Ankaragucu were held to a 1-1 draw in Diyarbakir with Amedspor which now leaves them 6 points behind leaders Manisaspor who won 1-0 at home against Gumushanespor. The match was shown live on Ozgur Gun TV but unfortunately their internet channel crashed due to the sheer number of Ankaragucu fans who had tuned in. That in itself shows the gulf in size between these two clubs, unfortunately the quality on the pitch is about similar in standard.
Team - Turgut Kirveli, Goksu Alhas, Adem Saglam, Volkan Geyik, Mehmet Tasci, Salih Sefercik, Muhammed Gonulacar, Omer Bozan, Emrah Bozkurt, Sertan Vardar, Timur Kosovali
Subs - Altay Bayindir, Onur Atasayer, Sedat Bayrak, Hasan Ayaroglu, Hasan Kaya, Gurkan Alver, Teoman Erkan
Ferhat was replaced in goal with Turgut due to injury and Ankaragucu decided to stick with the same formation that saw them win 2-0 at home against Kocaeli Birlikspor. Myself and Damon managed to catch parts of the match due to a link through Periscope. We both agreed that the standard of football at this level is woeful and horrible to watch.
Ankaragucu struggled to put any passes together and the only players who showed any decent attacking quality were Hasan Ayaroglu when he came on as a sub and Omer Bozan. Its difficult to see this Ankaragucu becoming champions unless they go into the January break no more than 6 points behind Manisaspor and then make some quality additions to the team.
It was the home side who took the lead in the first half after the referee awarded a penalty due to a handball in the Ankaragucu box. Former Genclerbirligi striker Deniz Naki stepped up and scored to make it 1-0 Amedspor.
The score remained that way until mid way into the second half, Hasan Ayaroglu delivered a nice cross into the box from a free kick, Volkan Geyik headed the ball back across goal and Timur Kosovali was on hand to head the ball past Serkan in the Amedspor goal to make it 1-1.
Neither side created any chances for the remainder of the match and neither could argue about the 1-1 draw. Its now 1 win from their last 5 games for Ankaragucu with 1 game remaining until the winter break.
That match is against on form Tuzlaspor next Sunday at home while Manisaspor travel to Sivas in a huge weekend for both clubs. The match preview will be here on the blog midweek.
Thanks for the 'downbeat' report Nadeem.
ReplyDeleteI've taken a dose of 'realism medicine' tonight and have come to the realistic conclusion that Ankaragucu and Rangers must prepare to battle it out in the Play-Offs this season.
Raith Rovers will surely be too good for Rangers in the Play-Offs and consign them (deservedly so) to another season in the Championship with Raith Rovers joining Hibs in the Super League.
However, the picture is not so clear in Turkey. There is no doubt that Manisa have their tails up and it will be a miracle if they let their advantage slip. In the unlikely event of Ankaragucu winning the league then perhaps even Maniac Kanka Harun will believe in God Almighty !!!!
The only thing remaining for Ankaragucu before the winter break is to win on Sunday and then keep taking one match at a time. The Kankas will be there on Sunday to hopefully see it happen !
Ankaragucu's match is Saturday at 1:30. Sunday is Gencler-Fenerbahce
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update Alex, chance for us to put pressure on Manisaspor going into final game of 1 st half of the season
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