Today in history: Kotoko win 20th league title

On 6th July, 2008 Kumasi Asante Kotoko beat Gamba All Blacks 3-1 in the ultimate match of the 2007/2008 Onetouch Premier League at the Agona Swedru Stadium to win their 20th league title.

Kwame Obeng Darko opened the scores for Kotoko on the 27th minute when he connected home after receiving a neat pass from Eric Bekoe on the left flank.

All Blacks despite playing at home allowed Kotoko to dictate the pace of the game as if there was nothing at stake. Bekoe who was a two goal hero of the day scored the second goal for Kotoko from a free kick in the 53rd minute after he had been brought down violently at the edge of the All Blacks penalty area. A few minutes later, Bekoe was on target again when he pounced on a loose ball outside the penalty dribbled past three defenders of All Blacks before planting the ball on the blind side of goalkeeper Ransford Cudjoe in the 85th minute.

Accra-based referee Sulemana Ibrahim stunned the whole stadium when he whistled for a penalty against Kotoko in added on time and the spot kick was expertly converted by All Blacks' leading marksman Obed Owusu for consolation goal.

Bekoe's two goals thus brought his tally to 17 in the 30-week old premiership to earn him the Goal King trophy. Both teams exhausted their playing cards before referee Ibrahim brought proceedings to an end.

The heavily attended match had in attendance the Deputy Central Regional Minister, Samuel Obodai, Member of Parliament for Agona East, John Kwesi Agyabeng and the Agona West Municipal Chief Executive, Ben Mensah.

Teams                P  W   D  L    F  A  GD         PTS

 Asante Kotoko   30  21  6  3   53  18 +35  69
 Heart of Lions  30  16  5  9   40  29 +11  53
 Berekum Arsenal 30  13  7  10  32  29 + 3  46
 Liberty         30  13  6  11  48  36 +12  45
 Ashantigold     30  11  9  10  34  26 + 8  42
 King Faisal     30  9   14  7  36  30 + 6  41
 Wa All Stars    30  12  5  13  27  28 - 3  41
 Hearts of Oak   30  10  10 10  31  31  0   40
 Tema Youth      30  10  10 10  31  35 - 4  40
 Kessben F/C     30  10  8  12  29  33 - 4  38
 RTU             30  12  5  13  31  40 - 9  38
 All Blacks      30  11  5  14  30  40 -10  38
 Hasaacas        30  10  7  13  44  37 + 3  37
 Zaytuna F/C     30  9   6  15  32  43 -11  33
 Real Sportive   30  8   6  16  34  48 -14  30
 Great Olympics  30  5   9  16  23  50 -27  24