A pointless match grabs us a point

Been away for a while only to come back to Ankara to see that Gencler's season is basically over. Out of the Cup and no chance of relegation or a European place. Not only that, but our coach resigned mid-week. It seems as if Zumdick left on good terms and we will be coached by his assistant until the end of the season. So, all up, last night's Sivas - Gencler match meant bugger all. At least to us.

Sivasspor 1 - 1 Genclerbirligi

I was off at the Dutch National Day reception last night and as they had free Heineken it was with difficulty that I managed to get Mrs. Oz Kanka to take me to the Beer Bus. I finally did and walked in on the 62nd minute mark to find us 1-0 down. A minute later and Hursut sends across a perfect ball to Oktay who sent the ball into the net with a header.

High fives all round and the Gencler fans all treated my arrival as an omen.

Not long later and a Sivas player was given a second yellow for a dive. The crowd started getting angry and various objects were thrown onto the pitch. Fine coming up for Sivas I guess.

With a man up for 22 minutes it looked as if we were going to go ahead but some great keeping kept us out.

So, 1-1 it finished, and Sivas has to wait another week to see if they can mathematically avoid the drop.

Ankaragucu vs Karabukspor - Match Preview

Image taken from Foto Fanatik

This Weekends game see Ankaragucu host Karabukspor at the 19 Mayis stadium. Ankaragucu come off another fantastic performance with our 4-1 win away at Istanbul BBS.

The last time both teams met Karabukspor ran out 5-1 winners in what was an embarrassing performance under Umit Ozat. Emanuelle Emunike proved to much for the Ankaragucu defence scoring two goals and ex Ankaragucu forward Ilhan Parlak was also on the score sheet.

Of the three teams who were promoted from The Bank Aysa last season, only Karabukspor will remain with both Konyaspor and Bucaspor been relegated. A good first season back in the top flight with a mid table finish looking likely, Karabukspor will hope to build and push up the table next season. There main player is Emanuelle Emunike who lead the goalscoring charts until he suffered an Injury which kept him out for a couple of months.

Karabukspor also won at the weekend with a 2-1 win at home to Sivasspor thanks to goals from Birol Hikmet and of course the Beast Emunike. The Karabukspor also has three ex Ankaragucu players in Ilhan Parlak, Muhammet Hanifi and Aydin Karabulut.

Ankaragucu have yet more injury problems with Umit Kurt who scored on his debut last week out with a broken foot. Both Guven Varol and Fatih Tekke will continue there comebacks and will hope to play part in the game. Turgut Dogan Sahin will be hoping to continue his form from last week where he was man of the match and giving his best performance in an Ankaragucu shirt.

Both teams will be hoping to finish as high up the table as possible, and we will certainly be hoping for another win under Mesut the Messiah. I'm predicting 3-2 Ankaragucu.

In other news from Damon, Ahmet Gokcek has spoken along with Mesut saying they would like to keep Roman Bednar and Stanislav Sestak at the club next season. Lets hope this happens as they are big players for the club. The court case will be tomorrow as well so a big day in which hopefully Harun and Damon will keep us updated.

Prague Spring--Ankaragucu Style

Photo taken from Roman Bednar's Facebook page.

Ankaragucu Chairman Ahmet Gokcek, manager Mesut Bakkal, and general manager Ender Yurtguven have gone to Prague to check out four players .

So Ankaragucu have been keeping their eye on four players since January. While they mention no names (they claim they don't want to jack up prices), they do mention that the players are defenders and mid-fielders. The final stage in the process is now up to Mesut the Messiah. What will he write in his report? Whatever it is will be key in determining whether we see these players in blue and yellow.

There has also been some mention of three German players of Turkish origin who are also on the list of potential Ankaragucu squad members.

Given how much our current Czech and Slovak team members have contributed, I find this news rather exciting.

ANKARAGUCU - EXCEEDING ALL EXPECTATIONS

From L to R - Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Brat Kankie Laura, Eski Kanka Jim and Maniac Kanka Harun ...... all sporting different team tops, but all smiling at Ankaragucu's victoreeee !!

Every picture tells a story they say. What could this one be I wonder ???!!!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

With so many players on the injured list Ankaragucu certainly exceeded my expectations, especially after the way Istanbul BBS played last week against Gencler. Perhaps Istanbul had one eye on the Cup Final, but somehow I doubt that !

Istanbul BBS 1 ANKARAGUCU 4

A surprise team line-up from Mesut Bey with the addition of 3 young players, and they didn't disappoint either.

Team -

Senecky
Ugur, Rajnoch, Kagan and Adem
Umit, Ergin, Turgut Dogan and Murat
Fatih and Gabric

Substitutes used - Guven, Umut and Bednar

Brat Kankie Laura, Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Maniac Kanka Harun and I met up in the Beer Bus Bar for the 1st half, but we moved to The Cappadokia Bar for the 2nd half due to the annoying staff habit of constantly switching channels to NTV Spor for the footie results. Obviously they thought their IDHAA results were more important than watching Ankaragucu play attacking and entertaining footie. If it happens again I will do a walk-out forever !!

So, to the match, and for the 3rd time this season (in my memory) Ankaragucu raced into an early lead.

It was only 3 minutes into the match and a corner was slung over which was headed clear to Umit lurking on the 18 yard line who took it full volley and sent in a fierce shot which Oguzhan had no chance of stopping. As Nadeem said in the comments last night, congratulations on scoring on his Ankaragucu debut.

However, 5 minutes later he was being stretchered off when he fell awkwardly making a clearance in his own penalty area. Damon said that he broke his foot, so we will not be seeing him again this season, but I'm sure we will be seeing more of him next season. Great to see young players coming through the youth system.

Then on 14 minutes another peach of a goal with some great footwork from Turgut Dogan, who dragged the ball behind him, taking 2 defenders out in the process. He looked up and with Oguzhan advancing, calmly stroked the ball through his legs for No 2.

Half an hour gone, and Istanbul BBS having recovered their composure, were coming more into the match as it swung from end to end.

Approaching half time and a stupid back-pass from an Ankaragucu defender (couldn't see who was responsible !) almost gifted a goal to Istanbul, but Senecky was alert to the danger and smothered the ball at an Istanbul attacker's feet as he was about to shoot.

Settled into the Cappadokia with smiles all over Maniac's face (he prefers Tuborg to Efes) - the man has no taste !!!

A few minutes in and Murat gave away a free kick. Eski exclaims ..... 'wow, that's a first ... aggression from Murat'. Battle Damaged replied ....... 'tongue in cheek' ..... 'don't under-estimate the man' !!!

10 minutes in and Istanbul is back in the match. A free kick is sent into the box and a rather fortunate header from Metin deceived everyone (probably including himself !!) to send the ball in at the corner.

Straight from the restart and Ankaragucu had restored their 2 goal cushion. Turgut Dogan broke from the halfway line and had a one-on-one with Oguzhan with the ball breaking off Oguzhan for Turgut to shoot. However, the ball cannoned off the post, but the ever alert predator Fatih was following-up and tapped in.

