Team - Gokhan, Aytac, Volkan, Aydin, Mehmet, Serhat, Selim, Kaan, Serkan, Emre, Levent
Greetings Kankas and Kankies.
I took my customary stroll through
Genclik Park on my way to the Stadium to have a nostalgic look at the
old (now defunct) Sahil Restaurant where we used to meet, and I may
add …. full of high spirits and optimism. However, that optimism
was short lived 3 hours later !!
ANKARAGUCU 2 Alanyaspor 3
I entered the Stadium at 1pm to find
Gecikondu full and Maraton almost full. By kick-off time, Maraton
was full and so was both Kapali sections. A truly fantastic
crowd for a 2nd Division Match.
A nice touch just before KO when the 50
odd Alanya supporters in the Away End unfurled an Ankaragucu Banner
much to the delight of all sections, and they were applauded of
course.
I was joined by Battle Damaged Kanka
Damon, Cider Kanka John, and Apple Kanka Erman together with his two
friends.
Ankaragucu took to the field wearing an
all white strip which had two thin strips of blue and yellow across
the chest. Were they going to play like Real Madrid I was thinking
??? And the answer is …....... NO !!
Normally it is Ankaragucu coming out of
the traps first, but Alanya showed from the off that they are not top
of the league without good reason. Ankaragucu came into the match
in fits and starts but it was Alanya showing the most urgency and
fluency.
It must have been a great match for the
neutrals sitting in the VIP Section, but for us long suffering
Ankaragucu supporters it was frustrating to watch Ankaragucu's
attacks coming to nothing in the final third.
20 minutes in and Alanya should have
opened the scoring with a fast counter attack, the cut-back, but
thankfully no takers.
Approaching half time and Alanya was
putting Ankaragucu under extreme pressure and the defence was in
panic mode as they cleared two Alanya scoring opportunities.
Ankaragucu on the counter should have punished Alanya, but with the
attacking move made quickly, it was halted by indecision and the
chance was lost.
The inevitable goal came just before
the half time whistle when Alanya broke out quickly down the right
wing and when the ball was cut back in the 'classic cut back style'
it was tapped in for what was really all that Alanya deserved from
their first half performance.
Into the 2nd half then and
Alanya took off from where they left off, ie, on the offensive.
Ankaragucu was trying to get back into the match, but even with the
introduction of Mehmet Cakir, the match was becoming scrappy.
Halfway through the 2nd
half, and just as I was beginning to think that Alanya might start
running the match down, then Ankaragucu finally made the break
through.
A corner on the left, the knock-down in
the box, and there was Serhat to rifle a shot into the net with the
goalkeeper rooted to the spot.
Celebrations all round and everyone
jumping up and down ready for the Ankaragucu onslaught...... wrong !
From the re-start Alanya went straight
into attack and scored …....... aaaaaargh !!!! I was still
celebrating the Ankaragucu goal and didn't see it, but Cider Kanka
said it was a classic schoolboy error with the defence caught off
guard. Probably they were still celebrating like me !!!
Ankaragucu finally woke up and started
to play with some urgency, although I have to say that Alanya were
always looking dangerous on the break.
Ten minutes to go and finally a break
for Ankaragucu when Emre went down in the box under a challenge and a
definite penalty. Levent made no mistake.
Approaching the final whistle and we
were still willing Ankaragucu on to seal a memorable win because a
2-2 score is not what we were looking for.
Then in the last attack of the match,
an Alanya player went down in the box on the left (theatrically in my
view, albeit that it was quite far away) and the referee unbelievably
pointed to the spot.
Stunned silence all round, but the
Alanya No9 made no mistake.
Gutted is not the word I would use.
Perhaps something stronger which I can't say here !!!
Ankaragucu is now left with a mountain
to climb if they are to escape from the Red League. Hopefully they
won't come up against teams like Alanya in the run up to the end, and
all we can do now is realistically think about making the Play-Offs
!!!
Off we went to The Chopin to team up
with Oz Kanka Chris who was also suffering the defeat of
Genclerbirligi at the hands of Erciyes. His report will not make
good reading either !!!
All the best from a very disappointed
Eski Kanka Jim
PS ….. me thinks it's going to be a
long and effin frustrating winter !!!
I'm still in disbelief at the goals we conceded today. The first one was poor but the last two were up their with the worst I've seen. The second goal Aydin, Volkan and Aytac all standing talking to each other as the ball was played through.
ReplyDeleteThe second goal the player was never going to score from that angle and Aydin slides in. Im concerned about the form of Aydin, since he has come into the back line we have looked worse.
The defence needs to sort it out or we won't make the play offs
Totally agree with you for the winning goal Nadeem. It was a rush of blood to the head because there was no danger with the ball almost on the touchline.
ReplyDeleteWhere is the discipline and football brains from our defenders ? I am almost at the point of ordering those optimism pills which I told my Chemist to cancel.
It really is getting to the point where the players have to dig deep and put a few wins together, otherwise the 4th and 5th team can so easily overtake us !!!
Next weekend is going to be an even bigger mountain than Alanya !