FCPPL review: 7 things we learned from matchday 21

Matchday 21 is done and dusted. There weren't a great many goals, but there were plenty storylines from across Ghana. Here're a few bits and bobs from our man Kweku Arhin

1. Richard Kingson performs another magic
Last weekend, Richard Kingson was all in the news for making a miraculous comeback in Olympics 1-0 victory over Liberty. He had not been expected to play after going down injured a day earlier in the Stephen Appiah testimonial.

This weekend, the veteran was set to make another appearance in the league until he pulled up in the warm up. Osei Boateng took his place.

JoySports checks on what the issue was has not yielded fruit. For now, we can assume Olele’s injury is felt a week after actually incurring it. These are questions we can once again pose to the footballing gods!

Speedy recovery to the legend and hope to see him in goal next week as Olympics play Bechem United!

2. Ahmed Toure is Human
After 90 minutes of grueling action in Tarkwa, the Medeama v Kotoko game was heading for a goalless draw until referee Samuel Sukah awarded a penalty to the Porcupine Warriors.

Up stepped Ahmed Toure. The headlines were being already written at the Joy Sports editorial desk. Ahmed Toure was set to convert his second penalty in two weeks to secure all three points for Kotoko again.

Unfortunately, the Ivorian destroyed the scripts as he missed the penalty to end the game in a stalemate. The miss infuriated the Kotoko followers to the extent that a furious fan blamed Toure for trying to speed Duncan’s departure.

How a thought like this can still be generated in 21st century is still baffling but one thing is sure: Ahmed Toure is human after all.

3. Errr...what were those white handkerchiefs for?
Six minutes into Hearts' home game with Hasaacas, the visiting side were two up courtesy Emmanuel Ankobiah's strikes. The game will forever be remembered for the wrong reasons as assistant ref Badiun Alhassan was struck by an object.

But on the other side, the Hearts Twitter account posted an image of two handkerchiefs lying in each half of the field. Ways and means it is? Were those two handkerchiefs the two goals of Emmanuel Ankobiah?

The footballing gods are the best to answer these but for the rest of us, Hasaacas won and more pressure has been mounted on Herbert’s shoulders

4. Inter Allies back. Or are they?
Paa Kwasi Fabin’s side had been on a seven-game winless streak prior to matchday 20. Two back-to-back wins against Wa All Stars and Olympics have seen the Tema side jump as high as seventh, seven points behind the league leaders and two points behind the top four places.

Fabin had outlined a top four position and his targets are well and truly on course. With an away game against B.A United in Accra and a game in Tema against Hasaacas next on the radar for the Inter Allies, they are assured of picking more points. Who knows they can challenge Ashantigold for the title should the Obuasi side slip up.

Inter Allies still remain unbeaten in the second round.

5. BA United finally break their away duck
The bottom placed side had played ten games away and for all these ten games, they came back with a defeat. Their trip to the dreaded Wa park had only one outcome: another loss.

To the surprise of many and to the credit of the Sunyani side, they picked up a point where Hearts and AshGold failed.

The onus lies on them now to build upon this impressive point as the league has 8 more matches to go. With the closeness of the league, 16 out of 24 points can see a miraculous survival for B.A United.

6. Edubiase are generous
New Edubiase's two goal loss at the hands of Chelsea increased the goals conceded tally for the Bekwai side. After matchday 21, Edubiase have now let in a whopping 33 goals.

They concede a high number of goals and this could be their undoing at the end of the season.

Edubiase currently sit 13th, one point clear of safety. If there is anything that wins football matches and trophies, they are goals scored and not goals conceded.

Beware Edubiase! Your leaky nature could send you to the soccer wilderness earlier than you anticipate

7. Impressive goal by game ratio
After 168 league matches, 355 goals have been scored. This represents an average of 2.11 goals per game. Considering the pessimism associated with the league, this represents a more than decent number.

In plain words, every league game averages two goals. The quality of the league has come under much scrutiny but the numbers and stats prove the teams really have something to play for. This has been further attributed by the closeness of the teams.

If the following weeks are going to repeat this trend, the league will certainly go down to the wire and Ghanaians can be assured of a final day drama - the drama we feel in other leagues where team officials and fans are all glued to the radio sets during matches to update themselves on the happenings of other league games.

Brace yourselves for this drama. If possible, you can start purchasing yourself few blood pressure equalizers.

Follow Kweku on Twitter : @nana_odum. Get more from the #JoySports hashtag on Twitter and Facebook

Story by Ghana/Joy Sports/Kweku Arhin