Accra Hearts of Oak left-back Dennis Nkrumah-Korsah does not see a reason to panic when playing for Accra Hearts of Oak against Asante Kotoko, as he believes it is a normal football match against familiar opponents, a reason behind his classic output in what was his first appearance in the Super Clash on Sunday.
Korsah was adjudged the Man of the Match after Asante Kotoko traveled to Accra to hold Accra Hearts of Oak to a goalless draw in the Ghana Premier League match week 7 outstanding match on Sunday at the Accra sports stadium. The former Ebusua Dwarfs captain was just a delight to watch, solid at the left side of the Hearts of Oak defence, combining robust and mastery of defence with great overlapping contributions to the game.
Korsah joined Accra Hearts of Oak last month, and despite being a new member of the Hearts of Oak squad, stole the show in the Super Clash against Asante Kotoko. Nkrumah-Korsah’s influence in the game was undoubtedly, one of the major reasons coach Samuel Boadu’s side could contain Asante Kotoko’s gun blazing attacking prowess of the Cameroonian duo, George Mfegue and league’s top scorer so far, Frank Mbella Etouga.
Responding to a question posed to him as what inspired his masterclass performance against Asante Kotoko in such big game and in front of such a huge spectators of both teams, Nkrumah-Korsah downplayed any form of nervousness, describing the opponents as “the same Kotoko” as he does not see anything special to trigger a fear in him. The 25-year old Bachelor of Science degree holder played against Asante Kotoko during his days at Ebusua Dwarfs in the league and, despite the difference in terms of pedigree of playing against Kotoko with Dwarfs compared to doing same with Hearts of Oak, he does not see anything different.
“I’ve played against them [Asante Kotoko] when I was in Dwarfs, both Kotoko and Hearts of Oak and now I’ve joined Hearts. It’s the same Kotoko, it hasn’t changed. Though they have a new coach, they are doing so well but then, and then the euphoria around the match; the supporters, the noise, but it’s still the same Kotoko so I was just calm doing the simple thing on the field of play and then we were there”, Nkrumah-Korsah told StarTimes after the Super Clash.
The Super Clash ended 0-0 and that means Asante Kotoko have now opened 7 points lead on the league log, leaving Hearts of Oak behind trailing by 12 points with 17 more matches to end the season.