There was a scare a few minutes later when Istanbul 'scored', but Rajnoch had been fouled in the lead-up and the referee quite rightly chalked it off.

On the subject of Rajnoch, he had an excellent match in the heart of the defence sweeping up all that came his way and making numerous headed clearances, and for those reasons he receives my Man of the Match award. Battle Damaged and Maniac disagreed and named Turgut as their Man of the Match. A tight call !

With 20 minutes to go, it was all over. Bednar had only just replaced Fatih and gave us a piece of individual skill to set-up No 4. He beat 2 defenders on the left touchline, played a one-two with (couldn't see who it was) and then unselfishly passed to the unmarked Gabric who had the easiest of tasks to slot in. Undoubtedly goal of the match !

It was all Ankaragucu now and Turgut almost made it 5, but his goal-bound shot came back off the post and was cleared.

Game over and all credit to Ankaragucu for an excellent display of attacking footie.

The nucleus of the team showed what they can do and it is to be hoped that The Gokceks can also see this and retain a settled team for next season. There is much to be optimistic about if they do !

Next up is the home match against Karabuk next Monday night.

Gencler travel to Sivas for the Friday night match.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

HELLO ANKARA ...... BYE BYE ISTAN...SPIT... BUL !!!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

A great performance from Ankaragucu tonight..........

Istanbul BBS 1 ANKARAGUCU 4

Even without key players, Ankaragucu served up a great attacking display to put the FOURTH Istsanbul team to the sword this season.

Unfortunately, Buca could not replicate our performance and went down to the hated Fener, despite leading 2-1 at half time.

Full report tomorra sometime.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Technical squad pays Mehmet a visit; Rajnoch gives him the bird

Photograph taken from Ajansspor webpage

http://www.ajansspor.com/futbol/superlig/h/20110422/coguma_ziyaret.html

A number of members of the Ankaragucu technical squad (including Hayati Soydaş, Ahmet Temur Atalay, Veysel Aturgil, and çlub doctor Mesut Çelebi) recently visited Mehmet Cogum at home following his recent knee operation. However, according to Mehmet, not counting the the support he has received from his family, he has been most comforted by the parakeet given to him by fellow player Jan Rajnoch. Apparently, the yellow budgie in the dark blue cage makes him feel closer to his team.

Player Profile - Augustine Ahinful

Picture taken from Sporx

Ankaragucu has seen many good Foreign players wear the famous Yellow and Blue Jersey, it can also be said we have seen many a bad Foreign player play for us to. The one player who stands out from the crowd is former Ghana International Augustine Ahinful who had two spells with the club.

Augustine started off his football career with Golfields Obuasi before moving to Europe with Borussia Dortmund spotting his talent at the 1993 Fifa World Youth Championship. Spells With Grasshopper Zurich, Deportivo Leiria, Venezia and Boavista followed before he signed for Ankaragucu in 2000. This is where Augustine found his home and became a Hero amongst the Ankaragucu Tribunes. He would go on to play 103 games scoring 44 goals, becoming the clubs leading Foreign Scorer of all time.

Augustine was part of the Front Trio of Hakan Keles and his International team mate Ohene Kennedy. In there first season they helped Ankaragucu to a 6th place finish. The second season was to be even better as another excellent season from all three players helped Ankaragucu to 4th and European qualification. Ankaragucu sold Ohene Kennedy to Adanaspor in the Summer though which broke up a wonderful partnership.

A Quick and Skillfull striker with a good eye for goal and hard working is something that would be welcomed at any team, and Augustine had no shortage of admirers with his performances with Ankaragucu. His first spell with the club came to an end after three seasons when he signed for Trabzonspor.

His time at Trabzonspor didnt turn out to be as successful, in just over one season he only scored 1 goal in the 27 appearances he made. He did however win a Turkish Cup Winners medal though. Augustine returned to Ankaragucu for his second spell which again didnt reach the heights of his first spell as so often the case in football. Aydin Bebbe and Jaba were the main Strikers and Augustine found himself on the bench often. In 2008 Augustine Ahinful announced his retirement from football.

Augustine also represented his country at International level with 19 caps but failed to score a goal for Ghana.

Its always difficult players moving to a different country,and different culture but Augustine was a big player for Ankaragucu and im sure the Round Ball in Ankara will be sharing there memories of him from his time in Ankara.

INFO

Gençlerbirliği	0 -	3	Istanbul BB
	Competition Date Kick-off Half-time Full-time On aggregate Venue	Kupası 21 April 2011 19:00 0 - 3 0 - 3 1 - 4 Ankara Ondokuz Mayis Stadyumu

GOALS

0 - 1 0 - 2 0 - 3

I. Akin 11' I. Akin 22' H. Tum 26'

< rant on >
Seriously? Seriously, I should just leave the report at Battle Damaged Kanka's comment as that is how much commentary this match deserves.

So here I am having rearranged prior appointments, just so I can be at this cup match. Having had a couple of beers in the Beer Bus I think to myself that it is a lovely sunny day for a game of football. I arrive at the stadium at half six and am in the gates at 6.45.

7.00 kick-off and here we go. It is obvious within five - eight minutes that the referee is dealing out the cards as if he were the black-jack dealer at a Las Vegas casino. Obviously I did not agree with his decisions. Then shock, horror Istanbul score at the ten minute mark and here I sat thinking: "Where can you see a first division team getting yellow-carded twice and be down one goal in the first ten minutes?" At a Gençlerbirliği match, that's where. Ok, so we get the early goal against, still 80 minutes to play to put things right. What ticked me off though is at how easy we conceded the goal, very amateurish. Perhaps having watched the Copa del Rey match between Barcelona and Real Madrid the night before was not an ideal precursor. But this is what I believe - a cup match, any cup match is like a final in itself, you have to give it a 100% and play as if it were for the championship's title itself.

Back to the match. Ten minutes later Istanbul get awarded a free kick just outside Gençlerbirliği's box, Akin picks his corner and slots it in for 2 - 0. Come on, how are Gençlerbirliği not able to defend set-pieces like that. Wait, what just happened… 3 - 0. I jump up out of my seat and am now fuming over the lack of concentration and professional conduct of the team. I want to leave the stadium… NOW! Total disregard towards winning some silverware and to the fans.

Against my better judgement, I knew we were not going to score a single goal in the second half the way we were playing, I stayed and have been staring at the clock to speed it up. Five minutes before the end I leave the stadium to head to my local pub for a few bevvies and to pick some rock songs with the barman to play, alleviating my anger. And what with Hursut, I have had enough of him. Rather then passing the ball either to his right or his left to a team mate he always must prove himself he can round the player in front of him. You are not Lionel Messi! Besides Messi reads the game and puts his team mates in position through great passing.

