(Ankaragucu on the attack - look at the well drilled Istanbul BBS defence formation !)
(Nehri of Anti-X Group strutting his stuff and showing his colours !) 
(Pre-match smiles from Smiley Kankie, Red Sox Kanka and Eski Kanka)Greetings Kankas and Kankies.
We needed more than optimism pills yesterday - more like 'uppers' were needed to calm nerves in the 2nd half !
We needed more than optimism pills yesterday - more like 'uppers' were needed to calm nerves in the 2nd half !
Istanbul BBS are no mugs, as their high league position testifies !
ANKARAGUCU 2 Istanbul Buyuk Belidiye Spor 2
The Team -
Senecky
Ugur, Rajnoch, Aydin, Gabric
Murat, Weeks, Kagan, Guven
Sapara
Dogan
2nd half substitutes - Mehmet, Ozgur and Metin
We all met in The Beer Bus Bar - all 5 of us ! Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Smiley Kankie Ozge, Red Sox Kanka Russ (who left early !!) and I. Back Pack Kanka David, recently arrived in Ankara, joined us as we were leaving - looked like he had hitch-hiked all the way from Toronto !!
Into the Stadium just prior to the National Anthem and we were almost off.
I must confess I wasn't happy with the line-up. No Sestak (suspended - too many yellow cards !). No Vittek - still recovering from injury. Metin on the bench. Meye (that's a mystery). So, are we going back to the bad olde days of playing a 'Lone Ranger' up front ..... and at home as well ??!! C'mon Umit Bey, let's be a little more adventurous !!!
Ankaragucu was first to threaten on 7 minutes when Guven sent a screamer in on goal but it was just over.
However, Istanbul was looking dangerous and their passing was pretty damn good compared to Ankaragucu's continuing habit of giving the ball away and taking on one too many defenders. Istanbul had lots of players running off the ball making themselves available for the simple pass. Umit Bey, do you practice these elementary tactics in the Training Ground ??!!
A pretty boring first half ended with me thinking of another 0-0 !
Ankaragucu came out a different team in the 2nd half. How many times have I said this over the past few months ??
5 minutes in and a corner slung over by Sapara into the box and Aydin was first to it to head in.
4 minutes later and a cross into the box from Sapara and a great bullet of a header from the hard-working Dogan to send us all into song.
Was there a goal avalanche I thought ? Grrrrrrr ........ silly me !!
Istanbul stepped up another gear - they were digging deep and refusing to lie-down.
Then Istanbul was awarded a free kick just ouside the box and Ibrahim sent in a fantastic ball into the top right hand corner. Vintage Sapara !
Ankaragucu didn't have time to catch their breath and slow the game down. One minute later an Istanbul breakaway sent Tum off with defenders struggling to keep pace with him. Bang..... and in goes the equaliser.
Momentary shock ........ and then the volume was increased from the tribunes.
It was all end-to-end footie now. Sapara was everywhere shouting instructions (a quote from Battle Damaged ..... he's the backbone of the team. And from Eski ...... he's the engine room of the team) ! Dogan was back in defence at times and Rajnoch was up in attack.
Tum almost scored the winner 5 minutes from time but a great save from Senecky denied him.
Dogan had a goal-bound shot saved 4 minutes from time.
The nerve ends were jangling as Ankaragucu pressed for the winner in time added on, but it was not to be.
A fighting 2nd half display from Ankaragucu but a case of 2 points lost rather than 1 point gained.
Next Sunday Ankaragucu will be away in Karabuk, so probably watching this one in The Beer Bus Bar. KO time to be announced where known.
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
as i said on the other blog, how frustrating a team are we ????? We have a good team, and players, just a crap defence and not so great manager. The defence needs improved in january, if ugur or klukowski are injured ozat plays midfileders in there place, same at centre half, rajnoch is not a centre half, he cant defend. The sooner we get hurriyet back the better as well, whats happned to him?
ReplyDeleteon the plus side, this is a good istanbul bbs side and we did play some good football, we need to start winning though or uefa football can be waived goodbye, look at gaziantepspor and istanbul bbs how well there doing
nadeem
You know you can make the pictures larger, Jim. :-)
ReplyDeleteYeah. They are hard to see in China! Who is this Red Sox Kanka? He supports the right soccer team, but his domestic alliances are misguided.
ReplyDelete-Philly Kanka
Turkish guy living in Boston, Jamie.
ReplyDeleteWell, thanks for all the criticism ! Suggest some of you make an appointment with your optician ASAP !!! Now it's my turn !!
ReplyDeleteAgree with Nadeem about getting Hurriyet back in the team, but it's a mystery why he is not playing. Must ask Maniac if he knows anything.
Granted Aydin opened the scoring for Ankaragucu, but he had a shocker. Caught in possession so many times, ponderous on the ball and way off the pace.
Well, at least Sestak will be back next week, so hopefully Umit Bey will feel inclined to field an attacking formation. Or am I dreaming again.
After all, if Sivas can knock in 5 against Karabuk then why not Ankaragucu ??!!
KO is 5pm on Sunday. Meeting in The Beer Bus Bar.
Hurriyet has been kicked out of the "kadro" because of some problem he has with coach Umit. Umit says he won't allow Hurriyet to play for as long as he is coach. I wonder if it has anything to do with the players not being paid for months on end.
ReplyDelete