- El Gouna FC 2005/06
The 2005/06 campaign in the 2nd division sees El Gouna FC entertaining the likes of Aswan, Nil Sohag, Aluminium Safaga and Shabab El Maraghah. From the nucleus of 2003/3004 only Yasser Mostafa Kamel Abdel Fatah, half striker Hany Milad Habib and striker Mahmoud Mohamed Abu El Gheet survived.
An all too familiar start sees El Gouna FC unbeaten again for a long spel. Then, on Wednesday 29 december 2005, Nil Sohaq’s striker Rami Kalusha, appropriately nicknamed Kalashnikov, scrambled in a last gap injury time goal to set up a shock at the El Gouna Ground.
- Ramzi Kalusha
A devastating result for the home site, their first ever home defeat since their inception. The club however managed to regain composure and went on their familiar winning streaks again, only to finish as champions at the third consecutive time, a feat that has never been achieved before by any other team in the entire history of Egyptian football.
- El Gouna FC vs Telefonad Beni Suef 2005/06
As a result El Gouna FC qualified for the play-offs, together with Nil Sohaq from the same division, joined by Telefonad Beni Suef and Petrol Asyut from the other Upper Egypt second division.
- Final League Table Second Division 2005/06
With nasty gusty winds sweeping in from the nearby sienna mountains guests Petrol Assyut had the better of the first 45 minutes in the first play-off match, in a game of two halves that was overshadowed by a complete off-day by referee Fayim Omar whose controversial decisions didn’t do justice to the fair play the two teams put on show.
With only one minute on the clock the home faithful nearly fainted when goalkeeper Yakoot Farouk dropped the ball after a loose shot, only to narrowly save it in the goal line. Petrol Assyut were the better side in the first halve against a tense El Gouna FC and deservedly took the lead with a devastating 40 yard free-kick from Nazir that went in like a shelf. El Gouna FC’ s first real chance game on the half hour mark when Mohamed Farouk’ s header was saved by Abdul Shaban after a delicate cross from Ashraf Hassan. Samir El Mahdy saw his piledriver hit the post only a few minutes later and with 5 minutes remining Mohamed intercepted to set up Ahmed Fekry who saw shot go wide.
El Gouna FC were all over Assyut after the tea break. Adel came close after 51 minutes but saw his effort blocked by the Petrol Assyut goalie. A 55 minute free-kick, just after Jorge Celino had come on to replace Ahmed Fekry, nearly had the ground go wild when Emad Sayed headed in after Waleed Soliman’s free-kick, only to be denied by Abdul Shaban yet again.
Nazir could have put Petrol Assyut 2-0 ahead 10 minutes later from the penalty spot after Sukkar had allegedly been fouled within the box. Yakoot however managed to stop Nazir’s low right-footed attempt.
After 72 minutes Adel Ahmed received his marching orders after a second yellow card for arguing yet another controversial decision by referee Fayim Omar, claiming Jorge Celino had fouled Mashour Ahmed. Benched Haytham Hussein stormed the pitch to give his version of the fracas and was rewarded with a yellow card. With the police having restored order not long after Petrol Assyut’s substitute Ayman Shokri was sent for an early shower after fouling Waleed Soliman in a game that could hardly be described as bad-tempered.
Jorge Celino missed the target with 6 minutes remaining and Mohamed Farouk could have saved one point for the home side but his header was stopped by Abdul Shaban.
The next match saw El Gouna FC taking on Nil in Sohaq. On ten minutes in the first half a nice interchange between Adel and Ahmed Fekry ended with the latter shooting the ball straight into the net. El Gouna kept pressing with Ahmed Fekry setting up El Haw in the 27th minute to head in the well-deserved 2-0 for a spirited El Gouna site. With 5 minutes to go in the first half Fekry was put through in the inside left channel by Mohamed Al Sayed to score his second goal of the day. Down the other end Ahmed Mahmoud fed Said whose piledriver was struck straight at Yakoot.
In the second half Nil Sohaq pressed much more with El Gouna failing to move the ball around, lacking aggression and creativity. With 65 minutes gone Sohaq’s striker Hassan Abdel headed in a low cross to put the home team back into the game. A few minutes later Hassan had another fine chance. Said delivered a corner and, leaping like a salmon, Hassan planted a textbook header low to Yakoot’s left. Much to El Gouna FC’ s delight and the traveling 74 away crowd, Yakoot managed to stick out a hand and claw the ball away.