But I get it now… no one, not a single team in the Turkish Superlig gives two hoots about this cup. It is not that we had to save ourselves for an all important up-coming league match either. Maybe it is as my wife said when I arrived home: "Cavcav sold the cup!"

Next Sunday against Kasimpassa. I don't think so, I go and enjoy a beer in the sun without the aggravation. Thank you very much. }:-[
< /rant off >

Ankaragucu's Vittek joins our wounded; Mehmet undergoes his operation

Photo taken from the Ajansspor page

As Nadeem mentioned in his match preview, Vittek has joined the ranks of the injured in the Ankaragucu lineup. According to Ajansspor,while giving us a memorable performance during the match with Bucaspor, Vittek somehow managed to sustain a first-degree tear in his right front quad muscle. For this reason, he will definitely not be taking part in the match against Istanbul BBS this weekend.

Despite the fact that Vittek, Sapara, Sestak, Mehmet and Muhammed will all be out, however, it does appear that both Fatih and Bednar may be match ready as they are currently training with the squad. If this is indeed the case, along with Metin and Gabric, we should have sufficient fire power up front.

Amongst our players suffering injuries is Mehmet Cogum who, as you may remember, was carried of the pitch on a stretcher during the Eskisehirspor match. Well, he apparently went under the knife yesterday at Cankaya private hospital to repair damage to the ligaments and the meniscus in his left knee. He should now be on the road to recovery. We wish him the best.

Ankaragucu vs Istanbul BBS - Match Preview

Image above taken from Interaktifhaber

This Sunday Ankaragucu will travel to Istanbul to take on Istanbul BBS which will be another difficult match. The last time we met it was a 2-2 draw at the 19 Mayis stadium. Aydin Toscali and Turgut Dogan Sahin gave Ankaragucu two early second half goals which looked set to give us the three points. In typical Ankaragucu fashion though, Ibrahim Akin with a fantastic freekick and Herve Tum with a powerful finish gave Istanbul BBS a share of the points.

Istanbul have had a good season, they are sitting 8th in the League and in the Semi Finals of the Turkish Cup. There star players are the impressive Swedish Midfielder Samuel Holman, On Loan Besiktas Striker Filip Holosko and the magician Ibrahim Akin who is capable of winning games with individual brilliance. Ex Ankaragucu defender Cihan Haspolati will also be in the squad for the weekends game. The form of late has been hit and miss, defeats to Sivasspor and Gaziantepspor, but they were back to winning ways at the weekend with a 2-0 win at Karabukspor.

Ankaragucu come off an excellent attacking performance with a 5-3 home win against Bucaspor. As Damon reported it was a very entertaining game and a good attacking performance. Latest team news is that Roman Bednar and Guven Varol are available for selection. On the Injury front, added to the current list is Robert Vittek who has picked up another Injury and its another blow as he was just getting his sharpness back.

Both teams are safe from relegation but cant make a European place, still an important match as both teams will want to finish in as high a position as possible. For Ankaragucu its another chance for Mesut the Messiah to keep up his impressive record and push for the Job on a permanent basis. There is no doubt, depending on the court case outcome tomorrow that we can build a good squad and push for Europe next season.

My prediction for this weekends game is 2-2, hopefully there will be more scenes like the image above, the Ankaragucu players celebrating another Murat Druer goal, eh Jim? haha

Ankaragucu stomps Bucaspor

At the outset of his Ankaragucu-Bucaspor match preview, Bellshill Kanka Nadeem reminded us of the fact that "The last time the two clubs met, the game ended in a 0-0 draw in Izmir." There was also a 1-1 tie during the Turkish Cup, so while Buca doesn't look like much on paper, they have consistently been a thorn in our side.

For those interested in the numbers, they have only scored 25 goals all season and yet have eaten [using a Turkish expression that I love] 48, so basically they have been scored against about as often as we have and, yet, have scored about half as many goals as we have all season.

Despite their being one of the weaker teams in the league, a number of kanka's feared the worst for several reasons. First of all, we had not fared well against them all season. Secondly we knew they would put up quite a fight as every match is important to them if they hope to stay in the Superlig, and, finally, they had just recently defeated Antep which is the very powerful team we had just lost to. While all these worries did indeed make sense, these kankas need not have worried.


Ankaragucu 5 Bucaspor 3


Pre-match
After stopping by Maniac Kanka Harun's shop and betting Harun that Gucu would win this one (betting here is done by locking pinkies with eachother), I was off to the Beer Bus on the off chance someone else would be there. There was no one to be seen, so after grabbing a brew and a nosh, I was off to 19 May Stadium. It wasn't long before Yankee Kanka and Hussein arrived and then Ripoff Kanka Erman showed up.

Scanning the players warming up. It looked like we had Senecky, Uğur, Rajnoch, Aydın, Özgür, Adem, Gabriç, Kağan, Murat, Vittek, Doğan.

Even with many of our players absent due to either insult or injury, it still looked like a rather powerful lineup, but I was somewhat surprised that Güven was not back amongst them as Nadeem had read something that indicated he might be.

Scanning the stands, there appeared to be a good turn out in all the tribunes. Even Bucaspor was represented. Their numbers were not great (maybe forty or fifty) but their spirit impressive.

First half
After the national anthem, things were off to a quick start. Within the first minute we had a corner, and within the first few minutes Buca were taking a free kick from a dangerous distance. The match went on like this for pretty much the entire ninety minutes.

We had a moment of peril when in the 14th minute a Buca corner nearly went in. Thanks to protection from Vittek's formidable frame, Senecky was able to smother the ball. This was clearly too precarious a position to remain in. We badly needed a goal.

And we got one. That goal game a few minutes later when, on a counter attack. Gabric raced down the right, entered the box and passed over the heads of friend and foe alike to have the ball land right in front of an onrushing Murat Duruer. Up one nil. Great feeling. All smiles in the stands.

We had our goal. Now it was time to go in for the kill, and we came at them with attack after attack after attack, but Buca put one in before we could extend our lead.

As Nadeem had predicted, Jebril the eighteen year old from Ghana had been giving us some trouble and then in the thirtieth minute took a shot from about 22 yards out. Senecky was screwed, because the shot was deflected off the back of another one of the Buca attackers. The deflection caught Senecky off balance, and despite lunging for it, the ball bounced slowly past him into the open goal. Score evened up at one all.

Both sides were firing with all guns at this point and we were dazzled by a string of goal mouth mêlées and balls ricocheting off posts, including a blast from Ozgur that would have taken off anyone's head had they gotten in the way.

Unfortunately, in the 45th minute, Musa Aydin, Buca's captain (and another one of the players that Nadeem warned us about) was fouled by our Aydin, Aydin Toscali just before entering the penalty area resulting in a yellow card for our Aydın and a free kick from about twenty yards out. The Izmir native and former Gencler player Erkan Taskiran took it. The ball curved around the Gucu wall, hit the inside of the post and found its way into the net behind an irate Senecky--beautiful even if you weren't a Buca fan.

