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Friday, 26 February 2010 11:42

Pumas v UK touring side

Pumas v UK touring side

The Pumas will play a UK touring side on Saturday March 6.

Kicking off at noon at the Alsancak Stadium. Gates will open at 11.30am. Entry 5TL for adults, 2TL for students and free for Pumas members.

Come and support the Pumas

Published in Latest News
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Friday, 26 February 2010 09:15

Pumas v Bakirkoy February 20

Pumas v Bakirkoy

Pumas v Bakirkoy match report The Cyprus Pumas scored their highest ever win on Saturday, 90-0 against visiting side Bakirkoy.Playing on the ground at Esentepe due to the usual home ground being unavailable, the Pumas took advantage of the wider pitch. The backs kept the ball in play at all times and passed well enabling winger Batuhan Öksüzal to score his second hat trick of the season and opposite winger Michael James two tries in the first half. A further try and three conversions took the half time score to 36-0.Despite a valiant attempt by the Bakirkoy team, the Pumas were unstoppable in the second half, team captain Sam Butcher setting up a couple of the eight tries that ensued, seven of which were converted. Final score 90-0.“This is the best we have played,” said head coach George Armstrong. “We kept the ball alive and we played as a team going forward and in defence.”Yavuz Ergün was awarded man of the match for his brilliant tackling and controlling the backs from behind.“This is an excellent score for the Pumas,” said club captain Sebastien Crebier. “However, we must give credit to Bakirkoy, they never gave up, they were worthy opponents, even when they were down two players, they kept going.”The Pumas next game will be against a UK visiting side on Saturday March 6. They will be kicking off at noon at the usual home pitch in Alsancak. Everyone welcome, entry fee 5TL for adults, 2TL for students and free to Pumas members. Gates will open at 11.30am.Try scorers: Batuhan Öksüzal 3, Michael James 2, Kurşat Canbaz 2, Emre Taşkın 1, Dinçhan Kilercioğlu 1, Joseph Ömer 1, Mehmet Ozan Ozmen 1, Hilmi Kocak 1, Ilkay Demirtaş 1, Can Özyürük 1

 
Published in Latest News
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Tuesday, 02 February 2010 08:09

Pumas on tour

Bakirkoy v Pumas

Pumas on tour

 

The Bakirkoy v Pumas game began with an early start for most of the team, with the flight to Istanbul taking off at 8am.

The planning for the trip had been fraught with problems, heavy snow in Istanbul on Thursday had been a major concern; a lack of Props being available until the last minute; no accommodation being booked by the opposition; frantically completed medicals to register the players; the opposition were insisting on a 12.00 kick-off and the hat to be awarded for ass of the day had gone missing.

On the positive side, a meeting with Pegasus airlines had resulted in discounted flight prices.

However, 18 set off from Ercan to be met by Ozzy flying in from Izmir, Dinchan coming from Ankara and Yavuz, Emre and Hakan, already in Istanbul, at Sabiha Gocken airport at 9.45am.

The Bakirkoy organised coach eventually turned up at 11.15am and they were expecting a kick-off at noon! Despite knowing they were collecting 24 rugby players and their kit, they sent a small mini-bus, barely big enough to shoe-horn 18 people in, fortunately Yavuz had his car!

During the wait, Martin, who had found a seat behind a taxi stall was approached by a member of the public for a taxi, to which he replied: “taxi yok!” Understandable he could be mistaken for a Turkish taxi driver wouldn’t you say!

The Pumas refused to go straight to play, insisting that they required something to eat and a warm-up before playing. The answer from Bakirkoy was “ok but the ambulance we booked leaves at 2pm.”

In the end, kick off was at 1.30pm, with no ambulance having turned up at all. After a few phone calls it was established that they were busy having lunch and had then attended another emergency. They finally turned up 10 minutes before the end of the game at 2.50pm! Fortunately they had not been required.

On arrival at the ground it became apparent that Bakirkoy were not very prepared at all. They had no rugby balls, luckily the Pumas had brought a couple to practice with them; there was no padding around the posts, the lines were being done as the Pumas arrived and none too straight and no water was provided. Fortunately the team manager had the foresight to purchase some water at the Hyper-market near the ground when he’d bought the after-match beers! The opposition’s water was kept in one of their cars until half time.

