Greetings Kankas
and Kankies.
I’ll start at
the end again, because Nihad Mujakic’s post-match interview comments last night
said it all, and both Harun and I agree with him.
He apologised to
the large number of supporters who turned up for this mid-week fixture, but his
main point was when he said that Ankaragucu had under-estimated Umraniye. He went on to say that in the future
Ankaragucu would be better prepared for the opposition !!
It may only have
been Umraniye’s 2nd win of the season, but it was well
deserved. After the shock of conceding
a goal in the first minute of the match, they never stopped chasing the ball
and giving Ankaragucu players no time on the ball.
Ankaragucu was a
pale shadow of the team which had played so well last week against Antalya.
Although
Ankaragucu did have 60% possession and 22 shots on goal, they found ‘old boy’
Serkan in sparkling form between the sticks.
Also, I lost count of the times that passes went astray and 50/50 balls
were lost.
The bottom line
............. Ankaragucu is still a work in progress !!!
ANKARAGUCU 1 Umraniye 2
Team – Bahadir,
Kevin, Radakovic, Mujakic, Yasin, Tolga, Emre, Zahid, Pedrinho, Jese and Ali
Sowe
Substitutes –
Giorgio, Marlon, Taylan, Tasos and Oguz
The match took
only 1 minute to explode into life when Ankaragucu opened the scoring with
their first attack. An attack down
the right wing and the ball was crossed to the near post to Zahid who shot
around Serkan and inside the left post.
The expectation
of an onslaught on the Umraniye goal never materialised and Umraniye was quick
to reply.
The equaliser
arrived 7 minutes later with a fast Umraniye attack down the right and crossed
in for Avounou to latch onto the ball and power his way into the box. With Jese, Yasin and Radakovic asleep and
ball watching the skill of Avounou, he had the easiest of opportunities to
stroke the ball in with Bahadir exposed and helpless.
Serkan was busy
at the other end making an instinctive save and Zahid’s shot from just inside
the box was heading for the top right but was deflected by a defender for a
corner.
Then on the half
hour mark a lucky let-off for Ankaragucu when an Umraniye shot on goal hit the
underside of the bar and bounced into the grateful arms of Bahadir.
It was
end-to-end football at this stage with both goalkeepers busy. Approaching half time and Bahadir made a
crucial save following an Umraniye corner.
Serkan made
another great save from a goal bound shot and almost on the half time whistle
Tolga had a great opportunity to restore Ankaragucu’s lead but his shot was
just over the bar.
10 minutes into
the 2nd half and Umraniye snatched the lead when the dangerous
Avounou was on target again. A corner
on the right by Geraldo landed at the feet of Avounou in the centre who sent a
fierce shot inside the right post, which may have taken a slight deflection off
Tolga’s head.
At this point
Ankaragucu lost the plot and Umraniye started to take control of the
match. Ankaragucu’s passing became
wayward and at times they were like headless chickens with Umraniye taking full
advantage. Ankaragucu continued to give the ball away
cheaply and it was Umraniye looking the likelier team to score.
Tasos did have a
chance near the final whistle but his shot was well past the post after an
excellent lofted through ball to him.
A disappointing
result after having high expectations, but as I said before, the best team won
the match and Ankaragucu can have no complaints about losing.
Ankaragucu may
still be in 11th position in the league, but they are only 2 points
above the relegation zone !
They now have
only one week to prepare for the trip to Istanbul to face an in-form
Galatasaray on Wednesday night 4 January.
This will be a
real test of Ankaragucu’s character and organisation to face a team who could
very well be top of the league if they beat Sivas tomorrow.
Give us all a
Happy New Year Ankaragucu........please
!!!
All the best
from Eski Kanka Jim
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