The 2021/22 Ghana Premier League season may only now be turning unto the home straight, but Asante Kotoko have a clearer view of the finish line – and the gleaming prize that lies just beyond – than any of the other 17 sides.
Top of the table and eight points clear of their closest pursuers, Bechem United, Kotoko have looked like champions-elect for some time now.
And although it would be quite a while before the trophy is handed to them as just reward for a seemingly inevitable 24th triumphant top-flight campaign, the date for Kotoko’s [unofficial] coronation could come much sooner: April 10, 2022.
That – and this is where I pause for those who’d want to mark it on their calendars – would be tomorrow, when they host archrivals Accra Hearts of Oak for the first time this season, following two previous meetings between the old foes.
The first, the reverse of the upcoming fixture, ended in a 0-0 league draw, before Hearts snatched a 2-1 win in the second to claim the President’s Cup weeks later.
Kotoko, weighing the net effect of those outcomes, have come off worse, and would be deeply and desperately desirous of victory this time. In a season that has seen Kotoko dispatch opponents with varying degrees of ease, Hearts have proven a particularly – albeit unsurprisingly – tough nut to crack.
The taunts of Hearts’ Kumasi-born trainer Samuel Boadu – that Kotoko would always fail to prevail over a Hearts team that has him at the helm – still echoes, and his opposite number, Dr. Prosper Narteh Ogum, would love to call that bluff at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium where Kotoko have done some of their best work this term.
That would certainly decorate Kotoko’s title procession with the only missing element, that share of bragging rights their fans crave, as well as knock the wind out of their visitors’ sails.
You see, while the current league standings reveal Bechem as the immediate threat, there is no team better-equipped and more motivated than Hearts to hunt Kotoko down and rain on their parade.
The Phobians are, after all, the holders, and have been climbing up the log with recent results. Now fourth, even if still far behind the leaders, Hearts won’t give up their crown without a fight; at the very least, they’d entertain the likelihood of a late charge that could significantly improve their lot.
Kotoko may not be able to halt such a rally but, with all three points from Sunday’s ‘Super Clash’, they’d surely widen the gulf between themselves and Hearts to an extent that would make the latter lose all realistic hopes of holding on to the title.
This, then, is more about just securing a 10th home win of the season. It’s also about Kotoko turning a psychological corner and – even with ten more matches to go – flashing the ‘game over’ sign at Hearts and the rest of the chasing pack.
