Special Competition: Karela coach Johnson Smith rallies for support ahead of Hearts clash

Karela United coach Johnson Smith is urging fans to be in their numbers for their crunch clash with Accra Hearts of Oak in the NC Special Competition on Wednesday.

The former Asante Kotoko assistant coach leads his charges to the national capital to face the Premier B leaders in what is a highly anticipated clash.

Smith engineered his side’s 2-0 win over WAFA at the Cosby Awuah Memorial Park with attacker Charles Diawisie Taylor scoring a brace while Hearts staged a strong 2-1 come-from-behind win over Ebusua Dwarfs.

Karela are just a point shy of the Phobians 22 and a victory in the matchday 12 clash would change the situation at the summit in their favour.

Hearts fell 1-0 in the reverse fixture and coach Kim Tyrone Grant and his resurgent side seeking to restore their home run after failing to beat Liberty Professionals in a 0-0 draw in a matchday 10 clash.

However, Smith says his side have other ideas as they head to the nation’s Wembley and is calling for the fans to represent in their numbers.

“The fans should be in the stands in their numbers and witness good football. Because we are not in Accra they’re denied good football so they must be there to support us,” the 59-year-old told ncspecialcompetition.com.

Speaking about his team’s performance against WAFA he admitted that his side was wasteful in the second half of the game.

“The goal margin against WAFA wasn’t down to the tactical dispositions in the first half but just that we were wasteful in the second half,” he said.

Striker Diawisie Taylor, 19, took his tally in the competition to 8 goals and is currently leading the Goal King Chart, having toppled Asante Kotoko’s Abdul Safiu Fatawu.

Hearts have dropped just two points on home turf in the competition and have scored 9 goals and conceded 1.