So far not much of a rugby spirit going on with the Bakirkoy boys! One of which appeared to be auditioning for Phantom of the Opera judging by the mask he was wearing to protect his broken nose. A first on a rugby pitch that any of us had encountered. Was it even legal?

Despite a scrappy start to the game, the Pumas took the lead 3-0 with a penalty kicked by Can. This was followed by a try from Dinchan and two tries by Batu, the second of which was converted by Dinchan, taking the score to 20-0 at half time.

In the second half Batu got his hat trick try which was converted. Can got sent off for high tackling; a Bakirkoy player got sent off for giving Sam a Chinese burn (although didn’t seem to understand the concept of the sin bin as he came straight back on again! Kev the ref soon put him right!) There wo further tries by Dinchan and Seb followed by a penalty try which took the final score to 44-0.

And there was a first for Ozzy, he managed not to get sent off!

The Pumas were good in the rucks, despite a Bakirkoy player continually trying to pull them down. Martin eventually got fed up with it and there’s no doubt that player will be nursing quite a few stud marks for a while! The backs looked good when they got the ball and there was no doubt that the Pumas were the stronger side and it was very apparent they understood more of the rules than their opposing side.

“We are pleased with the result and that we didn’t have any points scored against us,” said Sam, team captain. “Although it was scrappy game from both sides, our experience paid dividends. The backs had a good game and the forwards played well, it was a good result all in all, but there is still room for improvement.”

After the game and an hour’s drive, the team arrived at the Hush Hostel in Kadikoy, where they were to be entertained by the new team in Istanbul, Khalkedon, run by previous Pumas chairperson Naci.

The night’s entertainment included the award of man of the match to Batu and the jester’s hat for his comments on the field to Martin, a round of Yogi Bear led by Sam, a convincing victory in the boat race by the Pumas, gate-crashing a wedding party, a fight and copious amounts of alcohol!

Mirunalan, who somehow landed a double bed, ended up sharing it with an extremely drunk ex-Puma player, after he had been convinced not to drive.

Thanks to Hakan, a coach was organised to pick up the weary team at 6am for the return journey, which was pretty uneventful.

  

Tour comments:

Michael – what seat number are you?

Sam – 28F

Michael – oh great I’m, 28 too, I must be behind you.

 

Martin – is Steve driving the mini bus?

Claire - No Martin, they drive on the other side of the road in Turkey

 

Steve on going to the toilets in MacDonalds – am I a Bay or a Bayan? How long have you lived in Cyprus Steve?

 

On the pitch:

Martin with his fists up after studding a Bakirkoy player for pulling down the rucks, who then decided to have a go back:  “Don’t touch me boy!”

 

Sam after an attempted Chinese burn on his leg and attacking one of the opposition number 12s – there were two for some reason: “You know what you */!*@#!* did!”

Fortunately the ref saw what he had done and the Bakikoy player got sin binned.

 

On the walk returning to the hostel after the night out:

Jon: 2TL for a gay? Hakan, why are they selling gays for 2TL.

Hakan: Jon that’s çay!

 

Martin at the airport to come home putting his luggage down – Claire, can I leave this here in charge of you?

 

And finally, the story of Kevin and the mystery Germans:

After struggling to sleep due the snoring of Steve (it couldn’t have been me I didn’t sleep at all!), Kevin decided he would try sleeping in the hostel lounge. Armed with his blankets, he curled up on a settee until being woken by some mystery Germans. Asked how he knew they were Germans he replied they had asked him in a German accent if they had woken him.

“One of them had a flat hat on his head too.”

Kevin decided to return to his room, which he shared with Sam, Steve, Jon, Seb and Joe, at 4am, where all five were apparently snoring in harmony.

Since the Pumas had occupied the entire hostel and the front door was locked, no one can understand where these Germans appeared from at 4am, however, Kevin will not have it that he dreamt the whole thing and continues to maintain they were for real!

Published in Latest News
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Monday, 11 January 2010 10:10

Pumas Valentine's Ball

Pumas Valentine's Ball

Pumas Valentine's Ball

Friday February 12, 7.30pm at the Acapulco Hotel
45 TL three course meal and live entertainment
We have negotiated special discounted drinks prices
Support the Pumas and enjoy a great night out
Everyone welcome
Contact 0533 866 2758 or 0533 870 9896 to book tickets or for more information
Bus service available from the following locations, price will be approximately 10TL for return journey depending on numbers using the service.
Simena Hotel     Karşiyaka
Starling             Lapta
Starling             Alsancak
Temp                Karaoğlanoğlu
Astro                Girne
Lemar               Karakum
Erdener            Ozanköy
Supreme/Tempo   Catalköy
A bus from Esentepe can be arranged if enough people are interested.
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Sunday, 03 January 2010 12:31

Pumas Training

Pumas new kit

Pumas training starts again on Tuesday January 5 at the Alsancak Stadium, 7pm - Everyone welcome.

Pumas training sessions are on Tuesday 7pm - 9pm.

Saturdays 2pm - 4pm. For more information contact George on 0533 883 3757

Pumas Academy is on Saturdays 12 - 2pm. All age groups welcome. For more information contact Seb 0533 845 0569

Published in Latest News
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Tuesday, 22 December 2009 16:18

Happy Christmas & New Year

Happy Christmas
From all the Pumas rugby players & committee we would like to wish our supporters, friends & families a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous 2010.
Published in Latest News
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Tuesday, 22 December 2009 10:26

Pumas Vs UN

Pumas vs UN

 

Published in 2008 - 2009 Season
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Tuesday, 22 December 2009 08:48

Astute Financial Management Associates Ltd

Financial Services

 

The Company
Astute FMA Limited is a privately owned independent company registered and based in North Cyprus. Established in 2006, the company provides financial planning advice to expatriates in over thirty countries worldwide. 

Regulation 
The Company is regulated and licensed by the TRNC Government.

Independent 
We are not tied to any insurance group or fund house and therefore offer totally unbiased advice to our clients.

Charges 
As a company we are remunerated by way of brokerage fees from the financial institutions with whom we conduct business, there is no direct charge to clients for our services. It costs you NOTHING to talk to us.

Head Office address 
Financial Management Associates Limited
6-7
Akin Nail Plaza
63 Ecevit Caddesi
Girne 3242
Mersin 10 
Turkey Telephone (009) 0392 815 8275 
Fax (009) 0392 815 8276 
Email:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  or  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  
www.fma-ltd.com

Postal address
Astute FMA Ltd.
PO Box: 55
Alsancak
Girne
Mersin 10 
Turkey

http://www.fma-ltd.com/ 
Published in Sponsorship
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Tuesday, 22 December 2009 07:52

Pumas v Ottomans - Match report

Pumas vs Ottomans
5th December 2009

Despite wet conditions a good crowd turned out to watch a very physical game in true rugby tradition. The Pumas dominated in the first half with fly-half Can Özyüruk scoring all the points with a try, conversion and penalty. The home team went into half time with a 10-0 lead. However the Ottomans fought back and controlled much of the second half, scoring a try which they failed to convert, taking the score to 10-5.

The wet conditions dictated a game that was dominated by the forwards, where the Pumas were far stronger winning much of the lineout and scrum ball. When the Ottomans were able to get the ball out to their backs they showed more fluidity than the home side.

This was the first league game for new coach George Armstrong who was impressed with the player’s positive attitude and commitment.

“The whole team worked for the full 80 minutes,” he said. “Thanks to Kim Tyler for all his fitness work and to Keith Ellor for his input which has helped to get us off to a great start, however, there is still a lot of work to be done if we want to retain our title.”

Man of the match went to Mirunalan Guhanesan, who had an outstanding game after coming on to play in the position of flanker, when Dinçhan Kilercioğlu moved to prop to replace the injured Mohammad Azari.

After the game both teams enjoyed an evening of entertainment at the Pumas new match day clubhouse, 15s bar and restaurant

The Pumas next league game is expected to be early January.

Published in 2009 - 2010 Season Match Reports
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Sunday, 05 July 2009 05:14

End of Season Summary

End of Season Report
CAPTAINS LOG.. 2008 – 2009 END OF SEASON REPORT

What a year the team had, we started off in a very positive frame of mind with our only goal at the start of the season to win the Turkish League that we so narrowly missed out on last year.  

We also had the added benefit of a new Head Coach Malcolm Lighthowler who had relocated to the Island during the closed season, from what we knew Malcolm had a wealth of knowledge both coaching and playing Rugby and we hoped he would be able to take us on that little bit further to help us improve our skills and more importantly build the teams consistency on the field.

Due to the usual problems with fixtures we had to wait some time before the first game, in hindsight this was no bad thing as it allowed the coaches time to plan their drills and work together and also the boys extra time to work on their general fitness.

Again we were benefited greatly by the arrival of a new fitness coach Mr Gary Abbot, an impressive looking guy standing at approx 6ft tall, probably weighing 15-16st with little to no fat on him, a few of the boys including myself did try and reassign him a new role into the starting xv but alas too many years of sport and especially American Football had taken their toll on the “man mountains knobbly knees”. However, Gary’s knowledge and innovative training sessions in conduction with Kim Tylers ground and pound circuit training was finally beginning to pay off, the boys were now getting through the 1 hour fitness “warm-up” sessions without throwing up and some had made remarkable improvements.

We had lost of couple of players from the previous season but had also gained a few at the start of the year and were beginning to look a very strong side, there was competition for places in the starting 22 which dramatically improved everyone’s focus especially with our first game against newcomers Karaltepe looming.

At last we were travelling to Kartaltepe, initially we were due to play the match in Istanbul which is were our opponents are based, however a positive initiative by the Turkish Federation to introduce the game to new areas and a large University in particular, had requested we play the match in Erdine which is close to the Bulgarian border, with promises of good accommodation, stadium style pitch and all expenses paid travel (once in Istanbul) the boys were not too fussed about the 3-4 hour additional coach journey.

Typically this turned out not to be the case with an exceptionally small coach, 4 hour plus journey, accommodation not fit for any purpose and a botched grass area within a running track, still with it being the first game the initial dismay turned to laughter and we were soon firing on all cylinders to get stuck into Karlatepe.

We put in a tough & physical performance and ran out 54-0 winners, we certainly did not play to our full potential but there was no arguing with the score, obviously Karlatepe were a new team and had not really played any Rugby prior so it was a good experience for them and no doubt they will want to improve and make a point next time we meet. Pumas Man of the Match – Aidan Gill

Next up was Bakirkoy at home, we played them in a back to back game with the Istanbul Ottomans last year which proved to cost us the league and we did not do ourselves justice, we had a massive marker to put down and we did exactly that with a comprehensive 64-0 score-line, which turned out to be a club record.  It was a much better performance than the Karaletepe match with the backs and forwards playing together. Pumas Man of the Match Can Ozucan

Samsun away was the next game, we know from last year that this is a tough game, they are a big powerful team that like to get in your face and mess things up, we had won our two previous encounters but the last match at home was a close affair.

The team was quietly confident as we took to the pitch (albeit a rather small pitch), unfortunately the Samsun boys lost their composure and there were a few reckless tackles, off the ball handbags and general dissent within their team.  Their captain tried his best to control his players but began to lose the plot himself and the Referee was struggling to contain the testosterone.  Unfortunately in the end the Referee had no option but to abandon the match when pretty much all of the Samsun team were arguing with each other, the Referee and off course the PUMAS.  When the Ref blew up we were leading 6-0 so this plus the bonus point is what we would be awarded, we left the pitch immediately and it is with credit that we conducted ourselves in such a disciplined manner.  
Apologies were made afterwards and you could tell the Samsun boys were bitterly disappointed with themselves and it is an expensive learning curve for them but one we hope they will make as they are a strong side and will be missed by the league.

We then had a long wait and were hopeful of a friendly match against the Istanbul Ottomans who had unfortunately resigned from the League for this year, alas at the last moment they cancelled out on us so our Media Secretary and Club Chairman tried desperately for a fixture against the United Nations.

