Chelsea and Aduana in a way.

At Dormaa, one will be asking for too much if Kotoko was tipped to run away with the three points because of Aduana’s resolve to bounce back from the weekend’s defeat but the manner of their defeats this season suggest that an Aduana upset by Kotoko is a huge possibility.

For Ashgold, today’s clash against Dream FC may have too soon having being at the summit of the table for only three days.

It is the reason the Miners would hope to remain at their very best to snatch all three points against the Dawu side to consolidate their modest gain which critics have wondered how long it will last.

Dream FC seem to have lost a bit of the shine that made them a very formidable side to contend and will still rely on the experienced Eric Gawu to lead their lines against a versatile Ashgold defence that try to walk the ball out of their defensive area.

A few exits have affected the team especially the attack but the new generation appears to be gathering the momentum and could put the Dream FC defenders an intense pressure.

Bechem United went so close to ‘stealing’ a point off Hearts of Oak in Accra on Sunday but succumbed to a Kofi Kordzie late goal.

They will put that memory behind them when they welcome Liberty Professionals to Bechem in what followers of the home team have christened the moment of redemption.

Bechem enjoyed a great start to the season but found the going tough at certain times with a few losses; that situation is very similar to Liberty’s journey so far in the competition.

From their shaky start, Liberty is on record to have handed Aduana Stars their biggest defeat so far and currently the only side to have gone to Sogakope to return with a win over WAFA, a task traditional giants and more resourced teams like Hearts and Kotoko failed.

Bechem can restore the smiles on the faces of their home fans but Liberty has what it takes to spoil the home party of Bechem.

WAFA will have a tall mountain to climb when they travel to Techiman to face the might of Eleven Wonders in a clash the host will be expected to win.

A battle of equals will be fought at the Elmina Park between home team Elmina Sharks and Dwarfs who appear to have found their rhythm in the competition after a torrid start.

Inter Allies are gradually climbing the ladder courtesy of an improved performance lately.

They face a major test against Medeama SC at the Accra Sports Stadium where once again they will rely heavily on the talents of Richmond Lamptey, Paul Abanga and Victoriene Adebayor who has so far being a thorn in the flesh of many defenders.

Hearts will travel to the Akoon Park in the Western region to play Karela United in a must win game while King Faisal attempt to end the chase for their first win when they welcome Lego Cities.

The going has been extremely tough for the Wonder Club, Accra Great Olympics who has earned just a point in their last two games and it does not look like ending tomorrow when they face giant-killers Berekum Chelsea in Accra.

BY ANDREW NORTEY

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