By El-Amisty Nobo| Follow Amisty on twitter @ElAmistyNobo
Hearts of Oak skillful midfielder Winful Cobbinah has torn referee Dally Gagba to shreds for giving the Porcupine Warriors a ‘soft penalty’ in their outstanding matchday 23 game of the 2017 Ghana Premier League against the Phobians at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium yesterday.
“He intentionally decided to let Kotoko back in the game. It’s bad for Ghana football if we want our game to reach the level we crave for,” Cobbinah said in a post match interview with a sweat of angry on his face.
“A game of this magnitude needs a fair officiating but today we didn’t get one,” the talented midfielder [Winful Cobbinah] whose brilliant pass split opened the enter Kotoko defensive line to give Hearts the opener added.
The Hearts of Oak skill factory [Winful Cobbinah] did not concede that they lost gas half way through the second half and laid the blame solely at the doorstep of referee Gagba.
“We didn’t lose concentration and stamina at any point in the game, only that they came up tops after getting the equalizer, and I think the referee was also with them. I can say this without blinking because you could see the penalty he awarded them, a very poor call from him,” he noted.
Meanwhile, coach Frank Nuttal [Hearts of Oak] congratulated both teams for a good showdown
“It was very exciting game because both teams came out to play but we felt a little bit ahead of them only that we did not make it count in terms of the final results,” the Scot said.
“Had we taken our chances in the first half, we could have emerged victors. In the second half, they [Kotoko] came out strongly, but were fortunate to get a goal through Kizito, and to be honest, it looked like we were going to run away with the three points but for the controversial penalty,” he said.
Asante Kotoko came back to draw with Hearts through Saddick Adams’ spot kick after Kwame Kizito had combined beautifully with Winful Cobbinah and Fatau Mohammed to give Hearts of Oak the lead.
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