Kotoko sting Tourists to death

April 7, 2008
Story: George Ernest Asare, Kumasi

Two goals by Kumasi Asante Kotoko’s goal poacher, Eric Bekoe, and one apiece by veteran Emmanuel Osei Kuffuor and Francis Coffie at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi yesterday provided the steam for the Porcupine Warriors to demolish Wikki Tourists 4-1 in their second leg CAF Confederation Cup.
Emmanuel Osei Kuffuor had set the stadium agog with an intelligent volley thatwhisked past the goalkeeper on the 19th minute for Kotoko’s opener.
Bekoe, who was heavily marked throughout the first half, finally shrugged off his atackers in the 54th minute and delivered a cracker outside the box when he pounced on a loose ball from the flanks. The ball first hit the cross bar before landing in the net for Kotoko’s second goal and his first in internatonal competition.
Ten minutes later, Bekoe was on hand again by weaving through two defenders to place the ball at the far corner of the net with goalkeeper Raymon Kotung Godwin completely stranded.
The Wikki Tourists lanky goalkeeper had earlier displayed much prowess and agility to deny Kotoko the opportunity for early goals on the sixth and seventh minutes. Before that Soulama Abdoulaye in post for Kotoko had also denied Aremu Tunde the opportunity to score on the third minute when he sprawled in the way of the attacker to save his goal-bound shot.
The 4-1 scoreline would doubless portray Kotoko the better team of the day, but their opponents were no push overs especially in the first half, when they carried the game to Kotoko, and pinnined them to their own half on most occasions but failed to utilise them.
The attacking duo of Abunarkar Ibrahim and Philip Auta combined beautifully upfront, creating the chances while ther midfielders made up of Emmanuel Sunday, Tunde Aremu and Gabriel Sunday succeeded in pushing their attackers forward on most occasions, causing havoc among the Kotoko defenders who struggled to keep them at bay.
Kotoko were a delight to watch as Samuel Inkoom, Jordan Opoku and Daniel Nii Adjei also pushed Bekoe and Kuffuor upfront but their opponents created a barrier, preventing Bekoe and Kuffour from causing any trouble.
Tourists, despite the heavy margin of defeat, never gave up. Their efforts paid off when they earned a penalty late in the game which was converted to give them some consolation.