I'm still high after last weekend's Gencler victory over Besiktas. As you all know it included an extremely funny own goal by the Besiktas defender Egeman. I've just discovered an even better goal against Besiktas, this one by Ankaragucu from way back in the 80s.
The Round Ball in Ankara! Dedicated to football lovers in Ankara (Except for those who follow Osmanlispor)
Friday, November 11, 2011
Monday, November 07, 2011
Gencler sacrifice an eagle*
I'm still bouncing off walls the day after one of Gencler's best wins in recent years. How great it was to silence the Besiktas fans. To come back from two-nil down at half-time to win by two clear goals. Amazing stuff.
Genclerbirligi 4 - 2 Besiktas
What a lovely autumn day in Ankara for the first day of the bayram. Normally we don't get football on during bayrams but I guess the late start to the season meant they had to cram it in. It did feel a bit like having a match on Christmas Day but I have a feeling that for many fans in the crowd it was a great excuse to get away from the relatives. Not for me of course. I'm a family-type of man.
Down at the Beer Bus Little Oz Kanka and myself were joined by Spine, Oguz, Sir Eski, Flying Dutchman and two newcomers from Sweden, Robin and John. The new guys were kicking themselves that they hadn't bought 100 tl season tickets earlier in the year as tickets for last night were 56 lira. Oh well, they were about to get their money's worth.
We left Flying Dutchman and Sir Eski in the pub, Maniac Kanka Harun joined them a bit later, and got in with a few minutes before kick-off. A decent crowd, by Gencler standards, and the Besiktas lot filled their section behind the goals.
As usual we were outsung from the off. Outplayed on the field as well as Besiktas went one up after just three minutes. The defence was again to blame as Mehmet Sedef failed to keep on his man. It was soft and deflating. To be scored against so early is just depressing.
Maniac and Little Oz Kanka after the match
The team didn't seem to depressed though as they played some decent footy with Yasin getting a good shot from distance on target. There were a couple of other scrambles in the goal mouth that with a bit of luck would have seen us draw level but in the end it was Besiktas who got lucky with Genclerbirligi old boy Mustafa Pektemek pouncing on a loose ball to make it 0-2.
I then managed to lose a 1 lira bet with my son as we won a free kick just outside the box. I bet that Azofeifa would take it and Aykut would head it in. I almost won but Aykut sent it wide.
Oguz and Spine with John and Oz Kanka in the background
Half time and the general consensus was that we weren't playing too badly. Just a slight problem with the score and some rubbish referee decisions. Oh well, been there a million times before.
Text from Flying Dutchman comes in: Possession stat: "51 percent versus 49 percent. But as Sir Eski says 'possession doesn't win matches. Goals do!' We are not playing bad in my opinion. Mind you the first goal was a blatant mistake in defence. Spelled with a 'c' ;-)"
True, true. Gencler coach Fuat Capa obviously kept spirits up during the half-time break as we came out again in a positive manner.
Besiktas should have killed the match early in the second half when Pektemek found himself one-on-one with Ramazan but failed to get his shot on target.
And then the fun began.
About the 54th minute and Herve Tum (who had a pretty good game compared to recent weeks) short passes to Azofeifa. Azo takes a shot which deflected off a defender and Tum from a tight angle sends it in. The fightback begins
Just a couple of minutes later Yasin goes down the wing and sends a lovely cross right onto the head of Hursut (my man of the match) who had the Besiktas keeper diving to no avail. 2-2 and this was looking good.
John, Robin, Oz Kanka and Little Oz Kanka after the fourth had gone in.
And then the best goal I've seen all season. Our keeper Ramazan whacks the ball way to hard and all the Besiktas defender Egeman had to do was tap it back to his own keeper. Problem was the keeper had come out. He desperately tried to stretch out to get it but had to watch as the ball, as if in slow motion, crossed the line.
We were singing and dancing in the stands but there was still 10 minutes left. Besiktas had a go but it was right at the death when we sealed it. Hursut put a ball in to Erdal who somehow or other managed to swing around and get a shot off. An amazingly difficult goal.
