It's another 'Josaic' mission for Duncan

(William Ezah of GNA Sports Desk writes)

Accra, Nov 22, GNA - David Duncan is gradually carving a niche for himself as one of the nation's celebrated coaches of his time after performing what could be described a 93Josaic Mission,=94 by leading long suffering Obuasi Ashgold to the promise land after years in the wilderness.

You may not like him for his abrasiveness, tough talking, no nonsense and outspoken character, but just as Joshua led the Israelis to the promise land, Duncan has also shepherded the premier league side to their first ever appearance in the CAF Champions League since losing out in the grand finale of the competition in 1997.

The miners under the technical tutelage of Duncan on Sunday defeated Tema based Real Sportive 2-0 to book a place in the prestigious competition next year.

It was the second time the tough talking coach was performing such a feat. He had excelled with the national under-17 team, the Black Starlets by qualifying them to the Africa Youth Championship in Gambia in 2005, where he conceded the gold medal to the hosts in the grand finale under very controversial circumstances.

This was after the once dreaded and feared Starlets, who mesmerised every opponent on the globe in the early 90's became sleeping giants for four years, until 'Dedon' as he is known by his admirers returned to the team.

Indeed his campaign at the African Championship was successful and Ghana would have won the competition if a fanatic Gambian soccer fan had not taken the law into his hands by illegally entering the pitch to distract the attention of the Ghanaian goalkeeper, Nana Bonsu, before the only goal of the match was scored.

But the team, at the end of the day secured a place in the Juvenile World Cup, the first time in many years. =93The whole world saw the action and can pass judgment on the goal,=94 Duncan stated in a post match interview. At the World Championship, a competition he dubbed, the 93Peruvian Crusade,=94 Duncan failed to glitter, perhaps due to the last minute reshuffling of the team.

The reshuffling still remains controversial, as there were rumours that, the coach conducted the exercise against his will and the team in the end failed to go beyond the group stages 96 their first since 1991 when it won the global event.

He became the sacrificial lamb as loads of blame were placed at his doorstep. For his critics it provided them a platform to launch attacks at the coach.

Known for his hard talks, strictness, disciplinary and no nonsense approach to issues, which made the sporting fraternity brand him as Ghana's version of Mourinho, he willingly accepted blame for his shortfalls and moved ahead.

With his inability to execute the Peruvian crusade to perfection, =93Dedon,=94 many thought would have recoiled into his shells. ,

Sooner than later, David was handed another challenge, this time, at club level taking over the reins of Ashgold as the head coach. He had his job well cut out 96 to revive the fortunes of the club on the local scene and return them to a continental competition.

It even became more narrowed, after the Professional League Board (PLB) in consultation with the clubs, decided to register the first four clubs in CAF competitions after only 12 weeks of matches following changes made on the local calendar.

Ashgold, which now occupy the first position with 22 points with just one round of matches remaining, has automatically qualified for Africa regardless of the outcome of the final fixture. The feat obviously marks another landmark achievement for the coach, who could not play to his full potentials in the premiership due to his desire to pursue academic laurels.

The former Great Afienya United and Great Olympics player was not very prominent in his playing days though he was among the first batch of players invited for the national under-23 camp, the Black Meteors under coach Sam Arday.

His feats on the coaching field have however compensated for his shortfalls as a player as he is gradually moving to glory and becoming a top notch coach on the continent.

For now, the man who jumped onto the coaching scene with his former club, Great Olympics in 2003 and later on to Hasaacas, where he attained an enviable feat of going through the first round of the premiership undefeated, has confirmed his success story with Ashgold.

It is however not the end of the road for him, the league title proper is up for grabs and Duncan would need to annex it to confirm his coaching prowess.

This obviously is not beyond his reach, as he is endowed with a blend of matured and experienced players in the likes of Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour, George Owu, Joe Hendricks, Valentine Atem who are tried and tested materials on the continent and youthful touches from Alex Asamoah, Alhajie Saanie, Kweku Sarpong, Sadik Adams and Shaibu Yakubu. Duncan now has an onerous task of delivering the league title to the miners for the first time in many years, whilst the whole world waits to see him fulfil that dream and crown it with another superlative performance in the championship.

A delivery of the title will definitely put his critics to sleep but should he fail they will still have nothing against him, after all, he has sent the miners to the continental scene after almost a decade in oblivion.