Asante Kotoko S/C ended the first round of the 2016/2017 Ghana Premier League on a disappointing note, as they drew 0-0 with visiting Tema Youth, in a match day 15 fixture at the Baba Yara Stadium, Kumasi, on Sunday.
The Porcupine Warriors, arguably the nation’s most successful club, until the clash had gone seven matches without a win, and their expectant teeming supporters had no choice than to go home without yet another victory.
The latest score-line leaves them in the seventh position on 21 points, and eleven points adrift of the West African Football Academy (WAFA), the League leaders.
Kotoko scored a total of nine goals in the first round, and remained one of the least goals scored by any club in the on-going league.
On the match itself, Kotoko had the better opportunities to take the lead in the first half, but Tema Youth’s goalie, Christian Addae, would prevent them from finding the back of the net, using his experience to advantage.
The goalie stopped two goal-bound shots from Abass Mohammed and Obed Owusu in the 28th and 43rd minutes, respectively, to keep his side in the game.
Tema Youth’s James Akaminko, on resumption in the second half, nearly stunned the homers as he unleashed a thunderbolt of a shot from close range in a counter-attack, missing the target by inches.
The Porcupine Warriors, sensing danger, would approach the rest of the game in a more cautious manner, packing the midfield with more aggressive players to ward off the visitors from causing any havoc.
Substitute Kwame Boateng should have won the day for the homers on the stroke of full time, but his feeble header to an Owusu in-swinger was no threat to the Tema Youth goalie.
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