Back at the Beer Bus to celebrate
Peep, peep. What a match. To come back from two-nil down and really embarass Besiktas. Back to the Beer Bus for a celebratory beer and high-fives all round. That was simply brilliant stuff last night. Iyi Bayramlar all! Hopefully I'll put up some more photos soon.
* Headline thanks to Maniac Kanka Harun.
Genclerbirligi 4 - 2 Besiktas
What a lovely autumn day in Ankara for the first day of the bayram. Normally we don't get football on during bayrams but I guess the late start to the season meant they had to cram it in. It did feel a bit like having a match on Christmas Day but I have a feeling that for many fans in the crowd it was a great excuse to get away from the relatives. Not for me of course. I'm a family-type of man.
Down at the Beer Bus Little Oz Kanka and myself were joined by Spine, Oguz, Sir Eski, Flying Dutchman and two newcomers from Sweden, Robin and John. The new guys were kicking themselves that they hadn't bought 100 tl season tickets earlier in the year as tickets for last night were 56 lira. Oh well, they were about to get their money's worth.
We left Flying Dutchman and Sir Eski in the pub, Maniac Kanka Harun joined them a bit later, and got in with a few minutes before kick-off. A decent crowd, by Gencler standards, and the Besiktas lot filled their section behind the goals.
As usual we were outsung from the off. Outplayed on the field as well as Besiktas went one up after just three minutes. The defence was again to blame as Mehmet Sedef failed to keep on his man. It was soft and deflating. To be scored against so early is just depressing.
The team didn't seem to depressed though as they played some decent footy with Yasin getting a good shot from distance on target. There were a couple of other scrambles in the goal mouth that with a bit of luck would have seen us draw level but in the end it was Besiktas who got lucky with Genclerbirligi old boy Mustafa Pektemek pouncing on a loose ball to make it 0-2.
I then managed to lose a 1 lira bet with my son as we won a free kick just outside the box. I bet that Azofeifa would take it and Aykut would head it in. I almost won but Aykut sent it wide.
Half time and the general consensus was that we weren't playing too badly. Just a slight problem with the score and some rubbish referee decisions. Oh well, been there a million times before.
Text from Flying Dutchman comes in: Possession stat: "51 percent versus 49 percent. But as Sir Eski says 'possession doesn't win matches. Goals do!' We are not playing bad in my opinion. Mind you the first goal was a blatant mistake in defence. Spelled with a 'c' ;-)"
True, true. Gencler coach Fuat Capa obviously kept spirits up during the half-time break as we came out again in a positive manner.
Besiktas should have killed the match early in the second half when Pektemek found himself one-on-one with Ramazan but failed to get his shot on target.
And then the fun began.
About the 54th minute and Herve Tum (who had a pretty good game compared to recent weeks) short passes to Azofeifa. Azo takes a shot which deflected off a defender and Tum from a tight angle sends it in. The fightback begins
Just a couple of minutes later Yasin goes down the wing and sends a lovely cross right onto the head of Hursut (my man of the match) who had the Besiktas keeper diving to no avail. 2-2 and this was looking good.
And then the best goal I've seen all season. Our keeper Ramazan whacks the ball way to hard and all the Besiktas defender Egeman had to do was tap it back to his own keeper. Problem was the keeper had come out. He desperately tried to stretch out to get it but had to watch as the ball, as if in slow motion, crossed the line.
We were singing and dancing in the stands but there was still 10 minutes left. Besiktas had a go but it was right at the death when we sealed it. Hursut put a ball in to Erdal who somehow or other managed to swing around and get a shot off. An amazingly difficult goal.
Peep, peep. What a match. To come back from two-nil down and really embarass Besiktas. Back to the Beer Bus for a celebratory beer and high-fives all round. That was simply brilliant stuff last night. Iyi Bayramlar all! Hopefully I'll put up some more photos soon.
* Headline thanks to Maniac Kanka Harun.
Sunday, November 06, 2011
Wow, wow,wow,wow,wow
I've been watching Genclerbirligi for a few years now and I'd have to say this was one of the best wins we have had. It was up there with defeating Blackburn Rovers. It was up there with defeating Valencia, it was even up there with beating Ankaragucu. More.... much, much more tomorrow when I sober up a bit. For now though let me just print out the score. Oh, how I'm loving this.
