Monday, August 15, 2011

The Capital City Cup - The Final









Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The Capital City Cup was won in fine style by Ankaragucu last night !

ANKARAGUCU 4 Mersin 0

Mesut Bey obviously did his homework and the 'African Cavalry' of Mersin was effectively neutered and confined to making the odd forage along the wings which caused no danger for the most part. When danger did threaten, the last line of defence (Mr Reliable - Serdar) was there to negate the few chances that came Mersin's way.

Ankaragucu took the match by the scruff of the neck and ran out worthy winners.

The Three Muskateers (Maniac Kanka Harun, Battle Damaged Kanka Damon and yours truly) met up at The Chopin and proceeded to lift our spirits with some luvvlie yummy Efes before being chauffeured to Saray Stadium by Maniac's friend Erkan.

The small stadium was bursting at the seams and we found ourselves sitting (and standing !!) beside Minty and the Anti-X boyz. It was just like being back in the 19 Mayis Stadium - the noise factor was high volume !

Fatih was again appointed captain with Adem and Sapara both playing (interesting !).

It was Ankaragucu who took the initiative and pressed forward looking for the opening goal. As half time approached I commented to Damon, that in a Cup Final the opening goal usually proves crucial, and no sooner had I uttered those 'words of wisdom' than the opening goal arrived !

It was a gem of a goal with Sestak pouncing on a Fatih pass and rifling the ball in to send us all into delirium.

At the other end, I should mention the contribution of Rajnoch who returned from International Duty to steady the defence, and also Guven who gave a good example of how an attacking full back should play.

The 2nd half was only 5 minutes old when a Sapara free kick was headed in by Fatih. That's it I thought, no way back for Mersin now. Ankaragucu proceeded to take control of the match, and although Mersin never gave up, it was clear from their 'body language' that they felt defeat was inevitable.

Tonia came on for the 2nd half and was a constant thorn in their side with his runs and tackling back into defence at times. It was from one of his runs into the penalty box that the 3rd goal arrived. He was unceremoniously brought down in the box when he was about to shoot and the referee didn't hesitate by pointing to the spot. Up stepped Vittek to send in a perfect shot to make it THREE.

Near the end with Ankaragucu in full attacking mode another penalty was awarded, but I was too busy singing along with the Anti-X boyz to see who was involved ! This time 'new daddy' Hurriyet elected to take it and it was duly despatched for number FOUR.

It was a great sight to see the Ankaragucu players (and Ahmet Gokcek !!!) with the Cup and singing to the fans who had all waited for the presentation. A moment to savour and a night to remember for us all.

With Ankaragucu playing like this we can look forward with optimism to the forthcoming league campaign.

Post-match celebrations were continued by Damon and I in The NRY and I arrived home at about 2am (or thereabouts !!!).

Look forward to some glowing comments from you kankas who couldn't make it to the match, and I'm sure Bellshill Kanka Nadeem will be as overjoyed as us to see Ankaragucu lift the Cup.

More of that pleeeeezzzzzz !!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

17 comments:

  1. Mountaineering Kanka11:52 am

    Way to go Gucu!!!

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  2. good report jimbo...after this game i'm being so hopeful for the new season...but first we need a good managment

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  3. Fantastic result and performance after a poor first half hour. Looking back Jan Rajnoch made a crucial challenge to prevent a goal and Serdar made a very good save one on one with Nduka Ozokwo.

    We were clinical in our finishing and fatih has a great footballing brain, we need to keep him fit with sestak. Interesting that Sapara has lost the captains arm band.

    Tonia was superb when he came on and for me is the most exciting young player we have had since ive been watching ankaragucu.

    Still have Theo and Tita to come back to a strong squad. Just need a left back and we will have a team capable of challanging for Europe

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  4. Well done Ankaragucu. At least some people in the capital are feeling confident for the new season.

    In other news, I just read this tweet by Bloomberg's @BenjaminHarvey

    "Judging by stock prices, info's out that Turkey football fed will vote not to relegate: Fenerbahce +19%, Galatasaray +15%, Besiktas +14%."

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  5. We shall see, but I wouldn't be surprised if that were, indeed, the case, Oz. Here's a brief summary of what was announced today by the TFF.

    http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/15082011/2/turkey-federation-holds-decisions.html

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  6. remember there is a meeting tomorrow to find out our managements future.

    TFF wont relegate the teams, they dont have the bottle to do it to the big teams

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  7. It looks like that is the case, Nadeem.

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  8. Anonymous6:55 pm

    For those of us who have lived in Turkey for some time, it is normal to become a sceptic concerning matters controlled by the TFF even if you weren't one before !!!

    Can the TFF prove us wrong ? Being a graduate sceptic ....... I doubt it !!

    So says Eski Kanka Jim

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  9. Anonymous11:22 am

    To become a sceptic means you still have doubts re.TFF.
    On an hierarchical scale FIFA is corrupt, UEFA is corrupt and TFF is very corrupt. But... when it comes to decisions there is no more comparison between FIFA&UEFA and TFF. TFF's decisions are a joke. Because TFF has no balls.
    Football without balls. This is what they are trying to play here in Turkey.
    Dan

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  10. BREAKING NEWS: Melih Gokcek called to testify in match-fixing probe!

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  11. Damn, you beat me to it, Spine.

    http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/spor/futbol/18510521.asp

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  12. And in English:

    http://www.todayszaman.com/news-254012-ankara-mayor-to-testify-as-suspect-in-match-fixing-probe.html

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  13. didnt know melih gokcek stepped down last week. Whats the latest news on gokceks, cengiz and cemal ?

    the sooner the gokceks get to feck the better, i cant stand both of them, they are corrupt and they will do more harm to the club than better.

    And the TFA can f.uck right off, its disgusting how they are treating the fans. I cant see me spending money on flights, hotels and tickets when half way through the season teams could be relegated.

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  14. Apparently the Gökçeks are going and the players will all be let out of their contracts to go where they may. Not convinced it will really happen yet, but if it does, we are sunk.

    Found another Ankaragücü blog. Not in English, but it is still another resource.

    http://www.ankaragucum.net/

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  15. on one hand it will be great to see the back of the gokceks, but on the other hand loosing all our players will be a disaster. really hope there is light at the end of the tunnel

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  16. Anonymous10:35 am

    More doom and gloom to report .......

    In The Hurriyet this morning is a report that Ankaragucu (and its fans !!) have been reported to the TFF Disciplinary Committee for the bad behaviour at Saray last week.

    Lighting flares (which Damon captured on camera !!), using foul and abusive language (surprise surprise !!) and invading the pitch at the end of the matches.

    The Club has sent a letter of appeal - a lot of good that will do !

    So, be prepared for a Stadium Ban for fans at the beginning of the season (again !!!).

    Arrrrrghhhhh !!

    All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

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  17. the Turkish FA said last month they wouldnt be handing out stadium bans this season. Although they went back on there word and handed one to Fenerbahce for there crowd trouble in pre season so no doubts we will get one to

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