BY GRACE ZIGAH
Kumasi sante Kotoko head coach Eric Tinkler has delivered a blunt assessment of his team’s opening-day performance after the Porcupine Warriors were held to a 2-2 draw by newly promoted Debibi United in the Ghana Premier League.
The result represents a frustrating start to Tinkler’s first league campaign in charge of Kotoko, particularly after the South African had warned his players before the match that complacency against newly promoted opposition could cost them valuable points.
Kotoko appeared to be on course for the expected victory after Yakubu Dogo gave the visitors the lead in the 15th minute. But Debibi United produced a spirited second-half response and turned the game on its head.
Richard Owusu became the hero for the home side, scoring twice to transform a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 advantage. Kotoko were eventually rescued from defeat when Hubert Gyau reacted to a goalmouth scramble to restore parity in the closing stages.
For Tinkler, however, the late equaliser could not disguise what he considered an underwhelming display.
“I don’t think we did enough to win this game,” the Kotoko coach said after the match.
“The performance itself, I’m not entirely happy. On the ball, we were very poor, not good enough in terms of our composure.”
The coach was particularly frustrated by Kotoko’s inability to retain possession and their repeated mistakes when they had control of the ball.
“We kept giving the ball away and we made it very difficult for ourselves. A draw is a fair outcome,” he added.
Tinkler’s frustration is significant because the coach had specifically warned his players before the opening fixture that newly promoted teams could not be underestimated.
Ahead of the match, he stressed that title-winning campaigns are often determined by how consistently big clubs collect points against teams lower down the table, insisting that Kotoko could not afford to approach such fixtures casually.
The warning ultimately proved prophetic.
After taking the lead, Kotoko were unable to maintain the intensity required to control the match, allowing Debibi to grow into the contest after the interval.
The newly promoted side showed the fighting spirit expected from a team making its first appearance in the top flight and earned a valuable point against one of Ghana’s most decorated clubs.
Tinkler also acknowledged that the performance dropped after half-time, with the intensity and willingness to work harder declining as Debibi mounted its comeback.