Genclerbirligi 4 - 2 Besiktas
Genclerbirligi 4 - 2 Besiktas
Saturday, November 05, 2011
ANKARAGUCU ...... NEVER SAY DIE !
Greetings Kankas and Kankies.
Ankaragucu snatched a point from the jaws of defeat last night in Samsun, when to all intents and purposes, they should have been dead and buried. Another two schoolboy errors in defence put Ankaragucu on the back foot, but to their credit they never let their heads fall. We will need to see more of this before the end of the season !
Samsun 2 Ankaragucu 2
Five of us turned-up at the Red Lion Club to watch the match. Flying Dutchman Kanka Carlo, Cider Kanka John and his friend Alex from Frankfurt-in-Main and my friend Onur (whisper it quietly ..... he supports Fener !).
Team -
Ozden
Kagan, Ediz, Aydin and Ozgur
Weeks, Hurriyet and Guven
Serdar and Turgut
Tonia
Substitutes used - Atilla, Umut and Murat
Carlo was just paying for his beer and getting ready to settle down to watch match but he missed the first goal which arrived with only seconds on the clock. In the first attack of the match, the ball was put through to Zenke, but Aydin was covering the move and was about to tackle him when he stumbled and fell. Zenke was then clean through and fired in a shot which Ozden managged to get an arm to, but in it went to stun us all.
Play swung from end to end and then in the 14th minute Ankaragucu should have equalised, when from a great cross ball from Tonia, Turgut contrived to miss an open goal when all the ball needed was a touch. Again, 5 minutes later, Serdar was put through with only Ahmet in goal to beat, but instead of having a go, he passed the ball to the unmarked Tonia on the right but his feeble effort went past the post.
Then just before the half time whistle the killer blow was struck. Ahmet rolled the ball out to a defender and he carried the ball unchallenged to the halfway line, looked up, saw a gaping hole in the Ankaragucu defence, and threaded a great pass through about 5 defenders to the unmarked Murat who latched on to the ball, brought it forward, and lashed in a powerful shot with Ozden well beaten.
With Samsun sensing blood and Ankaragucu wobbling, the half time whistle arrived as a relief !
Ankaragucu came out for the 2nd half with the bit between their teeth and pressed forward relentlessly for a breakthrough. They were playing some neat footie in the Three Quarters area of the field, but with only Tonia up front, the attacks kept breaking down. Tonia (my Man of the Match) was everywhere and it was his inspiration and non-stop running which probably turned the match. He almost made the breakthrough on the 60 minute mark when he fired in a goal-bound shot but Ahmet saved well.
With 15 minutes to go, I decided to go outside for a siggy, more in frustration than anything else, and that's when the match was turned on its head. I saw the goal through the window and what a great goal it was. Captain Hurriyet latched on to a pass just outside the penalty area and sent a great shot into the top right hand corner with Ahmet helpless.
Oh well, I thought, that's it. We had a small crumb of comfort for all our endeavours. Then, just as I was about to extinguish my siggy the equaliser arrived.
Atilla received the ball just inside the penalty box, and with 2 defenders bearing down on him, he swivelled, wrong footing them, and sent a peach of a shot into the bottom right hand corner with Ahmet again helpless.
Jumping up and down with joy, high fives, and singing ...... Aaakaaarrraaaagooojoooo. I was back in the Club, but ............. maybe I should have stayed outside ??!!
True enough, it's only one point, but is could so easily have been zero points.
I have to say ....... if only. If only what you might ask ? With this fighting spirit ........ if only we had 2 strikers up front, what a difference it would have made to our season. The fact is .... we don't .... so it's still going to be an uphill struggle, however, all credit to the team for their efforts last night.
If the team show the same fighting qualities in 2 weeks time at home to Karabuk (Saturday 19 November) then we might be celebrating a first win of the season. Never say never, and, never say die !!
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
Ankaragucu snatched a point from the jaws of defeat last night in Samsun, when to all intents and purposes, they should have been dead and buried. Another two schoolboy errors in defence put Ankaragucu on the back foot, but to their credit they never let their heads fall. We will need to see more of this before the end of the season !
