LIBERTY LIFT TOP 4 TROPHY (BACK PAGE)

Story: George Ernest Asare

Liberty Professionals defied all odds to defeat Kumasi Asante Kotoko 1-0 in the grand finale of the Glo Top 4 tournament at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi yesterday.
The feat by Liberty crowned an outstanding performance by the Dansoman-based team that maintained the tournament’s tradition as the new champions.
Substitute Latif Salifu caused the damage in the 67th minute to justify his inclusion by slipping the ball past Eric Nii Baah in post for Kotoko.
Before then they had succeeded in puncturing some holes in the Kotoko defence, forcing Eric Nii Baah to make some saves.
Undaunted, Liberty continued their onslaught, causing the Kotoko defenders to chase their shadows.
Liberty's goal came after Kotoko had failed to take advantage of the numerous chances which came their way, especially in the first half.
Liberty's glory could also be attributed to the outstanding display of goalkeeper Daniel Adjei who stood between Kotoko and victory, especially in the first half when he made brilliant saves to deny Eric Bekoe, Stephen Oduro and Francis Akwafo's goal-bound shots.
The goalkeeper was also at his elastic best midway in the second half and the latter part of the game when Kotoko poured into the territory of their opponents, hoping to equalise to pacify their numerous fans who rooted for them throughout the 90 minutes.
Kotoko also failed to take advantage of the exit of Liberty Professionals' Maxwell Mensah from the game on the 70th minute after he had handled the ball at the edge of the box to prevent Eric Bekoe from whisking past him to equalise.
In all, fans who filled the Baba Yara Sports Stadium last Sunday were the winners on account of the outstanding performance of both teams.
Determined to score an early goal, the two teams launched into attack as soon as the game started.
Liberty appeared more slippery at the beginning of the game but Kotoko took over, bombarding the territory of their opponents with shots but could not convert the chances that came their way.
Eric Bekoe came close to snatching the lead on the 10th minute with a brilliant volley, but Liberty's goalkeeper scored full marks by tipping the goal bound shot to corner which was wasted.
On the 14th minute, Stephen Oduro’s volley hit the top of the post to deny Kotoko a goal. Again on the 29th minute, Francis Akwafo came close but good defending by the Liberty boys denied him the opportunity of adding his name on the score sheet.
The same trend continued until the hour mark when Liberty took over from Kotoko, forcing them to retreat on most occasions, and it was one of their moves that saw substitute Latif Salifu whisking the ball past Eric Nii Baah to win the Glo Top 4 trophy for Liberty for the first time.