So the first half ended with us down 1-2.

Second half
Buca looked strong as the second half began, but now it was our turn to score. Once again Murat led the way, this time with a lovely piece of scavenging. One of the Gucu players, perhaps Doğan, had come down the left and passed the ball into the box. Vittek managed to boot it into the air, but the Buca player next to him was able to get his head on it. The ball was once again in the air, and Vittek following its course, ran towards the other end of the box got control of it, kept it front of him as he pivoted and then fired a beautifully placed shot on the goal with his left foot. Buca's keeper Atilla lunged for it and was able to deflect it but was not able to hold it. It came off his hand a rolled quickly towards Murat who tucked it away with finesse. It was tied up at 2-2 now.

Now if we think back, I believe all of us can recall hearing Eski Kanka Jim's voice utter the words, "So, let me get the ball rolling and say that you have been too generous to Murat Duruer !! I'll give him ONE point for the ONE good pass he's made all season !!!!," or how bout this classic, "I was further affected by a wave of pessimism when Maniac Kanka told me that Murat Duruer was in the starting line-up ........ whaaaaaaaat ??!!," or even "Would Vittek's presence have made a difference to the result ? No, I doubt it ! However, if Umit Bey persists in playing Murat Duruer in his starting line-up I may decide not to buy a Kombine Ticket ...... that is, if we ever have the chance of buying one !!!" With this performance, for which the newspaper Hurriyet rewarded him with three points, perhaps even Eski will consider giving him another chance.

Fifty-five minutes into the match Ugur, who had entered the box from the right, was left lying on the ground after being hit by Erkan. The ref Cuneyt Cakır awarded Gucu a penalty kick. Vittek put it away cleanly and took his goal lap with arms outstretched as is his fashion. Ankaragucu were once again ahead. The score was 3-2

Unfortunately, Buca just would not let us relax and enjoy our lead. A mere three minutes later, Ankaragucu player (on loan to Buca) Ediz got his head on an incoming free kick tying it up yet again.

The attacking continued. Then in the seventy-second minute, Mesut the Messiah made the inspired decision to put Metin on in Doğan's place, and fourteen minutes later Murat lobbed the ball into the box to a waiting Ugur who headed it down. It wasn't immediately clear who would get to it first, but Metin Akan came in running like a locomotive and then sliding on his knees, so he could head the low ball into the goal--without a doubt, he grittiest goal of the match. Please, don't let me ever say anything negative about Metin. He's got balls the size of Diyarbakir watermelons.

In the eighty-eighth minute the ref, for no reason I could see, gave Vittek a yellow. Mesut, as we've seen in previously matches, doesn't like to risk keeping carded players on if he can help it and took Vittek off a minute later. As Vittek walked off, the crowd started chanting at the top of its lungs, "We love you, Vittek, we love you Vittek." He seemed pleased and warmly acknowledged our appreciation. Number 61, Twenty-four-year-old Trabzon native Ergin Keles came on in Vittek's place, and was fouled almost immediately by Ediz just outside the box.

Ozgur took the free kick from about twenty-five yards out and put it right into the upper right-hand corner. He was pumped, and so were we. The match pretty much ended at that point with the beautiful score of 5-3 shining down on us from the scoreboard.

The squad made their rounds. Somehow a young kid had gotten on the pitch and Rajnoch, who always seems to have a soft spot for the little ones, gave the kid his jersey.

Yankee and Hussein had already left, but Erman and I started to leave at this point. Kinda wish I hadn't as apparently Melih Gokcek had dancers dressed in huge Ankara cat costumes dancing the local misket dance. Like this clip but there most have been at least twelve "cats" out there. Some fans had gotten onto the pitch and were waving their gucu scarves around while dancing with the giant cats.

In retrospect, it is hard to think of a better day out, especially when you consider that the tickets only cost four little lira (aprox. $2.50 US).

Post-match
Erman and I headed back to the Beer Bus where, as expected, we found Jim looking sharp, all decked out in his jacket and tie from the conference he had been at. However, quite unexpectedly, we found him in the company of his lovely daughter Laura who was there visiting from Scotland.

Shortly afterwards we also had the company of two friends of mine Yoel and Ibrahim who are also Ankaragucu fans, but do not yet have kanka names. I hope to remedy this soon.

Next week, we will be away to Istanbul B.B.S. This is sure to be a tough match. I look forward to Bellshill Kanka Nadeem's pre-match report. A presto a tutti.

Ankaragucu-Buca: The Realists were Right

Well, the details will have to wait until tomorrow, but let's just say that I really enjoy being right. Somewhere between Maniac Kanka's pessimism and Eski's unbridled optimism was my humble prediction of a victory--but one falling short of 6-0 naturally.

Note: just noticed that Nadeem too had made a reasonable prediction of 3-2.

Although, it must be said that we quite possibly could have scored 6 as the final score was


Ankaragucu 5 Bucaspor 3.


Quite an exciting match to watch as well, what with Jim's fav Murat scoring the first two goals, Vittek with a well taken penalty, and then a gritty header by Metin, only to be followed up by one hell of a free kick from Ozgur in the closing minutes of the match.

Much more to tell though. I'll be giving you all the full report tomorrow. Sleep well, Ankara, you earned it.

Genclerbirligi fight back

It was all looking very depressing with Besiktas 2-0 up, looking like they were going to score more and a bit over half an hour left. Lucky I didn't leave as the ending was a cracker.

Besiktas 2 - 2 Genclerbirligi

A couple of years ago we were at the Red Lion Club and it was Spine who decided he would stay there rather then head off to watch the match. He missed Jedinak scoring against Fenerbahce from a freekick. Last night it was Flying Dutchman Kanka who stayed at the Red Lion. He missed Jedinak scoring again from a freekick. This time against Besiktas. Who is going to miss out next time?

Things certainly didn't start out well. Besiktas were all over us. Once again it was keeper who had to do a lot of work and it was only a matter of time before we cracked. Besiktas opened the scoring in almost a replay of the goal we conceded against Kayseri last week. A player near the line passed it back to a Besiktas player all on his own right in front of goal. Sloppy marking that one.



The second Besiktas goal came from another mistake. This time it was Jedinak who realised to late to go up for a header. The Besiktas player got there first and our keeper had no chance.

The five or six Besiktas fans in the pub were in good spirits while the Gencler fans, about 30 of us, were in our normal depressed state.

Then we got a free kick about 30 metres out and seemingly impossible to score from. But good 'ol Jedinak smashed it to the right of the wall and into the top of the net. Absolutely brilliant freekick.

We were playing much better than we had but it still didn't look likely that we would score but then we had a counter attacking chance and Pektemek found himself one-on-one with the keeper. Another great positioned shot and it was 2-2. Shouting and chants from us Gencler fans in the Beer Bus and finally peep...peep. It was over. A great result, especially when you consider that we had a total of two shots on target... both of them goals.

