1:34 pm I'm slightly late (yet again) and the match has kicked off. Seems as if Aussie Bruce is injured. The rest of the team is pretty much as usual.
1:40 pm It's all Gencler but we can't get good shots off.
1:45 pm Two other matches are being played at the same time. Eskisehir 0 - 0 Ankaraspor and Kayseri 1 - 0 Denizli.
1:45 pm Argh. Kahe has a go. Off the post and out. Unlucky.
1:49 pm Konya have their first real chance but it goes out.
1:48 pm Last year we won this match 6-1. We want a repeat.
1:51 pm Jedinak sends a lovely ball through to Troisi, he lines up, and the flag goes up. Offside.
1:53 pm Troisi has a go this time and again it hits the post.
2:07 pm Koray sends one in from the right. Soner fails to get his head to it. It's all Gencler but Konya have a million men behind the ball.
2:12 pm Silly mistakes creeping in. We seem to be losing the ball way too easy.
2:14 pm Counter-attack from Gencler. Kahe is at the end of it and misses. By the way. Kahe hasn't scored since November (or something like that).
2:15 pm A yellow graphic for a Konya player. Seems as if I missed the first yellow of the match which went to Koray in the third minute. A minute or two left in the first half.2:18 pm Peep peep. Half-time. All Gencler but no goals.
Genclerbirligi 0 - 0 Konyaspor
Eskisehir 1 - 0 Ankaraspor
Kayseri 1 - 0 Denizli
2:36 pm And we are off again. Will Konya sit back for the rest of the match? Probably. I just hope we go for it. No changes as far as I can tell.
2:37 pm I was wrong (no surprises there) Soner, off, Mehmet Nas on. An attacking move by coach Samet Aybaba me thinks.
2:39 pm Troisi through a couple, pass to Kahe, then Cem Can buggers it up. Commentator says the play is exactly the same as the first half, us on the attack, Konya sitting back.
2:42 pm I'm listening to this on the net. So why did they just give an advertisement saying that you can listen to the match on the net?
2:46 pm Troisi to Nas, Nas to Troisi. Shot and out.
2:47 pm Momha sends it in. Sent out for a corner. And then Mustafa Pektemek gets his head to it and out by "this" much.
2:48 pm Kahe Kahe Kahe GOOOOOOLLLLL2:50 pm Troisi goes through a few, is fouled and a konya player gets a card. Konya makes a second change... Konya are surely going to go on the attack.2:53 pm Jedinak to take the free kick... He has a chance here. Nope, Kahe takes it ... out. Wasted.
2:55 pm Kahe to Troisi. He has a chance, but somehow sort of loses control. No real shot.
2:56 pm We are really going for the second. This of course makes it more difficult for me to understand as the commentator speeds up whenever an attack is on, and I can hardly understand him.
2:58 pm Kahe gets a yellow for falling over in the box.3:01 pm Kahe heads one over, then goes and complains to Mustafa Pektemek for not serving it to him on a platter. Konya meanwhile make their third change.
3:08 pm Counter-attack, through a few players and Pektemek fails to get much power on his shot.
3:09 pm Kahe again hits the post. That's the third ball to hit the post this match. They couldn't repeat it if they tried.
3:10 pm And now Konya hit the post.
3:11 pm Another great attack which ends with their keeper saving a shot from Troisi.
3:14 pm Pektemek off, Burhan Eser on.
3:19 pm We are still attacking but the tempo seems to have slowed down with just a few minutes left.
3:20 pm Burhan has a go, keeper send it out for a corner. We are to have 3 minutes of extra time.
3:22 pm We are wasting time. Troisi off, Mehmet Polat. Troisi has had a good, if unlucky game.
3:24 pm And that's it. Relief relief relief. We still aren't totally safe from the drop but are now five points above third-last. Enough? We need a couple more points from somewhere. Fingers crossed. Afternoon all.
Results
Genclerbirligi 1 - 0 Konyaspor
Eskisehir 2 - 0 Ankaraspor
Kayseri 2 - 0 Denizli
Well done Gencler. Grinding out 1-0 wins is something that must be done sometimes. At this stage of the season the 3 points is more important than the footie on display !!
ReplyDeleteManiac Kanka was sounding me out yesterday for a visit to Istanbul next season to see Kasimpasa v Ankaragucu !!! I won't print what I said !!!
Suffice to say that I haven't given up hope ...... YET .... of avoiding the Big Drop !
Ah, a little ray of sunshine coming from Ankara. Glad to see that you guys came away with the victory over the rabid dogs of Konya. I'd love to the see that closet-drinking dog 'put down' and not us (Ankaragucu). And the fact that they are playing Sivas next on the 18th shouldn't help them gain any points.
ReplyDeleteNice day for a football match! Legal Kanka and I met up with Wolgang and his son Chris at the stadium. Wolfgang and I were surprised Kahe made it into the basic eleven. But he scored and that's what counts; he felt elated, demonstrated by his goal-celebrations and his Samba moves at the end of the match when celebrating the win with the fans.
ReplyDeleteFirst half the pace was imo to slow but this changed for the better in the second half when Nas was brought into the team; and he had some good combination play with Troisi. The atmosphere amongst the Gençlerbirliği fans was very good; they managed for the songs to go round the stadium from the Marathon via Kapalı to the Protocol stand. Also at the beginning of the second half the players were greeted by many red balloons the fans in both Kapalı and Marathon had brought with them to the game.
Difficult match with Konya defending with ten man behind the ball, but through good work by Troisi, Nas en of course the goalscorer Kahe we claimed the important three points to see us move a little bit further up the table, away from the relegation zone.
Legal Kanka and I watched the Istanbul derby later that evening and had to conclude that it wasn't a match, what complete anti-football! Although one cannot say it was boring; it made the front page with a Dutch newspaper but obviously for all the wrong reasons. To finish with the words of my Galatasaray friend: 'What complete and utter idiots!'
Thanks for the account Flying Dutchman. I wish I was able to go.
ReplyDelete