Ten minutes later El Gouna FC piled up some pressure with Gaber Ibrahim coming agonisingly close to make it 1-4, only to be denied by goalie Emad Mohamed.
El Gouna FC suffered a massive dent to their automatic promotion hopes following their second home defeat. Karim Adeld grabbed Telefonad Beni Suef’s winner by netting in a free kick from Hassan Sameh on the hour mark to secure three points which give them a comfortable cushion at the top of the play off table. El Gouna FC have now gone two play-off games without a win despite looking brighter all the way from the start.
A serie of niggly fouls produced a match littered with yellow cards and even red, however never upsetting El Gouna’s pattern of play. The home side grew in stature as the first half wore on. Gouna had a glorious chance to open the scoring in the 20th minute. A well worked corner was flicked on to the near post for Celino eight yards out but the striker could not get enough meat on the shot and Mohamed Yasisin scrambled to his left to parry.
The home were really sparked into action. Four minutes later, Mohamed Farouk burst through the heart of the defence to set up El Haw who saw his effort saved. Jorge Celino exerted a greater influence on the match and he sprinted through, this time only the studs of the sliding Hassan Sameh preventing a one-on-one with the keeper.
A foul on Mohamed Farouk saw Hesham Zinhom claiming a free kick that went wide. With Telefonad Beni Suef not having had one single shot on target El Haw nearly capitalized on the one-sided first half affair but saw a good opportunity fade.
El Gouna hadn’t managed to score in three times forty-five minutes at their home ground. This lack of killing instincts was amply demonstrated in the second half with El Gouna squandering a plethora of chances.
El Haw blazed over following a miscued clearance and headed well wide from a Celino free-kick. Mohamed Farouk’s swinging cross then found Adel, but having worked an angle, the hapless player shot over the bar to the groans of the home crowd. Fekry missed a sitter that would have set the 0-1 from Karim Adel straight, having a quickly taken free kick converted on the hour mark, with the home side still protesting over the alleged foul.
The home side still threatened to come out with one point. Mahomed Farouk was almost succesful close with a close-range volley that Mahmoud Yassin clutched to his chest. Rostom also might have done better with a header from a Wael Shabaan corner, but Telefonad Beni Suef held on to secure three extremely valuable points.
El Gouna FC’s outside play-off hopes were nullified at Beni Suef in a match that saw the home side managing a clean sheet for the fourth successive time. New coach Mohamed saw his side’s promotion bid falter after being held to a 0-0 draw on the boarders of the Nile.
A well-balanced first half saw both teams squandering chances. The visitors came close when Rostom’s cross from the right was headed over the bar by Maree. Pressurized Telefonad Beni Suef seemed out of sorts in the first half with passes going astray and guilty of some sloppy play. Maree missed another good opportunity in the 30th minute from Fekry’s delivery.
Yakoot had to react smartly from Tamer Mohamed’s low shot after a whirlwind combination between Ahmed Mahmoud and Sameh Hassan. The abiding memory of the first 45 minutes would have to be Ahmed Fekry’s isolation up front with El Gouna FC creating less chances than in the first encounter between the two.
If El Gouna went into half-time disappointed, they quicly put it behind them after the break. Mohamed Hassein had to make a point-blank save from El Haw’s effort. With the guests dominating Maree and Ahmed Fekry were denied by Mahmoud and Haytham Hussein longe-rang free-kick was deflected wide.
Mohamed Sadek could have poked home with Yasser Mostafa pickin up yellow for bringing himself down in the penaltybox, igniting fierce emotions and bringing sparks to the last 25 minutes. Minutes later another of Mohamed Sadek’s effort was cleared off the line. However, Zaki could have snatched victory for the home side at the death but choked with only keeper Yakoot to beat.
A dominant and well-organised El Gouna FC managed to put the 0-1 on the scoreboard through Rostom in the 17th minute after a fine delivery from libero Mano in their penultimate play-off encounter against Petrol in Asyut. El Haw saw a spectacular long-range drive drift wide of the upright whil Haytham Hussein slashed a free-kick over. The guests continued to play with zest. Rostom charged into the box, exchanged a neat one-two with Maree and drilled a left footed shot into the side-netting.