There was a bit of handbags at the end with a couple of Ankaragucu fans. I have no idea what happened but we scarpered out of there before the cops showed up.

Back to the Red Lion Club and celebratory beers with Flying Dutchman Kanka and other friends.

This Thursday we have the all important Turkish Cup semi-final second leg against Istanbul BBS. I'll be out of town but Flying Dutchman Kanka will be there (and reporting). Fingers crossed we see them off and then it will be off to Kayseri for the final (some time in late May) where we will probably be facing Besiktas.

EDIT: For another perspective check out Jeremy's blog piece on the match

Ankaragucu vs Bucaspor Match Preview !

Image above taken from Haber Pan

This Weekends game see Ankaragucu take on Bucaspor at home on Saturday morning. The last time the two clubs met, the game ended in a 0-0 draw in Izmir. After the disappointing news this week of Michael Klukowski being the latest Ankaragucu player not to be paid, we will be hoping to get back to winning ways on the park.

This is a massive game for Ankaragucu, as a win over Bucaspor would all but secure our safety in the Super Lig next season. A defeat could see us and Galatasaray dragged into a relegation battle.

Bucaspor are back in the Super Lig and are currently lying in the relegation zone seven points behind Sivasspor. Some of the bottom clubs have picked up form of late and both teams will be hoping to take the three points. There last five games have only produced 2 wins, one over Gaziantepspor and last weeks 2-1 win over Karabukspor.

The main players who will be Buca's star players are Club Captain Musa Aydin a player who I've been really impressed with. The other is Torric Jibril an Eighteen year old midfielder from Ghana. Buca beat a lot of top clubs to his signature in January and he has fantastic talent. Ex Ankaragucu players Koray Colgecen and Ediz Bahtijarevic are also part of the Bucaspor squad.

Ankaragucu still have key players missing in Roman Bednar, Mehmet Cogum, Muhammed Turkmen, Michael Zewlakow and of course Michael Klukowski, Fatih Tekke and Stanislav Sestak but Guven Varol is welcomed back into the squad. Varol has missed a lot of games and before injury was one of our key players. It is a big boost to have him back in the squad and he will hope to play some part in the game.

After a disappointing defeat last week to Gaziantepspor where we deserved a point, We will be looking to take all three points at home to Buca. It will be a difficult game but I'm going for a 3-2 win for Ankaragucu.

The Klukowski saga

In the last couple of days we have had a few requests from Canada for information on the what the hell has happened to Michael Klukowski.

Well, first up let me say that we don't know a lot. The Turkish press have been fairly quiet on the matter and the club haven't said anything since news came in that the Canadian Klukowski has left the club. According to documents published by Sporx.com Klukowski's lawyers sent the club a "3th (sic) official formal notice and demand for payment" to the club on March 29. The pictures are a little difficult to read so let me quote from the fax:

"I refer to the two Official Formal Notices and Demand for Payment on the 28th of February, 2011 and on the 8th of March 2011, both of them remained unanswered and without effect," said the faxed letter addressed to Ahmet Gokcek and Ankaragucu General Manager Ender Yurtguven.

"I also remind you that I had already sent you another Official Formal Notice of Demand for Payment on the 16th of Decemember 2010, which led to the payment of outstanding amounts owed to my client at the end of December 2011 (sic). This means that my client did not receive any payment within last 3 months," the lawyer's letter continued.

"This letter is therefore to be considered as LAST OFFICIAL FORMAL NOTICE AND DEMAND FOR PAYMENT," the lawyer shouted.

As I said, this fax was dated March 29. Yurtguven responded ... well, basically tried to sweep the matter under the carpet on April 6. Ajansspor quoted Yurtguven as saying that Klukowski had approached the club wanting payment but that the club had told him that they would not do a deal on outstanding payments with an individual player but with the whole club, something that he hoped would be worked out very soon. In other words, you ain't getting nothing mate. Yurtguven said that Klukowski then told them that in that case he would leave the club. To which they gave the Canadian one or two days to make up his mind.

The stand of the club though was pretty clear by the next thing Yurtguven said:

"If he wants to leave the club, we will send him on. Because no one is bigger than the Ankaragucu club," the general manager said, adding that the club had spoken to its lawyers and there was nothing that would allow the cancellation or dissolution of the contract.

Klukowski obviously thought differently as it appears that sometime last week he walked out. As far as we are aware there hasn't been any statement from Ankaragucu since then.

No doubt this one is off to the courts.

A couple of points. We all know that Ankaragucu has massive financial and legal problems (see our summaries here and here) and it is still very unclear where the club will get the money to pay other players like Vittek and Sestak who are in the exact same position as Klukowski.

The other thing is that even if the club comes up with the money owed to current players, there must certainly be stories travelling around the football community that this is a club that doesn't pay. All not happy in the Ankaragucu camp.

EDIT: Oh yes, I should put in the link to Noland's thread on The Voyagers, a Canadian soccer supporters forum where this whole thing has baffled many for a few days now. Don't worry Voyagers, we are just as baffled as you are.

I'll take that - Gencler send four past Kayseri

"This has the look of being one of those under 2.5 goals a game bets," my friend Ender told me 10 minutes into Sunday afternoon's Genclerbirligi v Kayserispor match. At the time, I agreed. How wrong we were.

Genclerbirligi 4 - 1 Kayserispor

Ender and I had been out at Kecioren all day Saturday and Sunday giving a cricket umpire's course and so we didn't have time to get down to the Beer Bus for our customary pre-match refreshments. I have no exact idea but I reckon it has been at least three years since I have gone to the 19 Mayis stone-dead sober. It was an interesting experience but one that I shan't be making a habit of.

The weather in Ankara has been lovely in the last week so it came as a bit of a surprise to see snow falling in Kecioren an hour-and-a-half before kick-off. A quick dash off home and then off to the stadium where Ender and I were joined by Oguz, Flying Dutchman Kanka, one of the security guards from the British Embassy and his son.

Gencler came out with a banner celebrating the 166th anniversary of the Turkish police force, which resulted in possibly the first time I've seen our players getting booed before a ball has even been kicked and then we were on.

It was cold, not deadly though, but the pitch looked extremely slippery and players were falling over left right and centre.

Match-wise we started out with a 4-3-3 formation with both Pektemek and Zec on the field. Attacking thoughts but our midfield was rubbish for most of the first half. Oktay was having a poor match and Yasin wasn't looking good either. Quite a few times it seemed as if we couldn't get the ball through to our forwards at all.

It was all very frustrating with plenty of possession squandered as we sent the ball time and again back to our keeper Ozkan (I don't know why Serdar wasn't playing, nor our second-choice keeper Ramazan). Kayseri were clearly playing the better football and it was ex-Gencler player James Troisi was the best player on the pitch. Troisi was getting plenty of boos every time he got the ball thanks to the way he jumped ship a couple of years ago when he joined Kayseri.

