After three weeks of cooling off for the exhaustive first round of the Ghana Premier League, league matches resumed for the second and final round of fifteen games to be played last weekend at all eight league centers across the country.
The shine and blur that always accompany our local football was not missing over the weekend as we welcome you to kickgh.com's TALKING POINTS on what ensued in week sixteen of the ongoing Ghana Premier League. Now let us set the ball rolling;
VITAL HOME WINS
League matches have become so keen such that, home games have become a bitter pill to swallow for visiting teams in this season's league. Club's playing their home games do everything possible to make sure all points are retained to position the club in a better way of surviving the league.
Week sixteen (16) has, thus far, recorded the highest number of homes wins (7) since the league started started in February with only Techiman City sharing spoils with Krobea Kumasi Asante Kotoko at Techiman to a one all draw game.
To avoid unnecessary and incessant pressure that comes with the moments in the dying embers of the league where club's try to avoid the drop especially teams found wanting for survival, every club is making sure points at home are accumulated as much as possible in case away games become teething and unwelcoming.
Now that away win has become scarce like teeth refusing to grow in the beak of a bird, home wins are yet to be recorded more in the rest of the fourteen (14) weeks left in the Ghana Premier League.
How much impact will these home wins affect the performance of play to away sides going into league games? What mental fortitude and prejudice will away sides have heading towards league games when competition becomes cagey and demanding? How credible are these home wins? The onus rest on kickgh.com readers to contribute to the aforementioned puzzles.
CLUB DEBUTANTS
After the three-week break for club's to strategize well and revisit the drawing drawing board for a better second round of the Ghana Premier league, clubs were allowed to invigorate their squad to add quality to them.
Almost all the sixteen (16) participating clubs added one or two players to the team to meet expectation ahead of the second round which started last weekend across all eight league centers.
League clubs signed new crop of players who have no experience whatsoever in the league and will be playing the league for the first time which they found important in helping and adding strength to the team.
Others too were signed to add maturity and experience to the team when it needs most in the course of the season.
The new players who made their season debut to various clubs left an indelible mark of what they have for football fans and league followers in the country with some having their names on the scoresheet in their maiden outing. Bismark Idan and Emmanuel Bonnah had their debut with New Edubiase and Amos Korankye made his debut for Medeama SC, though he was with Hasaacas in the first round, when New Edubiase took on Medeama SC at Obuasi.
Also Francis Twene, Eric Ametepe, Nana Tei Horsu and Wahab Ahadzi were part of the losing team of Chelsea last weekend that has suffered a back-to-back lost this season to Wa All Stars in WA where Martin Dzilah also made his debut for All Stars. Alfred Nelson and Hans Kwoffie had a sweet victory for Bechem United against Kenneth Owusu's Aduana where all three players were coming in as greenhorn's in the league.
In Accra, former Kumasi Asante Kotoko dependable defender, Abeiku Ainooson lost with Dreams FC at the Accra Sports Stadium when they played guest to Kassenu Ghandi and Patrick Razak's Accra Hearts of Oak in a one nil victory for the rainbow boys who were also making their debut in the league season.
Justice Blay and Rickie Adjei Mensah couldn't stop Sekondi Hasaacas from losing to Enoch Adu's Inter Allies in Tema as all made their maiden outing for their clubs this season.
Christopher Bonney who was registered for the second round of the league games but had already made his debut for Dwarfs before last weekend scored the only goal for the club against in-form Liberty Professionals at the newly-built Cape Coast sports stadium.
SECOND LOWEST SCORING WEEK
An exiguous thirteen (13) goals were scored in match day sixteen in the Ghana Premier League as joint second lowest so far this season with week five recording the lowest with only twelve (12) goals.
The points to talk about here is the fact that the league break has taken a toll of sharpness and accuracy away from our players as sluggishness and somnolence overshadowed the ability of players to come back to their possible and known best to get the balls in the net.
Few weeks were scheduled for players to regroup and get prepared for league games by clubs resulting in the lack of goals in the early showers of the second round of matches.
It might take us another week or weeks to see the appreciable number of goals we have witnessed in the sixteen-week-long league as juxtaposed to last season.
Football need goals to keep it enkindled for entertainment and the coming football weeks should bring back the goals we need to set the tune for fans to get entertained and also relieve off the boredom some games get to produce.