Amazingly they managed to pull it off and within days we were due to play at home against the 23rd Pioneer Regiment, we soon learnt that this was a major rugby regiment taking part in tournaments all around the world, they had representatives playing for the main Army Team, representatives playing for the Army 7’s &10’s squads and had won the Army 10’s cup the previous two years, not too mention a rather large captain by the name of Joe Vana who was allegedly 22st and had made mince meat of Lawrence Dallaglio in a charity match at Twickenham.

So this was going to be a massive learning curve for us and a potentially bruising encounter, naturally the nerves were building and a sense of anticipation of not knowing what to expect, however when the whistle blew we took it to them up front and the boys, especially the forward pack, showed some great controlled play and certainly matched them up front, we were dominant in the scrum and put a marker down that we were not going to be a walk over.

It was evident that they were a backs team and their superior ball handling, team play and speed was far greater than ours, however at half time the score-line 12-6 and we were hanging in there, the second half proved slightly different with tries being run in from various locations as the silky Fijians began to expose our fledging defence.  

Final score was 36-6 to the Pioneers but we in no way let ourselves down and can be proud of a determined performance, the experience we gained was immeasurable and we said we would never fear another team again, if we go out and play to the best of our ability then we can mix it with teams in much higher leagues than our own. Pumas Man of the Match – Aidan Gill

Next up was a mini 10’s tournament again swiftly organised by Claire Morley, Simon Kiddle, Inciliy Fell and others too many to mention.

The idea behind this is to create a full day / two days of tournament rugby, played with 10 players per side and for a duration of 10 minutes each way, with more space to throw the ball around the crowd is entertained with a mixture of free flowing open rugby with the aggression and impact of mini scrums, rucks & mauls.

The 23rd Pioneers put out two teams, a few Ottomans players made a huge effort to come over and participate, made up with a few Puma players we had an Ottoman Barbarian side and of course the home team made up the fourth side.
Surprise, surprise the 23rd Pioneers came in 1st & 2nd place, followed by the Pumas and the Ottoman Ba Ba’s in 4th, it was a great day with some excellent rugby and one which we hope to repeat in September but on a larger scale.

ODTU away was our last game of the season after Ezerum cancelled their home fixture with us, this basically meant we had to win this game in order to secure the league, we understood that Odtu were no slouches, they were a new team this year and being based at one of the major Universities in Turkey would surely attract a good pool of keen players.  Similarly Odtu had also won all their games so far this season so it really was Le-crunch for the league title.

It turned out to be a pretty even match and the Odtu pack proved to be a very strong and tight unit; they had some good foreign players and some great Turkish players and full credit to them for giving us our toughest game in the league this year.  However I believe our extra experience, fitness and control paid dividends and we ran out 22-8 winners.  

There were some great performances throughout our team and we really put our bodies on the line to ensure we achieved our season objective of winning the Turkish league.  Pumas Man of the Match – Sam Butcher.

We had achieved what we set out to do and had also had some great games against the UN, the slow start to the season climaxed towards the end and has given the boys a real taste for more regular fixtures next year which as a club we are vigorously setting about doing.

A special mention must go to Peter Heydon who has stepped down as the Team Manager after many years of managing the club and without him we would not be where we are today. Peter has been made our Honoury Vice President.

Malcolm Lighthowler has unfortunately returned to the UK and will be sorely missed.

Our Acting Chairman Simon Kiddle has hob-knobbed it off to Barbados and again his drive and commitment will also be sorely missed even though he has suggested pre-season training in the Caribbean!

On the player front we are losing;

Players Player and great Prop forward Mohamed who is relocating to the UK .
Player of the year Aidan Gill No 6  who is joining the British Forces.
Steven Knight and Bryn Lewis who have hung their boots up.
Six Inch Ercan who is going to University in the UK

Although we have lost some key individuals we are pleased to welcome new players for the forthcoming season and hopefully a new coach from the UK, finally a mention to Simon Harding who has accepted the Acting Chairman’s role and has a key role to play next year in continuing the positive efforts, bringing more fixtures and moving the club from strength to strength.

See you all next year & well done guys

Sam Butcher
Team Captain No 8
Published in 2008 - 2009 Season
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