All was getting a bit boring when Pektemek got the ball about 40 metres out with plenty of defenders in front of him. He jinked this way, he jinked that way. Yasin and Zec were both waiting for the pass and we were all shouting "PASS THE BLOODY THING!" He ignored us of course, had a shot and placed it wonderfully to the left of the Kayseri keeper diving full stretch. Woooo hoooo.

Half-time and all was well but justice would have at least allowed Kayseri to have scored one. They had a million free kicks just outside the box (most of them deserved) but most of them went flying out or straight into the wall. Aykut was also having a great game in defence time and again quashing Kayseri attacks.

Gencler's coach Ralf Zumdick had clearly seen the problems we were having in midfield and replaced Oktay with Mehmet. It was at this point that everything started to look up. Then we had another great goal. This time from Zec who managed to get to the side of a defender and shoot from an angle to perfectly place the ball onto the post and in. Excellent stuff.

Still though Kayseri looked the better team and certainly the one more likely to score. Which they did when our defence failed to pick up a Kayseri player inside the box.

The Gencler supporters started shouting for Azofeifa to come on and a few minutes later Zumdick relented and sent him in. Nice of Zumdick to listen to us.

About this stage the referee gave a decision against us which the crowd didn't like so we started up a "şişko hakem" chant. Being politicly-aware this chant was soon changed to "Obez Hakem".

It was looking a bit worrying but then Jedinak sent a brilliant pass across to someone or other who immediately sent it back to the box where Jedinak was steaming in, got it with his knee and into the net.

Then came the icing on the cake as Azofeifa took a free kick which found Jedinak who was unable to get a shot off but the ball ended up with Aykut who topped off a great performance with a great goal.

Celebrations in the stands and all is looking good. We have almost certainly avoided the drop this season so Friday's result against Besiktas doesn't really matter. The thing that matters though is next Thursday's Cup semi-final second leg against Istanbul BBS. Win that and we will probably be up against Besiktas in the final. "Kupa bizim olacak, kupa bizim olacak".... Inshallah.

ANKARAGUCU'S DEFENSIVE FRAILTIES RESURFACE

Greetings Kankas and Kankies. Gaziantepspor 3 ANKARAGUCU 2 Maniac Kanka Harun, Battle Damaged Kanka Damon and I met up at the Beer Bus Bar to watch the match, but optimism was in short supply due to our growing injury list !

Team - Ozden Ugur, Rajnoch, Aydin and Ozgur Adem, Kagan, Gabric and Murat Vittek and Serdar Substitutes used - Metin and Turgut Dogan

Antep came out of the traps like a whippet and made it quite clear that they were going for the early goal. However, they obviously under-estimated Ankaragucu's secret weapon at the back, ie, Ozden. After only 5 minutes of the match and he made a crucial save from an Antep free kick.

Although he didn't make a clean catch with his first attempt to collect the ball, he managed to save the squirming ball on the goal line as it was about to spin in for a goal. Then, a minute later he made another excellent save from a shot which was goal bound. Gabric had a shot on the 9th minute mark but the ball took a ricochet off a defender for a corner. It was still mostly Antep doing the attacking and Ankaragucu having to content themselves with the odd breakaway and high balls up to Vittek. All very well trying to feed Vittek, but there was only one problem. That man Dany again !!! He was sweeping up everything that came his way and his distribution of the ball was incredible. You may recall me making similar comments about Dany when Antep played in Ankara in the first half of the season ?! I'm sure half time came as a relief to the beleaguered Ankaragucu defence ...... and us kankas too I may add ! I have to admit that I would have been happy to settle for a 0-0 match at this point, but I didn't anticipate Ankaragucu folding so dramatically ! Into the 2nd half and Antep continued to press forward. Ozden was called into action after 3 minutes play to save from a fast breakaway and shot. 2 minutes later, Murat should have scored when put through on the left. He elected to blast the ball at Karcemarskas rather than chipping the ball over the advancing goalkeeper. The defining moment of the match came in the 57the minute from a calamity in the Ankaragucu defence (couldn't see who made the mistake) when the ball was gifted to an Antep player and with the Ankaragucu defence at 'sixes and sevens' he had all the time in the world to implement a triangular passing movement for Olcan to score with Ozden left exposed and helpless. 3 minutes later and it was TWO. From a free kick well outside the penalty area, the ball rebounded off the Ankaragucu wall to Cenk. With the wall opening-up, Cenk had a clear space to fire in a rocket with Ozden well beaten. Antep was in full cry now, but from a rare breakaway 5 minutes later, Ankaragucu won a corner which was slung over by Murat for Rajnoch to find the space to head in to the left corner. Vittek had a great chance to equalise 3 minutes later but his shot went just past the post. 15 minutes to go and we were witnessing the Ankaragucu fighting spirt as they continued to search for the equaliser, but .............. grrrrrrrrrrr ...... and arghhhhhhh....... another stupid mistake in the defence gifted Antep the match. Aydin should have dealt with his interception, but he didn't control the ball which he deflected to Cenk. I suppose Cenk couldn't believe his luck as he raced away with Ankaragucu defenders trailing in his wake, and fired in No3 with Ozden left exposed again ! With 5 minutes left, Metin almost made the scoreline respectable when he latched onto a great pass from Vittek, and with the keeper stranded he shot, but Dany was on the goal-line and saved (with his hands !!) and cleared the danger and the effin Ref waved play-on !! However, with 2 minutes remaining, Ozgur scored the 2nd goal, receiving another great pass from Vittek and fired in a left foot shot with the keeper well beaten. With 3 minutes of time-added-on, Ankaragucu searched in vain for the equaliser but Antep ran the game down to the final whistle. So, all credit to Ankaragucu for their fighting qualities trying to play 'catch-up', but against a team of Antep's quality you just can't afford to gift THREE goals to them and expect to win the match ! Man of the Match ? No doubt .......... Dany !! Next up is the home match next Saturday 16th (probably 2pm KO) against Buca when hopefully some of the walking wounded will be available for selection. Gencler travel to Beshiktrash for the Friday evening match on the 15th. All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Genclerbirligi walk it in

Lots to talk about but time is not available. So, just a quick note to say we beat Kayseri 4-1. Lots of goals, lots of fun. Full report tomorrow.

In answer to Sir Eski Kanka's question about paragraphs not working. I have no idea. But don't worry. As soon as I get a bit of free time we shall be moving the whole blog out of blogspot and to our own domain... mainly in order to escape the stupid bans ordered by the "democratic" system that we live under but also to give me a chance to be a geek and set up a proper website.

