ANKARAGUCU ......DOWN, BUT NOT IN DISGRACE !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies

Yes, a disappointing result, but Ankaragucu was still in the match and searching for the equaliser at 2-1 down, and fully deserving of a point.   However, football can be cruel sometimes and one lapse of concentration near the end was enough for Sivas to take all 3 points.

Sivasspor         3           ANKARAGUCU       1

Team – Korcan, Kitsiou, Pazdan, Kulusic, Pinto, Sedat, Faty, Moke, Hasan, Ilhan and Orgill

Substitutes – Aydin, Mehmet and Sadaev

Only Eski Kanka was in The Alerta Bar along with guest kankas Haluk, Yildirim and Emre.

The match was only one minute old when Orgill was put through after a mistake by a defender, but as he was pondering whether to go alone it or pass to the free colleague on the right, he was dispossessed and the chance was lost.

Sivas soon put Ankaragucu under pressure and it took a good save from Korcan to save a goal bound header, and then Ilhan made a saving tackle in the box to divert the ball away from the danger area, and at this stage 15 minutes in, Sivas was looking threatening.

Then, against the run of play, Ankaragucu snatched a goal when a Sivas defender and the goalkeeper got in a tangle from the defender’s slack back pass.   Orgill was hovering and pounced on the mistake to take the loose ball and walk it in.

4 minutes later and it was Pinto to the rescue when Sivas made a fast break, but with the Ankaragucu defence back-pedalling, Pinto made a saving clearance to stop a certain goal.

However, that equalising goal came 5 minutes later but it could have been prevented if Moke had been more alert.   A cross came in from the right which was headed down in the box and the loose ball was collected by Mert who fired in a shot from the left to the right.    As I said, Moke had the chance to prevent the shot if he had shown more anticipation of the danger.

2 minutes later, Sivas scored again, but it was rightly chalked off for offside without reference to the VAR.

5 minutes to go before the half time whistle and Hasan was in a promising position inside the box but before he could shoot he was harshly penalised for a foul on a defender.

Still time before the whistle for Ankaragucu to score when they were awarded a free kick just outside the box, but as happened last week, Ilhan sent his effort into the wall and it was cleared.    He almost made amends in time added on when his goal bound shot was well saved

The 2^nd half was only 2 minutes old when Sivas took the lead for the first time and again it was Mert who did the damage.   He received a pass on the left just outside the box and sent a screamer to the right which hit the inside of the post and in, deceiving Korcan in the process.

I think Metin Bey will work on free kicks this week at the Training Area.   We have seen Ilhan hit his into the wall last week and this week.   In the 63^rd minute it was the turn of Aydin to do the same.   Aaaaaargh, wasted opportunities going begging and unforgivable to waste such scoring attempts.

To be fair to Ankaragucu, they kept pressing forward and Ilhan was unlucky to see his snap-shot saved.   Also, Aydin sent in an inviting cross from the right which was attacked and headed clear by a Sivas defender with Ankaragucu attackers out of position to capitalise.

Approaching the final whistle and Faty almost conjured up the equaliser with a fierce goal bound shot, but the Sivas goalkeeper made a great save to deny him.

At the other end, Pazdan was his usual commanding self when he cut-out a pass destined for an attacker in a goal scoring position.

Mehmet joined the ‘missed free kick club’ when he sent his free kick over the bar for 3 Rugby points  !!

On the 90^th minute mark and Mehmet gifted the ball to Sivas when he missed the ball and the Sivas attacker was quick to latch onto the ball and it took a great save from Korcan to tip the ball over the bar.

Into time-added-on and the sickening blow was struck to put the match beyond Ankaragucu.   A cross from the right to the unmarked Moustapha on the left who had drifted clear of the Ankaragucu defence and he had the simplest of tap-ins.

There was still time for Sadaev to sneak a consolation goal, but his header was sent just past the post.

A cruel ending to the match for Ankaragucu, who to their credit, never let their heads go down.

So, 7 matches into the season and Ankaragucu has dropped back into the relegation area and find themselves only one point above the 3^rd bottom position.   Sivas, on the other hand, leap up to 2^nd top and the situation in the league is finely balanced with a host of clubs fighting it out in mid-table, and Ankaragucu has only 7 points less than leaders Alanya !

It is unnecessary to hit the panic button at this stage, but with the next fixture at home to Beshiktrash in 2 weeks time, the squeaky-bum time may not be too far off for Ankaragucu !

Next weekend there is an international break which gives Metin Bey an opportunity to prepare for the visit of Beshiktrash and hopefully Canderos will have recovered from his injury and be in the position to take the free kicks from the 3 duffers !!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim