Hearts assistant coach, Henry Lamptey has showered praises on his team after their battling 6-5 penalty victory over rivals Asante Kotoko in the G6 tournament.

The Phobians edged their rivals after a battling draw in the semifinal of the tournament to setup a final date with Aduana Stars.

It was a game of spot kicks as Vincent Atingah shot the Phobians in the lead through the spot but captain Amos Frimpong restored parity also through the spot.

In the decisive penalty kick, Kotoko’s Isaac Quansah failed to hold his nerve to give the Phobians the victory.

And the Hearts assistant coach was full of praise for his players after the game.

“Our preparations have been very bad from the onset and even playing Aduana Stars in the opening game, we didn’t have a team and I had to parade players that came in for justify but we lost the game by a lone goal.

“I paraded a different a team against Medeama SC and we had a drawn game and coming into the game against Kotoko, I decided to use players that we bought but I can say that 90 percent of the players that played are the old players we have.

“It was a good game for both teams because there were no problems coming into the game and going into the game we knew Kotoko have a better form than us because they started their preseason before us but I told the players that I have played against Kotoko with King Faisal and the team I paraded with King Faisal to play against Kotoko, Hearts of Oak is much stronger than them but we won the game.

“The only thing you have to do is to get scouts to watch Kotoko and bring a report and from there you will know what to do but my players did exactly what I needed them to do and we won the game."

Hearts will play Aduana at a venue yet to be decided.