Accra Great Olympics Head Coach, Yaw Preko, has commended his players for a good execution of the tactics the team employed for the weekend’s ‘Ga mashie’ derby against Hearts of Oak which they triumphed 2-0 over their regional foe.
Inspirational skipper Gladson Awako put the Wonder Club ahead just 14 minutes into the game with a free kick the Hearts goalie failed to grab with Maxwell Abbey Quaye connecting to a cross from Ashie Quaye three minutes later to seal Hearts’ doom.
Elated about the feat, Preko indicated that the players must be credited with the success because “we planned this together on the training field and they executed it to perfection.”
In Saturday’s post match conference, Yaw Preko, a former Ghana international and winger of Hearts of Oak told the media that knowing the importance both teams attach to the game; the technical team studied recent games of Hearts and devised a strategy to contain them.
“When I watched them (Hearts) against Bechem United, I realised they were more compact in the middle with the lateral wingers doing lots of runs, so I decided to play the back three and it work for us,” he said at a press conference.
“So we had a game plan for them which worked. Seeing their compactness in midfield, we decided to play with three men at the back and loaded the midfield so we can contain them and it paid off.”
“We knew this was a big match and so we also worked on the players’ psyche to take the pressure off the boys. I told them to relax and enjoy the game and come to the party; hit them in the first 20 minutes.”
”Luckily for us, we had the two goals within that period and it put them under pressure.”
Preko said, “I respect Hearts of Oak because I played for them and coached them as well. They do have a lot of quality players and always want to possess the ball, but my focus was to go into the match and do my job as a professional and I know what a derby was all about.”
According to Preko who was called ‘Rush’ in his heyday, “the season remains a very long one and was important to remain focused. Winning against Hearts is not the end of the competition. We have to keep working hard to sustain the momentum.”
Next on the list for Olympics will be a clash against another bogey side King Faisal, on Wednesday, at the Accra Sports Stadium.–GNA
