Goals galore as top two thrash rivals
Defending champions Mağusa Türk Gücü and title contenders Yenicami biggest winners of the week
THERE were goals aplenty during the fourth week of action in the Aksa Super League. Defending champions Mağusa Türk Gücü (MTG) were the biggest winners of the weekend as they crushed Gönyeli 7-0 away.
The goal fest began in the seventh minute when Pote scored, followed by goals from Şenol Şöför and Arif Uysal before the break.
Şöför added a fourth in the second half as Uysal scored twice more to complete his hat-trick, in addition to a goal from Uğur.
The result moved MTG up to second in the standings on 10 points, ahead of Miracle Değirmenlik on goal difference and two points behind Yenicami, who maintained their 100 per cent start to the league season.
The Eagles scored five times in a match for the second week running as they won 5-1 away to Lefke last Friday night.
Yenicami’s Hascan was flying high as he netted a hat-trick, while a strike from Yakup and an own-goal by Lefke’s Eyüp completed the scoring for Yenicami.
Miracle Değirmenlik also scored five times, beating China Bazaar Gençlik Gücü 5-2 at the Lefkoşa Atatürk Stadium last Saturday to
keep up the pressure on the top two.
The scores were level at 2-2 at half time but a second half hat-trick by Hüseyin Deynekli sealed the victory for Miracle Değirmenlik, as China Bazaar Gençlik Gücü ended the game with 10 men following the sending off of Tayfun Doğan.
There was also a red card — and five yellow cards — for Hamitköy as they succumbed to a 3-0 loss away to Cihangir, who moved up to fourth in the table.
The defeat left Hamitköy as the new team at the bottom of the table and the only side yet to win. Doğan Türk Birliği, who had been at the foot of the standings before the weekend, recorded their first win and points of the season by beating Mesarya 2-0 last Sunday.
The goals came from the boots of Billy Michael in the first half and Güvenç Sakllıoğlu in the 90th minute.
Küçük Kaymaklı held off a comeback from Türk Ocağı Limasol to win 3-2 at their home ground, the Şehit Hüseyin Ruso Stadium in Lefkoşa.
A brace from Obada Felix and a goal from Hasan Celil Evren had given the hosts a 3-0 lead. Türk Ocağı Limasol fought back in the second half with two goals by İlker İnceler but could not find an equaliser.
In the weekend’s other fixtures Yonpaş Dumlupınar beat Göçmenköy 2-1 while Çetinkaya v Merit Alsancak Yeşilova was the only game to finish goalless.
Göçmenköy were due to play Mesarya after Cyprus Today went to press last night for the first of the week five fixtures.
THE “historic” Taksim football ground in the buffer zone in Lefkoşa is getting a makeover, thanks to the Turkish Youth and Sports Ministry’s Investment and Management General Directorate.
A new synthetic pitch will be laid at the Taksim ground, which has been out of use for some time, which will be 52m x 98m in size, surrounded by a wire fence, and which will have a “Fifa Quality Document”. The work to rejuvenate the area, which began earlier this week, is expected to take a month to complete.
According to a statement from the Development and Economic Cooperation (KEİ) Office of the Turkish embassy in Lefkoşa, the work is being carried out as part of the “Cooperation Protocol in the Field of Youth and Sports” and the “2022 Economic and Financial and Cooperation Agreement” signed by the TRNC and Turkey.
The KEİ said that the area was once used for javelin tournaments during the Ottoman era in Cyprus, and that it will be “transformed into a new sporting venue for young Turkish Cypriots”.
The Taksim ground was built during the Ottoman period, between the “Zahra” and “Yiğitler” bastions of Lefkoşa’s Venetian walls.
Lefkoşa Turkish Sports Club — which later merged with Çetinkaya Sports Association to form Çetinkaya Turkish Sports Club — started using it as their home football pitch in 1930.
Turkish Cypriots also used the venue to host national day celebrations.
After Çetinkaya and all other Turkish Cypriot football clubs were excluded from tournaments by the Greek Cypriots in the mid1950s, the area began to be referred to as “Taksim”, which means “partition” in Turkish.
In an interview with BRT TV on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu said that the Taksim ground will be used by Çetinkaya.
Mr Ertuğruloğlu said that while Colin Stewart, the top United Nations official in Cyprus, had taken a “good approach” to the situation, there had been some “unaccepted reactions to insignificant issues” that had “prolonged the completion of procedures”.
Mr Ertuğruloğlu said, for example, that agreement was still being sought on the height of a south-facing fence or net behind a goal, which the Turkish Cypriot side had requested to be at least six metres high to “prevent balls going over to the other side”.
He emphasised that although the land belongs to Çetinkaya, in recent years it had been used by the North Cyprus Touring and Automobile Association for international rally competitions, and that converting it back into a football pitch “has proven difficult”.
Aleem Siddique, spokesperson for the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (Unficyp), told Cyprus Today that the area “remains inside the buffer zone, under the control of Unficyp”.
He added: “The site will be used for football practice only, as it has been used in the past, with strict regulations in place to manage its use and protect its status within the buffer zone.”
Meanwhile on Wednesday the Greek Cypriot newspaper Phileleftheros described the move as a “Turkish advance” into the buffer zone and accused the UN of being “silent” on the matter.
It reported that Greek Cypriot authorities have demanded a written explanation from Unficyp and a meeting between Mr Stewart and Greek Cypriot foreign ministry officials.