ANKARAGUCU'S WALKING WOUNDED ARE SORELY MISSED !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies. It was a grim night for the 3 kankas - Maniac Kanka Harun, Battle Damaged Kanka Damon and Eski. However, lots of things to be cheerful about pre-match, eg, Harun trying on and wearing his new Raith Rovers top sent all the way from Scotland by Nadeem, Eski showing off his new White Ankaragucu scarf courtesay of Harun and ....... then Damon turning up decked out in Ankaragucu top, Ankaragucu jacket and Ankaragucu scarf !!! Would the evening continue in this iddylic, perfect way ? No !!!! Gaziantepspor 3 ANKARAGUCU 2 Details of the match tomorra sometime. Suffice to say that we were still able to walk out of the Beer Bus Bar with our heads held high ! All the best from Eski Kanka Jim PS ........ Webmaster and Oz Kanka ....... why will the Blog not obey my commands to paragraph ?

Player Profile - Hakan Kutlu, One Club Man

Image above taken from Blog Sport

As Discussed with the members of The Round Ball in Ankara, I will be doing a Player Profile on the Blog every couple of weeks. The reason for this is simply because I think it is important to remind the players from the past and what they have done for our Club. It also gives us all a chance to Discuss our memories of our favourite Ankaragucu players.

The first player profile had to be someone special, and after speaking with Harun, there was only one player who it could have been. Step forward Ex Ankaragucu Captain Hakan Kutlu.

In the Modern day football, we have Players been paid Hundreds of Thousands of pounds every week, playing with different clubs every couple of seasons and there main aim is to make as much money as possible. The same can not be said of Hakan Kutlu, a remarkable 28 Seasons he spent as a player with Ankaragucu from the Youth team to the First team.

Hakan made his debut for the club in the 1992/93 Season. Vetran defender Bahattin Gunes was coming to the later stage of his career while 20 year old Kutlu was making the break through from the youth team as his replacement. Little did we know that he would go on to be Club Captain making 244 appearances scoring 3 goals. Hakan had offers to move to other clubs but stayed loyal to the club he Supported.

Ankaragucu had mid table finishes and relegation battles which Kutlu played a big role in keeping the club in the Super Lig. The highlight of his time at Ankaragucu was in Season 2000/01 and 2001/02 where he lead the club to 6th place and 4th place respectively. This ensured European football in the later season which would see Atletico Madrid visit Ankara.

Hakan Kutlu was your no nonsense type of defender who gave everything when on the park. Not the greatest in terms of natural ability, but he made up for it in other ways which made him a Fans Favourite and Legend with the Ankaragucu fans.

One story Harun told me which Summed him up, Ersun Yanal who was Ankaragucu manager agreed to take charge of Genclerbirligi. The Ankaragucu fans were angered by this and Genclerbirligi were said to be the Dream Team. When both teams met Ankaragucu won, after the game Hakan Kutlu took an Ankaragucu Flag and ran to the Centre Circle and Stuck it on the Park. Sorry Gencler fans but that is the Making of a Legend.

Kutlu brought an end to his Playing career in the 2006/07 season. But his time at Ankaragucu didnt end there. Kutlu became manager and lead the team to a very good 8th in his first season. The second season didnt finish as well as we finished 13th before been replaced by Hikmet Karaman.

After Ankaragucu, Kutlu had short spells as Manager of Denizlispor and Manisaspor. At the moment he is without a club. He enjoyed a wonderful career at Ankaragucu and it is doubtful we will ever see such loyalty again in this day and age. He has given so many memories which I hope the Round Ball in Ankara will join in and tell there memories of him. Thank You Hakan Kutlu

Nadeem

Gencler grab an away goal in Cup semi

It's all starting to get exciting. Besiktas beat Gaziantep 3-0 on Wednesday night in the first leg of the other semi final... and tonight Genclerbirligi managed an away draw against Istanbul BBS. It should have gone to Gencler though. In the end though we missed too many chances in the first half. At least we got an away goal.

Istanbul BBS 1 - 1 Genclerbirligi

No pub for me tonight and I missed the first couple of minutes thanks to ...er ... me not watching the clock.

So I apparently missed a "certain goal" missed by us and then managed to miss quite a few more, including Pektemek sending it over from all of four metres out and numerous shots straight at the keeper.

It was all good stuff from Gencler, Jedinak had a great game with some great passes to players on the run.

The attacks payed off in the 21st when a couple of shots deflected off and Pektemek finally did something decent and whacked it in. Istanbul BBS 0 - 1 Genclerbirligi

Our dominance, and we should have been up 3-0 at least by this stage, was shown by the shots on goal count. Istanbul BBS: two shots, one on goal. Genclerbirligi: 11 shots, seven on goal.
Istanbul pull back a bit and then they were given an extremely dodgy penalty just before half-time. Replays showed that not only was it a dive but the Istanbul player had also handballed before diving.

No matter. Penalty missed and justice restored.

Second half and .. er... bugger all from Genclerbirligi.

Having totally dominated the first half we were crap in the second. At the 69th minute mark the shots/shots on goal stat had changed dramatically from before. Istanbul: 14-9, Genclerbirligi 14 -7.

And then another penalty. This one deserved though. And this one converted. Istanbul BBS 1 - 1 Genclerbirligi

We had a few more chances, Hursut hitting the post trying to chip the keeper, but we couldn't get it through.

Istanbul BBS had a player sent off near the end but we couldn't take advantage of it.

Peep, peep and you would have to say that Gencler were a bit unlucky. Still, an away goal is all good stuff.

So, the second leg is on April 21, 7pm at the 19 Mayis. Let's hope we get through... and then on to beat up Besiktas in the final in Kayseri.

Ankaragucu vs Gaziantepspor Match Preview !

Picture above taken from Fresh Soccer

Another difficult match this weekend as Ankaragucu travel to Gaziantepspor. Ex Ankaragucu captain Hurriyet Gucer and Elyasa Sume will both be hoping to get one over there former employers.

Both teams come off different fortunes at the weekend. Ankaragucu got another good result at home to Eskisehirspor as we drew 2-2 thanks to goals from Fatih Tekke and Serdar Ozkan. Gaziantepspor lost 3-2 away at Karabukspor and will be hoping to get back to winning ways.

Gaziantepspor have had a fantastic season so far, sitting in 4th place and looking good for a UEFA Cup spot. After a tough start to the season Kafkas Toulnay has done a good job bringing consistency and good football to the club. Players like Ismael Sosa, Cenk Tosun, Olcan Adin and Zurita are all top players who have enough quality to play on the bigger stage.

The last meeting between the two clubs finished Ankaragucu 0-2 Gaziantepspor, thanks to goals from Olcan Adin and Julio Cesar. We will be hoping the away team is as succesfull this time out.

Ankaragucu have a lot of injury problems with, Michael Zewlakow, Mehmet Cogum, Roman Bednar, Adem Kocak, Guven Varol, Marek Sapara all out with injury. Both Ishak Dogan and Stanislav Sestak return to the squad. For me this is Mesut's biggest test due to the opposition and the amount of Injury's we have. Lets hope for the undefeated record to continue. Im going for 1-1 with Jim's optimism pills.

