ANKARAGUCU SERIOUSLY ON THE SLIDE !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Ankaragucu sank deeper into the relegation mire last night in Ankara !    After a poor 1^st half they fought back with a more spirited display in the 2^nd half to equalise with 20 minutes of the match remaining, and to be honest, that was about as much as I expected and was reasonably happy to settle for one point.

However, as we all know too well, football can be cruel and Gazi punished Ankaragucu with the winner with the last action of the match.   Some might say it was robbery, but it was a well taken goal and the Ankaragucu defence should question their ability to defend free kicks properly to protect Korcan.

ANKARAGUCU        1          Gazisehir           2

Team – Korcan, Pazdan, Kulusic, Pinto, Kitsiou, Faty, Moke Canteros, Aydin, Ilhan and Orgill

Substitutes – Cebrail and Hasan

Haluk and I watched the match in The Alerta Bar and were the only Ankaragucu supporters present.

With both teams sizing each other up, it took until the 12^th minute for the first serious attempt on goal.   Orgill should have opened the scoring when a perfect cross came in from the left, and with a free header unchallenged, he headed over.

Ankaragucu had two more chances a few minutes later but both attempts were wasted with poor shots which were easily saved.

On the half hour mark came a real catastrophe for Ankaragucu when Gazi was awarded a penalty in controversial circumstances.   Pazdan and a Gazi attacker chased the ball to the goal line on the right.   The Gazi attacker was just outside the box and Pazdan was a few inches inside the box when the attacker whipped a cross into the centre.   However, Pazdan’s arm was in the way and the ball hit his arm which was up at about shoulder level and the ball went out of play.   The referee had no alternative but to award the penalty which was a cruel decision because it was obvious that Pazdan had not used his arm intentionally, and it was not actually in the danger zone.   However, the rules are clear on this subject and the penalty was despatched by Twumasi even though Korcan got a hand to the ball and almost saved it.

Gazi heads were up and they were looking much sharper and faster.    Ankaragucu, on the other hand, was guilty of giving the ball away cheaply and inviting Gazi to attack them.

So, the half time whistle was a relief with no more damage done and all to play for in the 2^nd half.

Gazi started the 2^nd half on the front foot and for the most part were parked inside the Ankaragucu half with Ankaragucu having difficulty passing the ball out of their own half.   They were again guilty of gifting the ball to Gazi and most of their crosses were being swallowed up by Gazi players.  

However, there was at least one perfect cross in the 66^th minute which was sent in from the right to the back post where Ilhan was lurking unmarked to head-in for the equaliser.

The goal snapped Ankaragucu out of their lethargy and they pressed forward searching for an unlikely winner.   Orgill and Moke had two goal bound efforts well saved by the goalkeeper.

It was heading for a share of the spoils on 90 plus 3 until Ilhan gave away a needless free kick on the right near the touch line, and God only knows what he was thinking about !     The ball was floated in and Djilobodji had a close range free header with the Ankaragucu defence stationary and Korcan helpless.

What a balls-up, especially for Ilhan, the hero turned villain !!

It isn’t difficult to figure out where Ankaragucu will be at this time next week.   Sitting 3^rd bottom of the league, only 2 points ahead of Gencler and Kayseri, they travel to fast improving Basaksehir on Sunday.   Also, with the bottom two playing each other on Saturday, Ankaragucu could well be 2^nd bottom before they even kick-off in Istan.....spit.....bul !!

Dark days are looming in more ways than one !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim