Küçük Kaymaklı avoid relegation play-offs
KÜÇÜK Kaymaklı steered themselves clear of the relegation play-offs on Saturday with an emphatic 4-0 win at home against high-flying Merit Alsancak Yeşilova (MAY).
They took the lead in comedic fashion after 17 minutes when a pass from MAY defender Mejdi Direniş rebounded off the leg of Küçük Kaymaklı’s Obada Felix and in off the post. Felix was on hand to assist Küçük Kaymaklı’s second, eight minutes after half time, finding Sertan Kırman in space on the edge of the box, who blasted the ball beyond MAY goalkeeper Kemal Molla.
Mehmet Koyuncu added a third after 68 minutes, before Tuğrul Çiftçioğlu left MAY defender Mustafa Vardi eating dust before curling the ball over Kemal Molla and into the net to complete the rout and ensure Küçük Kaymaklı’s survival in the Super League for another season.
MAY will be disappointed to have ended the season with three consecutive defeats, but a second-placed finish for the second season running is a positive overall return.
Given Küçük Kaymaklı’s result, Göçmenköy would have had to have beaten champions Mağusa Türk Gücü (MTG) by 12 goals on Saturday to avoid the relegation play-offs themselves, but instead succumbed to a 3-0 defeat on the east coast.
The away side had the better of the opening exchanges, with Arda Sözcü hitting the post, but a spectacular free kick from Ünal Kaya gave MTG the lead after 26 minutes. They were two in front just seven minutes later when a great piece of skill from Uğur Naci Gök gave him the space to cross for Şenol Şöför to loop his header over the scrambling Göçmenköy goalkeeper Ali Duvarcı.
Göçmenköy’s woes were compounded just before half time when Bekir Yıldız was shown a straight red card for a late challenge on Emre Özsin.
Bünyamin Ayaz added a third after half time, heading home unmarked from a corner. MTG reduced themselves to 10 men in the closing stages after a scuffle between Sadık Balarabe and Göçmenköy’s Cemal Terkan, with Balarabe receiving a yellow card and MTG’s coaching staff deeming it too much of a risk for him to stay on the field with the Cyprus Cup Final looming. The result at that point was a formality, and now both teams must prepare for their respective dates with destiny.
Türk Ocağı kicked off on Sunday knowing that they would be in the relegation play-offs no matter what their result, but that a win would mean they would be mathematically safe from relegation despite having to play on.
They played Lefke at home, and led five minutes before half time when Mehmet Uçar whipped in an inch-perfect cross onto the head of Ali Avcısoyu, who found the bottom corner. It seemed like they had done enough to ensure their survival, but were caught out when a high bouncing ball caused chaos in their defence, with Lefke’s Aziz Özsakallı the only one alive to it, poking the ball past Türk Ocağı goalkeeper Hüseyin Erkan Tutuş before finishing into an empty net, to ensure that both sides left with a point.
Hamitköy put themselves in the driving seat for their survival bid with a 7-0 thrashing of already-relegated Girne Halk Evi (GHE) away on Saturday.
Toykan Hacet scored the first, running through the GHE unchallenged and executing a low finish after 17 minutes. Serhat Deste, aged 19, doubled Hamitköy’s advantage seven minutes later with his first Super League goal, before Daniel Cyrus Kalu headed in a third on the half-hour mark.
GHE goalkeeper Feyyaz Gül made a number of saves in the second half, but was involved in a mix-up with team mate Caner Efe, which allowed Hamitköy’s Ömer Albayrak to nip the ball away from the pair of them and finish into an empty net after 71 minutes, and for the floodgates to open once again.
Another 19-year-old, Altan Çocuk, headed home his first Super League goal to make it 5-0 after 77 minutes, before Mehmet Çil was left with not a single defender within 20 yards of him to head in a sixth just seconds later.
Hamitköy’s seventh and final goal was the pick of the bunch, with İbrahim Kaba lashing in a volley from 25 yards. The defeat meant that GHE completed the entire Super League season without winning a single game at home, conceding a whopping 95 goals in the league, and 103 in all competitions.
Baf Ülkü Yurdu (BÜY) will have their work cut out in the relegation play-offs after being dispatched 4-0 away at Mesarya on Saturday.
Orhan Kalaycı set the home side on their way with a powerful header at the back post, before the Super League’s Golden Boot winner Remzi Betmezoğlu stole the show with a quick-fire second half hat trick. He scored his first on 70 minutes, latching on to a well-weighted through ball from Ertaç Taşkıran before shrugging off two defenders and firing the ball beyond BÜY goalkeeper Erdoğan Nay.
His second came just five minutes later when a wayward pass from BÜY defender Ekrem Madenci was intercepted by Okan Göktürk, who laid the ball to Betmezoğlu, whose shot deflected off Madenci and into the bottom corner.
His third and Mesarya’s fourth came just seconds later, when Taşkıran’s through ball left Betmezoğlu with half the pitch to himself to lob the ball over the onrushing Nay and into the net.
BÜY will need at least two wins and a draw in the relegation play-offs to have any chance of survival, while Mesarya will be able to look back on a successful first season in the Super League.
Doğan Türk Birliği (DTB) and Gönyeli played out a 11 draw on Sunday. There was an elongated pause in the first half as a dog found its way onto the pitch before being carried off by DTB goalkeeper Cenk Yılmaz.
Gönyeli got themselves in front at the tail-end of the second half through a half-volley from Rıdvan Okur from the edge of the box, but DTB were not about to roll over.
They showed dogged determination to get back into the game in the second half, with Billy Michael raising the woof with his headed equaliser.
DTB have the Cyprus Cup Final to look forward to, while Gönyeli will reflect on how a season in which they threatened a serious title tilt ended in a sixthplace finish.
Yenicami ended the season as the league’s form team after ending the season with a 4-2 win at home against Yonpaş Dumlupınar on Friday.
Fırat Ersalan gave them the lead after just 11 minutes with a powerful low shot from the edge of the box, and they were two goals to the good inside a quarter of an hour through Drissa Keita, despite Yonpaş Dumlupınar’s Mehmet Altın striking the post in the intervening minutes.
Yonpaş Dumlupınar had chances to get themselves back into the game throughout the first half, but when Selim Saygı set the ball on a plate for Drissa Keita to score after 40 minutes, Yenicami looked to be out of sight. However, the away side were offered a glimmer of hope in first half stoppage time when Mehmet Altın bundled in a rebound from a well-saved Mert Güçlücan header to reduce the arrears.
The fightback appeared to be on just before the hour mark when a game of head tennis on the edge of Yenicami’s penalty box ended with the ball at Mehmet Altın’s feet, with Altın shifting the ball onto his left foot and shooting low into the corner to reduce Yenicami’s lead to a single goal.
However, Yenicami made sure of the points late on when Fırat Ersalan ran unopposed down the left wing and finished at the near post. Like Mesarya, Yonpaş Dumlupınar will look back on a successful first season back in the top flight full of positive signs for the future. Yenicami, too, will be thinking that if they can replicate their form since February over a whole season, a serious challenge for the league title may be on the cards next term.
Already-relegated Binatlı bowed out of the Super League with a bruising 4-1 defeat at home against Cihangir on Saturday. Zihni Temelci headed the away side in front after just three minutes. Siboniso Lungelo Mishali doubled Cihangir’s advantage after 25 minutes, latching onto a through ball from Nurettin Gecekuşu. Binatlı were awarded a penalty on the half-hour mark, but Mustafa Süzgen’s effort was saved by Cihangir goalkeeper Mehmet Yeşil. However, Süzgen did get his goal seven minutes later, robbing Berkem Nurdal of the ball on the edge of Cihangir’s box and seeing his shot deflected off Selçuk Sergeç and into the net. However, that goal was as good as it got for Binatlı, as Muhittin Tümbül curled a ball into the bottom corner from 25 yards on the hour mark, and their goalkeeper Hasan Kaya crumbled under pressure from Mishali on the ball, swinging his leg at thin air and allowing Mishali to score unopposed.