Samsun 2 Ankaragucu 2
Five of us turned-up at the Red Lion Club to watch the match. Flying Dutchman Kanka Carlo, Cider Kanka John and his friend Alex from Frankfurt-in-Main and my friend Onur (whisper it quietly ..... he supports Fener !).
Team -
Ozden
Kagan, Ediz, Aydin and Ozgur
Weeks, Hurriyet and Guven
Serdar and Turgut
Tonia
Substitutes used - Atilla, Umut and Murat
Carlo was just paying for his beer and getting ready to settle down to watch match but he missed the first goal which arrived with only seconds on the clock. In the first attack of the match, the ball was put through to Zenke, but Aydin was covering the move and was about to tackle him when he stumbled and fell. Zenke was then clean through and fired in a shot which Ozden managged to get an arm to, but in it went to stun us all.
Play swung from end to end and then in the 14th minute Ankaragucu should have equalised, when from a great cross ball from Tonia, Turgut contrived to miss an open goal when all the ball needed was a touch. Again, 5 minutes later, Serdar was put through with only Ahmet in goal to beat, but instead of having a go, he passed the ball to the unmarked Tonia on the right but his feeble effort went past the post.
Then just before the half time whistle the killer blow was struck. Ahmet rolled the ball out to a defender and he carried the ball unchallenged to the halfway line, looked up, saw a gaping hole in the Ankaragucu defence, and threaded a great pass through about 5 defenders to the unmarked Murat who latched on to the ball, brought it forward, and lashed in a powerful shot with Ozden well beaten.
With Samsun sensing blood and Ankaragucu wobbling, the half time whistle arrived as a relief !
Ankaragucu came out for the 2nd half with the bit between their teeth and pressed forward relentlessly for a breakthrough. They were playing some neat footie in the Three Quarters area of the field, but with only Tonia up front, the attacks kept breaking down. Tonia (my Man of the Match) was everywhere and it was his inspiration and non-stop running which probably turned the match. He almost made the breakthrough on the 60 minute mark when he fired in a goal-bound shot but Ahmet saved well.
With 15 minutes to go, I decided to go outside for a siggy, more in frustration than anything else, and that's when the match was turned on its head. I saw the goal through the window and what a great goal it was. Captain Hurriyet latched on to a pass just outside the penalty area and sent a great shot into the top right hand corner with Ahmet helpless.
Oh well, I thought, that's it. We had a small crumb of comfort for all our endeavours. Then, just as I was about to extinguish my siggy the equaliser arrived.
Atilla received the ball just inside the penalty box, and with 2 defenders bearing down on him, he swivelled, wrong footing them, and sent a peach of a shot into the bottom right hand corner with Ahmet again helpless.
Jumping up and down with joy, high fives, and singing ...... Aaakaaarrraaaagooojoooo. I was back in the Club, but ............. maybe I should have stayed outside ??!!
True enough, it's only one point, but is could so easily have been zero points.
I have to say ....... if only. If only what you might ask ? With this fighting spirit ........ if only we had 2 strikers up front, what a difference it would have made to our season. The fact is .... we don't .... so it's still going to be an uphill struggle, however, all credit to the team for their efforts last night.
If the team show the same fighting qualities in 2 weeks time at home to Karabuk (Saturday 19 November) then we might be celebrating a first win of the season. Never say never, and, never say die !!
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
Crap Monday night football
I really don't like Monday night games. It seems so wrong and it was clear that many other Gencler fans felt the same as there were only a dozen or so at the Beer Bus on Monday night. Those who didn't make didn't miss much.
Mersin Idmanyurdu 2 - 1 Genclerbirligi
I was a couple of minutes late to the pub and already we were 1-0 down. Not the best way to start the evening. Replays showed that a Mersin player hit the ball and it was going to go out. A defender near the line instinctively kicked it and STRAIGHT TO A MERSIN PLAYER who whacked it in.
Annoying yes, but Gencler looked like they could get back into it. We launched wave upon wave of attacks but almost none of them resulted in an actual shot at goal. There seemed to be too much setting it up for yet one more player and eventually all the fancy work would be wasted. Zec and Oktay in particular were guilty of this. Hursut was having a great day getting past his player almost every time but we still couldn't score.
