And one hell of a heart stopper it was:
Ankargucu 2 2 Genclerbirligi
For the thousands of people from the Newcastle Jets forum who seem to be coming to this blog lately please ignore the next couple of paragraphs, it has nothing to do with Nick Carle...
I'm not sure if we can continue with the traditional pre-match descriptions concerning which of us Kankas met up at the Chopin before the match because we are getting too big. But I'll just mention a few anyway, on the Gencler side we had Smart Arse Yankee Kanka and Mrs. Smart Arse Yankee Kanka, Lyon Kanka Silvan for his first match, Moate Kanka Bobbie, Alper (Kanka name??), my good self and then Alpine Kanka came along with his two sons and one of their mates.
As I said, that was just the Genclerbirligi crowd.
At the Chopin were also Sir Eski Kanka, Mountaineering Kanka Robbie, Apple Kanka Erman and a bloke called Matt who couldn't be bothered to actually come to the match. Maniac Kanka Harun, Yankee Kanka and Battle-hardened Kanka Damon also managed to make it to the match.
I've probably left someone out... but please don't kill me.
The Ankaragucu lot left early in order to secure tickets while us Genclerbirligi fans enjoyed a couple more beers.
By the time we finally got to the stadium it was obvious us Gencler fans were outnumbered. Of course, we were in the away section of the stadium but I'd guess there were about 13,000 Ankaragucu fans compared to about 600 of us.
On to the match.
Gencler on the attack, some lovely moves from Nicky Carle but nothing comes out of it. In fact, Carle had a good chance of scoring early on, a move which he had himself started, but he was stopped by a defender.
Both teams looked rubbish, although the match was actually quite good fun...
That is until an Ankaragucu attack on the left, ball was put in by Ilkem and Murat Duruer whacked it in. The defence was shite, and I just put my head in my hands.
One-nil up and the Ankaragucu fans are flying high. I tip my lid to them because they certainly know how to sing.
Gencler had a couple of more chances but besides one sort-of shot from Engin we didn't really try.
Half-time approaching and I was trying to figure out how many waters I could buy with the coins I managed to embezzle into the match when Ankaragucu put the knife in.
It seemed quite innocuous, but a pass was put in from Yasin that went on to Krita who whacked the ball, got a slight touch from one of our players and ... in... Jesus didn't have a chance.
Depression then set in. 2-0 down at half time and I'm supposed to meet these Ankaragucu Kankas after the match!
Genclerbirligi's coach Fuat Capa must have had a few harsh words to say because we came out flying. Cakir, Nas and Carle were all playing well on the ball but still we were missing a striker. I know I've taken the piss out of the bloke a million times before but we need someone fast like Isaac Promise up front. Promise is injured at the moment and so for our first goal we had to rely on the Ankaragucu keeper Serkan.
In a moment of madness which will no doubt be haunting him tonight, Serkan decided to take out a Gencler player even though the ball was clearly going to go out. The referee, who was rubbish for most of the match by the way, pointed directly to the spot. Mehmet Cakir stood up and ... bang 2-1
With a light at the end of the tunnel Gencler started to play. Our midfield was outstanding and our defence was good enough to hold out Ankaragucu counterattacks. At the same time though our defence could have been a lot better.
But again I have to state that we need a striker. With people like Memet Nas, Mehmet Cakir and Nicky Carle in the midfield we are creating heaps of opportunities but we are just not converting them.
The Ankaragucu fans were screaming long and hard when someone from Gencler sent in a cross from the left. Okan Ozturk went up and headed the goal.
Us Gencler fans were estatic. The Ankaragucu fans were in shock. From 2-0 up, Ankaragucu came away with the match with only a point... and I got to go to the post-match drinks without being humiliated.
Two nil up at half time, and yes, we were singing and believing Eski Kanka's pre-match prediction of a three nil win.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as the late great Bill Shankley used to say..... the game's not over until it is over !
Two stupid `schoolboy` mistakes handed Gencler a life-line and all credit to them for accepting it !
As Oz Kanka mentioned, Serkan made a needless dive at the in-coming Gencler forward to concede a penalty when the ball was going out of play.
For the 2nd goal, a half-hearted tackle from Yasin allowed the cross which produced the goal in the last minute.
Message for Herr Briegel..... why take off Bebbe (who never stops running) when it was quite obvious to me that Yasin was knackered ??!!
Must do better in Trabzon in two weeks time in another empty stadium !!
Gecmisolsen to Moutaineering Kanka Robbie who became ill towards the end of the match.
I'm heading down to Bodrum tomorrow morning (Monday) for some RandR. See y'all in a couple of weeks.
All the best from Eski Kanka and thanks to Oz Kanka for making the match post.
chris, you are all only 39 fans!not 600 =)!
ReplyDeleteGo Nicky Carle!
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, the Australian media seem not to care about Carle now his exploits are over in Turkey, but for the many many Newcastle Jets and Australian supporters, we want to know all about him, and this blog seems to suggest he's going well!
Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the comment Tristan. As for the Australian media ignoring Carle nowadays, don't worry, the Turkish media pretty much ignores not just Carle but Ankara teams in general.
ReplyDelete