Kumasi Asante Kotoko clinched the maiden Democracy Cup after defeating Accra Hearts of Oak 2-1 at the Accra Sports Stadium on Wednesday.
A Justice Blay spot kick in the first half and Peter Amidu Acquah’s strike in the second half dwarfed Hearts of Oak’s new recruit Asamoah Boateng Afriyie’s header to hand Kotoko the victory.
The cup game was an initiative of the Parliament of Ghana to celebrate 30 years of parliamentary democracy.
It was Kotoko’s third straight victory over Hearts after beating on two occasions in the Ghana Premier League (GPL).
Right from the blast of referee Juliet Appiah’s whistle, it was all Kotoko on the front foot, pushing the Phobians on the defensive.
Kotoko came close to opening the scoring on a few occasions, but Bernard Somuah and Peter Amidu Acquah failed to find the target.
On 28 minutes, Hearts new recruit centre back, Michael Awuah Mensah, was judged to have fouled Amidu Acquah in the box for a penalty, which was expertly converted by midfielder, Justice Blay, for the opener on 31 minutes.
Moments later, Hearts nearly equalised through Oppong Afranie, but his goal-bound strike was cleared off the line by Blay.
Kotoko continued with the dominance in the second half, with Amidu Acquah slipped past the Hearts back line and came face-to-face with goalkeeper Kwesi Nketia, who saved the shot.
Right after that, Nketia found skipper Dennis Korsah with a long throw who after a surging run into the half of Kotoko, delivered a cross that was headed home by Asamoah Boateng Afriyie.
The goal gingered the Phobians to push for more, but the striking pair of Afriyie and Hamza Issah were held in check by Man-of-the-Match, Samba Oniel, and his partner, Blay.
Amidu Acquah cleverly shot past Nketia to restore the lead on 61 minutes after capitalising on an error on the part of Kelvin Osei Asibey.
In a curtain-raiser, a select side comprising of members and staff of parliament defeated retired footballers of the Black Stars 3-1 with goals from the Obuasi East MP, Dr Patrick Boakye-Yiadom, and a brace from Hamza Ibrahim, with Sulley Muntari pulling one back through a free-kick for the retired players.
BY RAYMOND ACKUMEY