Champions! Kotoko Crowned - Bechem, Jets Join Wassaman To Div One

Sunday's match between Kotoko and Tema Youth was of academic importance

The Baba Yara Stadium Sunday provided an atmospheric show worthy of Kumasi Asante Kotoko as the Porcupine Warriors were crowned the 2011-2012 Glo Premier League Champions in a scene of frenetic activity.

The exuberant home fans had thronged the stadium in their numbers not just to watch the last game of the season against Tema Youth but more importantly to be witnesses to the coronation moment of Asante Kotoko after an incredible season.

Asante Kotoko won the match 1-0 against Tema Youth and the deafening, cacophonous din that swept through the stadium from the stands signaled the fans' appreciation of a brilliant season.

The stadium was charged right before the game as the coveted trophy donated by Glo Mobile Ghana was paraded through the stadium on the tartan tracks in an open top black Toyota Land Cruiser with a lady holding it aloft while 10 beautiful ladies, five on each side of the vehicle followed it.

Without doubt, an ordinary Asante Kotoko league match with Tema Youth would not have attracted the huge attendance and the electrifying atmosphere like it happened yesterday.

As early as 8am Sunday the fans had started trooping into the stadium providing a fair idea as to what were in store for the lovers of the game especially the supporters of Asante Kotoko.

It was Kotoko’s record 21st league title and the entire Kumasi metropolis was brought alive with operators of drinking joints having a field day.

The creme de la creme of Ghana football descended on Kumasi for the crowing moment and what a day it was for the champions whose skipper, goalkeeper Isaac Amoako, received the coveted trophy from the Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr Kwaku Agyemang Mensah supported by the GFA chairman, Mr Kwasi Nyantakyi.

Just after receiving the cup, Amoako handed it over to the Executive Chairman of Asante Kotoko, Dr K.K. Sarpong, whose untiring efforts saw the club achieving that feat.

Mighty Jets lost their Premier League status in the final seconds of the campaign as they joined Bechem United and Wassaman for a long journey back into the so-called wilderness of Ghana football.

It was a dramatic ending to a suspense-filled relegation dogfight among the bottom four, with Berekum Arsenal scrapping through narrowly, courtesy a big favour from their Berekum rivals, Chelsea.

Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Jets undid the survival campaign of Jets and provided the passage through which Arsenal breathed their air of freedom from a season-long battle against relegation.

Until the very last moment, Jets were poised for their third straight season in the premiership as they took an unlikely lead against the dethroned champions and CAF Champions League contenders at Berekum of all places.

At that same time, Arsenal had been reduced to a hapless lot in Accra as they trailed Hearts of Oak 4-0 in a game Arsenal needed to win to take charge of their own destiny.

And with fellow strugglers, Bechem United, also losing 1-0 at New Edubiase, Jets saw a desperate situation turn around so dramatically into a hopeful adventure until Chelsea struck the equaliser on the stroke of full time.

For the first time in recent years, the season’s closing matches failed to record a win for any of the relegation-threatened sides, with fair play seemingly making true meaning in the long run, while Kumasi Asante Kotoko ended their season with a 1-0 victory Tema Youth as an icing on their title-winning cake.