FIXTURES THIS WEEK

Greetings Kankas and Kankies. This is my lucky day - I've been able to access the Blog ! Well, now that Gencler has put breathing space between them and the bottom three, it is time to turn attention to The Turkish Cup. Gencler will play their 1st Leg of the semi-final away against Istanbul BBS on Thursday 7 April KO 8pm. It will probably be on TRT so defo a must watch match. At the weekend it's back to league business - Sunday 10 April - Gaziantep v Ankaragucu - KO 2pm (watching in the Beer Bus) Gencler v Kayseri - KO 5pm (meeting in the Beer Bus as normal) All the best from Eski Kanka Jim PS ....... grrrrrrrr ..... it wasn't my lucky day after all. The Blog won't let me edit the text to make paragraphs ......... grrrrrrrrrrrr

A bit too easy as Gencler down Manisa

Bumbling along in the nether regions of the league meant a win on Sunday for Genclerbirligi was needed, at least to allow us a bit of breathing room. In the end, it was easy.

Manisaspor 0 - 3 Genclerbirligi

Having used up all my family capital by going to the Red Lion on Saturday to watch the India-Sri Lanka World Cup Final, Mrs. Oz kanka threatened to chop off certain bits of my anatomy if I didn't join her shopping at one of the 25 dozen malls that have popped up in Ankara in the last few years.

Stroppily I trudged off as we checked out shoes and other unnecessary products of the repressive capitalist system and it was only after I bribed Little Oz Kanka to start complaining that he was starving (I already knew that we had heaps of food at home and thus a sidetrip to the so-called food mall was out of the question) that we managed to get out at exactly 2pm.

Radio on to 93.3 and peep, peep.

Nothing much happening and then at about 10 minutes in: Jedinak takes a free kick, ball goes into the box, announcer gets excited, ball finds Aykut's head and heads goalward, announcer gets crazy, keeper makes great save, Oz Kanka slams on the brakes to avoid hitting car in front, Mrs. Oz Kanka gets mad.

I missed a fair bit as I was bringing the shopping in and so I missed Gencler's first goal. Watching the replays later it was a good ball from Hursut onto the head of Jedinak who sent it across the keeper and into the corner.

I quickly finished my lunch, bid fairwell and jumped into a taxi down to the Beer Bus in time for the second half. It was at this stage I learnt that one of the Manisa players had been sent off. It was obvious really as the Gencler players had acres of space.

It was only a matter of time really and it was a mistake from a Manisa defender that allowed Serkan the easiest of goals. Another mistake a few minutes later resulted in Pektemek scoring a great goal from the edge of the box.

It was all too easy and with more than half-an-hour left in the match the stadium went quiet as the Manisa fans streamed out in disgust.

No disgust for us. Three-nil is a good result and makes life avoiding the drop so much easier.

ANKARAGUCU SHOW NEVER-SAY-DIE SPIRIT AGAIN

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Battle Damaged Kanka Damon and I met up at The Beer Bus Bar arriving in a serious downpour which thankfully subsided for us leaving for the Stadium.

We met up there with Maniac Kanka Harun, Yankee Kanka, Huso Kanka and Rip Off Kanka Erman. An almost full stadium of Ankaragucu supporters with the 'away' end empty by order of the Police to protect these 'naughty Es-Es supporters' from the revenge of the Gecikondu Boys !!!

ANKARAGUCU 2 Eskisehirspor 2

Team -

Ozden
Ugur, Zewlakow, Rajnoch and Klukowski
Serdar, Aydin, Kagan and Ozgur
Vittek and Fatih

Substitutes used – Mehmet, Turgut Dogan and Murat

Ankaragucu was first to threaten when Ozgur was put through with a one-on-one with the 'giant' Es-Es goalkeeper, Ivesa, but he got to the ball a split second before Ozgur to clear.

Eskisehir was coming more into the match as the game swung from end to end. Ankaragucu's cause was not helped by giving too many free kicks away in the danger area, but thankfully most of them were either over, past or well dealt with by Ozden.

Ozgur was buzzing, Vittek making some deft flicks and passes and Rajnoch putting himself about and joining in with the attacks when possible.

However, it was Eskisehir who opened the scoring after 35 minutes. A breakaway and the cross was inch perfect to allow Burhan to slot in with Ozden left exposed by poor marking.

5 minutes later and the deserved equaliser arrived. A period of sustained Ankaragucu pressure from a corner and the ball was slung over a 2nd time from the right and there was Fatih perfectly positioned to volley in a superb goal into the top right hand corner with Ivesa posted absent !

So, half time and all square which on the balance of play was about right.

However, just before half time Zewlakow limped off to be replaced by Mehmet, and then on the stroke of half time Fatih was stretchered off but was able to walk down the tunnel. Mehmet was also stretchered off later in the match and Battle Damaged Kanka reported this morning that Mehmet's injury is serious and will have him out for 5 or 6 months !

Incidentally, while Mehmet was on, he had a solid match in midfield (Bellshill Kanka Nadeem to note !!!).

Into the 2nd half then and it was still an end to end type of match. However, the calamity of the match came in the 70th minute. A bullet of a shot came in from an Es-Es player at least 30 metres out which Ozden did well to parry. Unfortunately, the rebound fell into the path of the incoming Batuhan who shot at the unprotected goal. The ball hit the post and screwed back into play which gave Batuhan a second bite of the cherry. He managed to get a foot to the ball in the melee that followed and the ball trickled in for a goal. A terrible goal to concede but a few centimetres to the left and the ball would have gone out of play after it hit the post. Bad luck.

Ankaragucu pressed forward in search of a 2nd equaliser and on 73 minutes Vittek missed a sitter from a perfect cross from Ozgur. But he made amends one minute later when he sent a great pass to Serdar. With defenders closing in on Serdar, he looked up, saw a space a curled a left foot shot just inside the left post with Ivesa too slow to react. A clinical finish and well worked goal.

It was all Ankaragucu now and Serdar should have had a penalty when he was deliberately pushed in the box. A clear case of the referee chickening out on his duties !!!

Into the last 5 minutes and Vittek had a shot which hit the bar and went out of play, and Murat hit the post when he tried an angled shot. Es-Es was hanging on now and they were the more relieved to hear the final whistle.

Man of the Match award goes to Ozgur who gave the Es-Es defence a torid time. He never stopped running and gave 100% from start to finish.

So, a great fighting display from Ankaragucu and Mesut Bey will be hoping some of his 'walking wounded' will be fit for the visit to Gaziantep next Sunday.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

ESKI-SHIT-EER CONFOUND ESKI'S PREDICTION

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

On a rainy and sunny Saturday in Ankara, Eski-shit-eer turned my prediction upside-down, but to be fair to them it was a fair result in the end, despite a late onslaught on the Eskisehir goal.

ANKARAGUCU 2 Eskisehir 2

Ankaragucu came from behind twice to secure a point, but could have so easily have won the match if there had been a full strength team available (how many times has that been said this season ??).

Having problems accessing the Blog, but hopefully Battle Damaged Kanka can do the biz.

More tomorra when sober.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim