Girne club relegated from Super League
GIRNE Halk Evi’s (GHE) one-season stay in the Aksa Super League was ended before they had even kicked a ball last weekend, after 14th-placed Baf Ülkü Yurdu (BÜY) secured a point at home against Yonpaş Dumlupınar on Saturday to make survival mathematically impossible for GHE.
The game between BÜY and Yonpaş Dumlupınar was a reasonably uneventful 0-0 draw. There were half-chances at both ends, but both teams seemed, for the most part, to be reasonably satisfied to take a point each.
The game’s one and only flashpoint came when BÜY left back Hasan Sedatgil was sent off for a rash tackle on Emre Soytürk.
The day following their relegation, GHE hosted fellow strugglers Binatlı, and handed them a slim chance of a potential lifeline in their bid for survival by succumbing to a 3-1 defeat. Mehmet Bahattin Zaim scored Binatlı’s first on 25 minutes, his tame shot from the edge of the box rolling towards the outstretched hands of GHE goalkeeper Feyyaz Gül, who could not change the direction of the rolling ball once he reached it.
Arda Öner equalised on the stroke of half time with a superb header from a corner. The two sides were evenly matched for much of the second half, but Binatlı were handed an opportunity to win the game on 77 minutes when a shot from Ismael Kone was handled on the line by Arda Öner.
Öner was sent off, and a penalty was given. Kone calmly slotted the penalty into the bottom lefthand corner. The points were secure when they were given another penalty just six minutes later, with Mustafa Süzgen stepping up to fire it into the roof of the net.
Binatlı live to fight another day thanks to that result, but will be relegated tomorrow if they lose at home to Türk Ocağı and BÜY draw against Merit Alsancak Yeşilova, or if they draw and BÜY win.
MTG WITHIN TOUCHING
DISTANCE OF TITLE Mağusa Türk Gücü (MTG) moved within touching distance of their third league title in a row after coming from behind to beat Doğan Türk Birliği (DTB) at home last Sunday.
DTB took the lead under a cloud of confusion when striker Kenan Oshan and MTG defender Bünyamin Ayaz appeared to run into each other into the box after 13 minutes.
The referee blew the whistle and everyone stopped for a few seconds, before he clarified that he had given a penalty.
Ahmet Sönmez made no mistake from the spot, driving the ball into the bottom corner.
DTB briefly thought they were two ahead when Billy Michael rose highest to head the ball into the net, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
MTG came out much improved in the second half, and were level within five minutes of the restart. Emre Özsin popped up at the back post from a corner, and showed great awareness to head the ball back across the goal and into the path of Bünyamin Ayaz, who smashed the ball through a crowd of bodies and into the net.
They finally got themselves ahead with a quarter of an hour left to play, when Billy Michael was caught in posession by Ünal Kaya who played the ball forward to Emre Özsin.
Özsin crossed to Mickael Pote, who’s effort hit the post and rebounded to Sadık Balarabe, who shinned the ball into the net.
Six minutes later, their lead was doubled when Halil Uçar expertly placed a header into the top corner. DTB were given a glimmer of hope in the sixth minute of stoppage time when Nevzat Duran brought down Halil Turan in the box to give them a second penalty, which Billy Michael converted. However, MTG held on for the remaining seconds.
MTG will win the league today if they beat Gönyeli away. They can also win the league if they fail to beat Gönyeli but Merit Alsancak
Yeşilova (MAY) fail to beat Baf Ülkü Yurdu at home tomorrow.
MAY KEEP HOPES ALIVE
MAY kept the title race mathematically alive by dispatching Türk Ocağı 3-1 away on Saturday. MAY took the lead on 33 minutes when a long throw-in from Memduh Sarıoğlu caused chaos in the Türk Ocağı penalty area, with the ball eventually bouncing to Vakkas Kaynarca, whose volleyed attempt was deflected in.
Türk Ocağı’s inability to defend set pieces was exposed once again in the opening minutes of the second half, when a free kick from the halfway line was missed by everyone but MAY’s Bill Osman Beyza, who deftly laid the ball off to Sarıoğlu to blast the ball in from close range.
The game was put beyond all doubt just 10 minutes after half time when two Türk Ocağı defenders ran into each other, allowing Chibuzor Nwogbo the time and space needed to pick his spot from the edge of the box and score.
Türk Ocağı scored a consolation through a Cevdet Gürsel Alıcı penalty late on, but the result was never in doubt.
High-flying Lefke suffered a surprise 3-0 defeat at home against Göçmenköy at home on Saturday.
Göçmenköy went into Saturday’s encounter having drawn one and lost five of their previous six Super League games, but the away side were given a couple of helping hands.
First of all, the game was played not at Lefke’s usual impressive home of the 16 August Stadium, but in the village of Karşıyaka, which has a less well-maintained pitch, which proved to cancel out both sides’ quality.
The second helping hand was given by Lefke player Aziz Özsakallı who, after being fouled, lashed out at Göçmenköy’s Hüseyin Sadıklar under the nose of the linesman, and was given a straight red card.
Much of the rest of the team swiftly lost their heads as a result, and never really looked like regaining them despite making it to half time with the game goalless.
Göçmenköy scored their first within moments of the restart, Bekir Yıldız battling his way through a number of Lefke players before laying the ball off to Hüseyin Sadıklar, who rifled the ball into the top corner.
They spent much of the second half peppering Lefke’s goal, and eventually received their just rewards when Sadıklar was brought down by Yakup Esmeraslan in the box on 66 minutes. Fikret Yağcıoğlu made no mistake with the penalty, and the result was put beyond all doubt six minutes later when Yağcıoğlu set up Yaşınses to score their third. The result eases Göçmenköy’s relegation worries, and moves them up to 11th in the league.
YENİCAMİ EXTEND WINNING RUN
Yenicami’s late-season surge up the Super League table continued after beating Gönyeli 4-0 at home on Sunday to register their sixth league win in a row.
They took the lead on 42 minutes when Mehmet Çavuş found Selim Saygı on the edge of the box, who swept the ball into the bottom corner with the side of his foot. They doubled their advantage in first half stoppage time through Asrın Alican Sönmez, who then repeated the trick in the second minute of the second half, capitalising on a mistake from Gönyeli goalkeeper Kemal Bağbal to score his second and Yenicami’s third.
Saygı completed the scoring with a sumptuous effort with the outside of his right boot to move Yenicami up to sixth place.
Hamitköy risk being dragged into the relegation mire after a collapse in the last 10 minutes away at Mesarya saw them on the end of a painful 4-0 defeat last Saturday.
They were camped inside their own half for much of the first half but had stayed organised for much of it, but saw their defence breached in first half stoppage time when Remzi Betmezoğlu showed more desire than any Hamitköy player to get on the end of a bouncing ball in the box and head it into the net.
They thought they had equalised through Salih Adakan midway through the second half, when his header found its way into the net, but his effort was chalked off for offside.
Mesarya managed to grab a second goal with 10 minutes to go when Hamitköy defender Daniel Cyrus Kalu found himself swinging his leg at thin air, which allowed Remzi Betmezoğlu to latch onto the loose ball and score his second.
He scored his third on a counter attack three minutes later, and an effort from Salahi Aldağ from 25 yards out completed the scoring on 88 minutes.
Cihangir and Küçük Kaymaklı swapped places in the Super League table after the former beat the latter 3-0 away on Sunday. The away side scored their first on 37 minutes after Muhittin Tümbül made space on the right hand side to find a cross into Siboniso Lungelo Mishali, who finished from close range. They scored their second on 69 minutes when good build-up play allowed Berkem Nurdal to get a shot away, which was blocked into the path of Mishali, who flicked the ball into the air and acrobatically finished.
Muhittin Tümbül completed the scoring with a header on 84 minutes, but there was still time left in the game for Taner Bingöllü to get sent off for a foul on the halfway line.
LOWER LEAGUES
The İktisatbank BTM 1st League, which is the third tier of football in North Cyprus, had the last
match day of the regular season last weekend.
Despite the winners of each group having been decided two weeks prior, there was still much to play for in both the “Red” (eastern) and “White” (western) groups.
In the Red group, Serdarlı were relegated to the fourth tier following a 5-4 defeat by Vadili. Sadrazam Kayalar’s relegation from the White group had long since been confirmed.
A last-minute penalty from Berkay Demir secured Yılmazköy’s place in the promotion playoff final on account of finishing second in the White group.
They will play the Red group’s second placed team Southern Fried Chicken 1461 İskele Trabzon at the Cihangir Stadium tomorrow.
Geçitkale, of the Red group, and Doğancı of the White group will go head to head in the relegation play-off final at the Şehit Ruso Hüseyin Stadium in Lefkoşa today.