Time for another round of self-flagellation and obviously past-deadline Sports “journalism” as I recap the year so far for the Royals of Legon Cities.

Match Results: 8 W – 3 D – 9 L; 17 GF/20 GA

Legon ended January atop our annual table by winning their one and only game. From February to April they continued to look strong, or at least…strong enough. The tonnage of 1-0 games suggested that the team was challenged each and every week, but the number of wins was heartening as the Royals pushed towards the top half of the league and started a deeper run in Ghana’s MTN FA Cup (the premier tournament in Black-Star Country)

A somewhat friendly draw in the tournament saw the boys from Legon continue to progress, beating lower tier side Korfoidua (home of my Ghanaian dad, Braimah Dediako) was part of an impressive run all the way to the semi-finals. Two more wins and the Royals would have their first piece of hardware under their new name.

Perhaps that distraction pulled them away from the League competition. Coach Paa Kwesi Fabian oversaw a miserable May and June as the defense crumbled and the losses piled up enough to let the Royals slide, once again, back down toward the relegation zone. Losing the Cup semi to a strong side from Nsotraman left it all in the balance, and once again the Royals escaped by the skin of their teeth…one point kept them above the drop and sent them into the offseason preparing to survive as usual.

Other Stories:

If there is a silver lining to the lousy spring the Royals endured, it’s that there were no points taken off of opponents, no bureaucratic mumbo jumbo, and no last second interventions to save them. The team truly earned their spot, which is more than can be said for prior years when they were lucky to have rivals engaging in shady practices. This time, the lack of a subplot made the survival just a little sweeter.

Star Players:

Alidu Mohamed is a rising young star, at just seventeen, the winger provided three goals, two assists, and three man of the match awards. But the Royals will lean on him still more in the coming season as the team’s clearest leader, Samuel Tenadu, who notched 10 goals for the club, has left to join the Porcupine Warriors of Asante Kotoko.

But while the goals and creators get the highlights, a large chunk of Legon’s success came down to the matches when their defense was able to deny opponents a path. The clearest connection between Legon’s best moments and a player’s performance wasn’t Mohamed or Tenadu, it was Center Back Frank Atoko. We’re always happy to acknowledge a strong center back performance, and all the more so when he makes an argument for everyone earning better wages and the awesomeness of journalism/writing. So Frank, thank you.