TURK KASI - ORDER OF PHOENIX
After a very rough start (W1-L4)
to Spring League, Turk Kası (TK) was very eager to show people that
they still have the juice. Before today's Fat Cats (FC) game, TK used
the two-week gap to decide, plan and act. New practice schedule, more
intense and focused training, new selection process etc. And today was
the judgement day, against the league's undefeated leaders Boğaziçi Fat
Cats.
Turk Kası Roster: Emrah Demir (C), Seçkin Demirkol, Barış Övün, Gül Ulu, Julia Harte, Yakut Oktay, Cem Gürses, Mehmet Özeren, Owen Barron, Sean Cox, Tunca
Caylant, Kenan Erginöz.
Supporters: Anıl Bayram, Aykut Çolak, Mehmet Güngör.
A
windy but gorgeously sunny day at ITU Arena. Both teams are ready to
play. First pull, and TK is on offense. After 5 minutes score was Türk
Kası: 0 - Fat Cats: 2. After 10 minutes TK: 0 - FC: 4 So all that work
was for nothing, is there no way to turn things over? TK players are
making easy drops, can't connect passes, can't find open space to cut
and with every little mistake players are getting more and more
stressed, angry and frustrated. Without knowing at the end first half of
the game score are TK: 0 - FC: 7.
Türk Kası is going down in flames. And finally a player loses his
temper, Barış Övün, new Team Practice Coordinator. He's been known for
his temper there it is. He screams at the line "Catch that .uckin disc."
Not a professional move, certainly it has no place in Spirit of the
Game but it was the first spark, something has to change. TK decides to
switch from 1-3-3 to 3-2-2 on offense and from Man2Man to Cup on
defense. From here it was a different game. Cem Gürses catches a great
break side pass and makes the assist to Kenan Erginöz. A pull from TK
and a chance to put Cup on FC offense. It's working. Sean Cox makes
several D's on incut passes. Seçkin Demirkol smashes almost every long
throw towards the endzone. Gül Ulu & Julia Harte work very hard to
make clean cuts and they are getting
the disc. Two longs Owen Barron and Kenan Erginöz mesmerizes the FC
monster player Emre Can. Tunca Çaylant and Emrah Demir (C) are making
fast and sweet swings. This time, Türk Kası is on fire. Score: TK: 4 -
FC: 7
It
gets so hot that the game turns into a rather physical battle. It gets
even more intense, with players from both teams shouting calls almost
every point. FC feels the pressure. They try to resist but the Cup works
very well. With the momentum TK gets the points but there isn't much
time left. Just before the final whistle TK gets its 6th point, so the
score is TK: 6 - FC: 7. One more point and the game will be decided by a
universe point.
And Türk Kası gets
chances; 4 times they try to score from 15 meters from the endzone. But
legs are tired and excitement is beyond control. Owing to some poor
decisions and bad luck FC finds an opening and scores the point. Final
Score: Türk Kası: 6 - Fat Cats: 8
So
Türk Kası loses again, but with smiling faces this time. Just two weeks
of practice makes them remember what they are capable of. They put up a
good fight and they show they still got the juice. Maybe it needs some
shaking and stirring but damn it still tastes good.