That last para pretty much sums up the match. That and the fact that the only player who was taking shots, Erdal, couldn't get any of them on target.
Still, we were playing well and then our keeper Ramazan made a terrible mistake. He came out of box to clear a loose, but not very dangerous, ball. Instead of sending it to kingdom come he hit it along the ground straight to a Mersin player who lobbed it into the empty goal from about 35 metres.
And that's it really. Oh yes, Herve Tum got a consolation goal in the last minutes. That goal, by the way, was the first scored by a recognised striker this season. Sort of sums up Gencler's problems really.
Mersin Idmanyurdu 2 - 1 Genclerbirligi
I was a couple of minutes late to the pub and already we were 1-0 down. Not the best way to start the evening. Replays showed that a Mersin player hit the ball and it was going to go out. A defender near the line instinctively kicked it and STRAIGHT TO A MERSIN PLAYER who whacked it in.
Annoying yes, but Gencler looked like they could get back into it. We launched wave upon wave of attacks but almost none of them resulted in an actual shot at goal. There seemed to be too much setting it up for yet one more player and eventually all the fancy work would be wasted. Zec and Oktay in particular were guilty of this. Hursut was having a great day getting past his player almost every time but we still couldn't score.
That last para pretty much sums up the match. That and the fact that the only player who was taking shots, Erdal, couldn't get any of them on target.
Still, we were playing well and then our keeper Ramazan made a terrible mistake. He came out of box to clear a loose, but not very dangerous, ball. Instead of sending it to kingdom come he hit it along the ground straight to a Mersin player who lobbed it into the empty goal from about 35 metres.
And that's it really. Oh yes, Herve Tum got a consolation goal in the last minutes. That goal, by the way, was the first scored by a recognised striker this season. Sort of sums up Gencler's problems really.
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Gencler fail to find the net
Mersin 2 - 1 Genclerbiligi
I've been busy as hell since Monday night's match and won't have time to put up a report until some time Wednesday afternoon. Suffice to say it won't be pretty.
I've been busy as hell since Monday night's match and won't have time to put up a report until some time Wednesday afternoon. Suffice to say it won't be pretty.
Ankaragucu vs Samsunspor Match Preview !
Image above taken from Habervereti
This weekend Ankaragucu and Samsunspor are up first in the Friday night game in Samsun. Both sides met in a pre season friendly where it finished 1-1. A lot has changed since then, especially the Ankaragucu playing staff, but both teams are struggling in the relegation zone.
Ankaragucu come off the back of a poor week where both Manisaspor and Istanbul BBS took three points from us, and in both games the performance could only be described as dreadful. Poor defending, another sending off, conceding penalties and of course not taking our few chances.
Samsunspor are struggling themselves and only have one win in the Super Lig to date. They came up with both Mersin and Orduspor who are both having good starts to there campaign. Indeed there only win to date was the opening game of the season at home to Genclerbirligi where they won 3-2. Unlike Orduspor who are well organised at the back, Samsun have a weak defence and there forward line are off form to. Sound familiar ? This is a game which will be won by the team who wants it most.
The Key players for Samsun will be Ekigho Ehiosun and Simon Zenke who is similar to former Karabukspor striker Emanuele Emunike in that he is quick and powerful. They also have Colombian Playmaker Alvaro Dominguez and Aristode Bance who will be looking to break his run of games without a goal. Last weeks match against Eskisehirspor ended in a 1-0 loss, but they will take comfort from there 0-0 draw at Fenerbahce a few weeks earlier.
Ankaragucu will be without Ugur Ucar through suspension for his red card against Istanbul BBS, and Jan Rajnoch through injury, although reports are saying he wants to leave the club and has travelled back home. Ziya Dogan doesn't have much to work with, but he needs to do better with the squad he has. We have some good players in Tonia Tisdell, Theo Weeks, Serdar Ozkan, Hurriyet Gucer to name a few, but they need to cut out the stupid mistakes or face been punished every week. Will we even see Jarioslav Cerny make an appearance ? Even kids like Umit Kurt and Atilla Garhan seem to be ahead if him in the pecking order.
I cant see us winning any time soon, so im going for a 2-1 win for Samsunspor, nothing of late has given me any reason to think other wise.
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