Mohamed Ahmed cancelled out the opener by intercepting a poor cross van Mano, firing in a low shot from 25 yards. El Gouna FC kept the pressure on Petrol Assyut with half time approaching.
Fekry should have made it 1-2 after the break after Amr Fathy’s through ball but failed in front of Abdul Shaban. Petrol Assyut immediately responded by capitalising on some sloppy defending by Mano and Haytham with Ahmed Mohamed slotting home 2-1. El Gouna had a let-off midway through the second half when Raid El Khindy converted Ahmeds Said’s cross to make it 3-1 after another unstable display from the Gouna defense.
With Petrol Assyut sitting back and depending on counter attacks Fekry brought back the game to life, only for Raid to bundle home 4-2 from Haytham Mohamed’s header sealing three precious points for Petrol.
To no avail El Gouna FC ended their 2005/06 league campaign and the play-offs with a solid 3-0 victory at home, at the expense of Nil from Sogaq.
In the Egyptian Cup El Gouna FC defeated El Minia at home in the prelininary rounds. Itthad from Alexandria were to next opponent to visit the Red Sea Governorate.
Ahmed Fekry will have had a few nightmares over the plethora of chances he created for himself to bring Itthad down but the Alexandrians showed what they are made of with a late goal in regular time to save their blushes and send El Gouna empty-handed into a hot close season. The first round cup tie started at a frenetic pace and both teams had early strikes, though both Haytham Hussein and Itthad striker saw their shots wide.
Itthad backed off as El Gouna FC ran at them and Waaled almost punished the Alexandrian team’s hesitant defending with a low strike across goal. Keeper Youssef Tahar from Itthad was badly positioned but managed to make a superb fingertip save, deflecting the ball around the post for a corner from Mahmoud Farek’s attempt.
Itthad responded with a ferocious strike from Mohamed Farouk with Yakoot making a fine save to keep the score blank. At the other end of the park Ahmed Fekry opened the opponents’ well-drilled defence, though should have done better with his his dipping strike going wide.
El Gouna FC kept pushing but it was Samuel Kyra’s volley that sneaked inside Yakoot’s near post to put Itthad ahead round the half-hour mark. But El Gouna FC were certainly the more positive going forward and were awarded an equalizer with a brilliantly executed free kick ten yards outside the box from Haytham Hussein.
The home-side started the second half as spirited as before the break with a lot of ball possession. El Gouna showed more intent. Fekry cut in from the left and drilled in a low cross, to be denied by Youssef Tahar. He should have put El Gouna FC ahead ten minutes later but choked with only Tahar to beat. Itthad only managed to respond once in the second with a thunderous drive from Said Abdel Aziz who saw his pile driver tipped over the bar by Yakoot. Fekry seemed certain to convert Henny Milad’s cushioned pass 30 minutes into the second half but solid defender Hossam Abdel made a crucial challenge.
Fekry had the chance to snatch a late winner for El Gouna FC but again failed with only Yousef Tahar to beat. Seven minutes into the first half of extra time, Fekry partially atoned for his previous errors, slaloming through a now shaky Itthad defense to be brought down by Hossam Abdel inside the box. Haytham Hussein, industrious throughout, put the home side ahead by converting the resulting penalty. Itthad were not to be denied though and score five minutes later with a fine header from Joshua Ann, capitalizing on an immaculate cross from Ibrahim Al-Shayeb to put the teams back on level terms.
With time running out in the second period of extra time both teams appeared to be heading for decisive penalties. Hany Milad floated the ball into the Itthad penalty area and Fekry reacted quickest to Mahmoud’s flick-on, only to see his effort go wide. An even better opportunity fell to him few minutes later but his first touch was heavy as he closed in on goal and he sliced his shot wide from close range with his second. Fekry than cut inside from the right and jinked across the Itthad defence before shooting inches wide.
Against all odds and the run of play Itthad managed to make it 2-3 in the second period of extra time in dramatic fashion with Ahmed’s precise cross eluding the El Gouna’s defense, nestling in the home-side’ net, while keeper Yakoot stood motionless.
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