You'd think we live in a third world country

I'm afraid that thanks to Ilhan Cavcav, the cash-obsessed idiot who runs Genclerbirligi, I was unable to see the only two events that the Anatolian news agency deemed fit to report on in the first half.

But first up I should report that we didn't quite get the numbers that the Ankaragucu Kankas managed on Friday night for the "Handbags in Sakarya" match. Mountaineering Kanka Robbie managed to get a damn lot of girls for that match but us Gencler Kankas made up for it in quality, ie, Spine got French Kanka Hande to show up for her first match of the season.

But sex counts aside, tonight we got Guclu, Alev, Flying Dutchman Kanka, me, Spine, French Kanka, Alpine Kanka and Kucuk Chris Kanka and Michal along for pre-match drinks. I have to also acknowledge Sir Eski Kanka Jim for coming along to support us tonight as well as Yankee Kanka and Maniac Kanka who both were at the match but for perhaps sensible reasons didn't show up at the Chopin - see Sir Eski Kanka's report on the Fener-Ankaragucu match for the reason.

So we rock on up to the stadium after a few beers at the Chopin. Plenty of time left until kick off and we find ourselves in one hell of an enormous queue. There was only one gate open for Maraton!

I'm not sure just how much money Cavcav saved by only opening one gate but it certainly stuffed up a damn lot of us.

Genclerbirligi 3 - 1 Erdoganspor

As I said before, there were two events which I missed thanks to not getting inside, thanks to Cavcav - the first two goals!

So, from what I'm told. Nick Carle comes in from the left, gets past various players with aplomb and shoots at an extreme angle..... bang and it is in and we are one up. My fellow Aussie scores his first league goal for Genclerbirligi and I'm still waiting in a queue outside! Typical! (As an aside I may have been lucky because I had promised Jim that if Carle did score I would sing the Australian national anthemn... thing is I'm not sure I know the words)

EDIT: And here is the goal:


Two minutes, and two feet forward in the queue to get in, and Kasimpasa sends a ball up. Two defenders are not sure what to do, neither is Jesus in goal and bang, a Kasimpasa taps it in. From what those who were actually saw it this was a case of absolute rank incompetence.

So we finally get in...

The match from then on is all Genclerbirligi. Mehmet Nas and Nick Carle in particular played brilliantly. At the back Tolga Dogantez had a great game also. Still though, even though we were in total control we failed to get that many shots on target.

I have to admit I was slightly surprised that we had Okan Ozturk up front, considering that Isaac Promise had scored a hat trick in our previous match. But anyway, the match was ours for the taking and it was finally taken when Mehmet Nas had a go on goal, the keeper couldn't hold on to it and Ozturk latched on to the free ball. 2-1.

All cheers and songs (many new ones which seem to have their roots in the Spanish civil war and Italian left-wing politics) from us Genclerbirligi fans but then we had a horrid 10-15 minutes in which Kasimpasa attacked like hell. We held them out, luckily in some cases.

Isaac Promise also came on around about then and by God he was playing brilliantly. He was not only getting shots on target but he was also setting stuff up, getting past players and in general doinf stuff that he had practically never done last year. I was so impressed that I actually joined the "We love you Isaac" chants.

Extra time. I.e. lets waste time and Kahe is brought on. In what must have been his only touch of the game he was brought down in the box for an absolutely clear penalty. Kahe then got himself up, and smashed the ball in. 3-1

All up, I would say this was a damn fine result. We looked good, Carle and Nas in midfield are a pair which I'm definitely looking forward to seeing again. Isaac Promise also looked great once he was brought on in the second half.

So my advice for Herr Stumpf. Start up with Isaac and Kahe up front. Now that Engin is back from suspension play Carle and Cakir in the middle, with Nas out on the right. As for the rest, well, you are paid to be the coach so you figure it out.

Whatever, I'm bloody happy... and bloody relieved.

After the match it was off to the Capadokia Bar to actually figure out what happened on Friday night.

EDIT: Just updated the league table and don't you just love seeing what team is at the very bottom!