ANKARAGUCU - VICTORY STOLEN BY DUBIOUS PENALTY AWARD

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The referee, Mr Huseyin Gocek, may well have had nightmares last night after his error of judgement in awarding a penalty to Antalya 10 minutes from the end of the match with Ankaragucu firing on all cylinders at the time.

Antalyaspor 2 ANKARAGUCU 2

Battle Damaged Kanka Damon and I met up in The Beer Bus Bar to watch 'the curtain raiser' and support Gencler against Bursa. Oz Kanka will report on that one after he has licked his wounds !

We were joined by Caricature Kanka Ozgur - there is a story behind that name !

No surprises in the team line-up -

Senecky
Guven, Rajnoch, Zewlakow, Klukowsk
Adem, Dogan, Mehmet, Sapara, Kagan
Sestak

2nd half substitutes used - Ozgur, Gabric and Metin

Ankaragucu was straight into the attack and could have scored in the first 20 minutes.

In the 1st minute Sapara sent over an inviting cross which was just missed by Sestak. Mehment sent another over on 9 minutes which was met by Dogan's head but saved by 'Gengiz Khan lookalike' Omer. 2 minutes later Kagan sent in a screamer which was saved by Omer.

25 minutes gone and Antalya decided to 'come out of their shell'. They almost went ahead when Senecky came out of his area in a crowded box to clear and missed the ball. It was sent back into the empty goal, but fortunately went over.

Then with half time looming Antalya went ahead against the run of play. A corner swung over and there was Necati unmarked near the 18 yard line to half-volley the ball in through a ruck of players. Well taken by him - an opportunist strike.

The closing 5 minutes of the half and it was all Antalya now with a scent of victory.

Half time whistle ......... phew ........ time for one of Umit's famous half time team talks and time to re-group.

We were joined at this point by Oz Kanka Chris, Little Oz Kanka Matthew and Flying Dutchman Kanka Carlo looking none too pleased, well apart from Matthew who always has a smile on his face !

Antalya went straight into the attack from the whistle and hit the post with the Ankaragucu defence all over the place. A fortunate escape.

We had to wait until the 67th minute for the equaliser and it was worth the wait. A measured cross from the right from Sapara, the head flick from Klukowski to Zewy and he picks his spot with Omer well beaten.

3 minutes later and it was almost 2. A Sapara corner slung over and Zewy heads just over.

70 minutes in and Gabric (who had just come on) crosses in for Metin. He looked up, spotted Sapara running in and lays the ball back with a perfect pass for Sapara to fire in a great goal.

Ankaragucu was in control now and spraying the passes around like they normally do when they are in 'awake mode'.

Then with 10 minutes to go ........ the controversial decision.

A tackle from Rajnoch just outside the penalty box and almost on the line. The Antalya player went down and the referee points to the spot. OK, maybe it was a bad tackle and a foul, but I can't believe that a FIFA refereee and Linesman can, between them, make such a cock-up.

We all know that referees are only human and they do make mistakes, but (as an ex-Class 1 referee) the unwritten rule for referees is always to be 100% sure before awarding a penalty and when in the slightest doubt give the decision to the defending team.

Anyway, what's done is done and Antalya was not complaining when Necati fired it in and sent Senecky the wrong way.

3 minutes from the end, and with Ankaragucu doing all the attacking, Metin almost made it 3 but again Omer came to Antalya's rescue with a good save. One last effort before the final whistle which hit the bar and was cleared to safety.

A good performance from Ankaragucu bearing in mind all the distractions of the past week and all credit to the players for giving it their all. Man of the Match ? Sapara of course !!!

We now have the mid-season break for league footie, but Cup action resumes on Wednesday when it's Gencler v Ankaragucu. Not 100% sure of the KO time yet, but 7pm was mentioned last night.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

PS ...... An interesting observation last night. During the Fener v Sivas match, I noticed that the group of Sivas supporters were also waving Kocaeli scarves. Do they have a similar bond to the Ankaragucu/Bursa supporters I was wondering ? Anyone have any idea about it ?