Ashgold Will Break North African Jinx — Duncan

Ashantigold’s Coach, David Duncan, yesterday declared that the new generation of players in the club are poised to break the North African jinx tomorrow when they face famous Algerian side, JS Kabylie, in the second round of the CAF Champions League. The miners whose best chance to win a continental silverware in 1997 was incidentally crushed by Moroccan Champions, Raja Cassablanca, have over the years had problems with North African challenges. Last year when everything seemed working well for them, it was another side from North Africa, FAR Rabat, which ended their dreams. But speaking to the Daily Graphic moments before the team emplaned to Algiers via Rome, Duncan said the team had learnt enough from previous experiences to battle the odds in Algeria tomorrow. He said even though the stature of JS Kabylie sometimes appears quite intimidating, his team has the experience and appetite to go all out tomorrow Friday. “We don’t intend to have JSK stand in our way because players like Jonathan Mensah who was discovered in Obuasi at the beginning of the season, Nathaniel Quaye, Sefa Owusu, Isahaku Zakari and others are hungry for success.” Duncan discarded assertions that Ashgold are poor away performers saying “it is a known fact that we are always frustrated by match officials when we play away during the league”, and also cited the same problem when the team played in Morocco last year. “In Morocco, for instance, when we realised that the frustration was intense, we decided to play for survival and allow the game to be decided by lottery,” he added. The 18 players who left Accra for the match include two goalkeepers, James Nanor and Fatau Dauda. Others are Oumar Gariba, Solomon Addy, David Telfer, Owusu Sefa, Jonathan Mensah, Tony Baffoe, Mubarak Wakasu and Isahaku Zakari. The rest are Stephen Owusu Ansah, Eric Adu Opoku, Alhaji Momo Sannie, Nathaniel Quaye, James Tagoe, Sumaila Nyaya and Alex Asamoah.