ANKARAGUCU - TOP GOAL SCORER RETURNS ..... AT LAST

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Welcome back to the team Sestak and may your stay with Ankaragucu be a long one !

Sestak came on as a substitute 10 minutes into the 2nd half to show the goal-shy Ankaragucu players how it should be done.

Sivasspor 1 ANKARAGUCU 1

Maniac Kanka Harun, Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Flying Dutchman Kanka Carlo, Oz Kanka Chris and I met up at the new venue for Ankaragucu's 'away' matches. The Fat Cat Bar on Tunalihimli. Very pleasant sitting outside in 'the garden' pre-match in the warm late afternoon Spring sunshine. The interior is also quite pleasant.

The team -

Senecky
Ugur, Guven, Aydin and Murat
Gabric, Adem, Umut and T. Dogan
Fatih and Vittek

Substitutes used - Sestak, Ozgur and Bednar (Rajnoch is apparently being rested for the Big One next week !)

The match got underway and it was Sivas which looked the more menacing of the two teams.

The match was only 7 minutes old when Senecky saved bravely at the feet of a Sivas attacker. It was a classic move down the right and a cut back into the path of the incoming attacker, and on any other day would probably have produced a goal.

Ankaragucu was 'slow out of the traps' but they started to press forward and Fatih almost made the break-through with their first serious attack after 20 minutes. He broke clear of the Sivas defence, noticed Korcan coming out of the goal-area and tried to lob the ball over his head. However, he totally misjudged the pace of the ball and it went well over.

Sivas had another chance to open the scoring on 35 minutes when they were awarded a free kick about 30 metres out. In came a real bullet of a shot which was a goal all the way, but somehow Senecky got his fingertips to it and he deflected the ball over the bar for a corner. Fantastic save !

The only other serious chance of the first half fell to Vittek who was put through, but his shot went whizzing past the post.

Into the 2nd half and still it was Sivas who had most of the possession, looking sharp and were faster into the tackle.

However, Ankaragucu finally woke up halfway through the 2nd half and it took substitute Sestak to do it.

A great pinpoint pass from the left wing was sent over by Murat to the unmarked Sestak on the right who volleyed the ball first time into the goal via the left post with Korcan transfixed and bemused ! Great vision by Murat and a great stike by Sestak.

Sivas was rattled but their heads stayed up. Senecky was called into action 5 minutes later to make another great save.

Then on the 75th minute mark, the equaliser arrived and the Ankaragucu defence must accept responsibility for day-dreaming. However, having said that, all credit to Sedat for his predatory instincts. It was a Sivas corner and the ball was flighted over into the danger area. Bednar mis-timed his jump to clear and Sedat came in behind him to bullet the header in. Where was the defence me asks ??!!

How to defend corner kicks is a tactic which is practiced by most teams on the training ground, but this was obviously forgotten by Ankaragucu on this occasion. I'm sure Mesut Bey will have had a few choice words about it post-match !

There were two other goal scoring chances at both ends before the final whistle.

A Sivas attacker was clear through on goal but fortunately lost control of the ball at the vital moment which gave Senecky the chance to clear the danger.

5 minutes before the end, an Ankaragucu free kick rebounded off the post with Korcan beaten - couldn't see who took the free kick.

So, another draw and I suppose on the balance of play it was a fair result.

Man of the Match has to be Senecky for showing us some fine goalkeeping skills.

Sivas achieved their objective with the threat of relegation now removed.

All eyes are now focused on next Sunday when Ankaragucu take on Fenerbahce in Istanbul.

Fener and Trabzon are locked together at the top of the League on equal points but with Fener having a 3 goals advantage over Trabzon.

The burning question is ....... can Ankaragucu deliver a win and give Trabzon the opportunity of winning League the following week ?

As always, watch this space for the answer !

KO and meeting time to be announced later in the comments section of this post.

It will be necessary to reserve seats in The Fat Cat for this match, so please tell Harun if you intend to join us so that he can make a reservation with the Manager, Murat Bey.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim