ANKARAGUCU MOVE FOUR POINTS CLEAR AT THE TOP OF THE LEAGUE !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

It was a tense match at the 19 Mayis Stadium today with Ankaragucu and Menemen settling for a share of the points in a match that swung from end to end throughout.   With Gumush.....spit......hane losing at Kastamonou, it allowed Ankaragucu to move 4 points clear at the top of the league with only 5 matches left till the end of the season.   Also, Gumush have the more difficult run-in than Ankaragucu to negotiate.

ANKARAGUCU   1     Menemen    1

Team – Korcan, Serkan, Sezgin, Cenk, Mehmet, Muhammed, Harun, Ferhat, Omer, Erhan and Kenan

It was a sunny Spring day when we all met-up at the Sports Cafe – Maniac Kanka Harun, Posh Kanka Ahmet, Scouse Kanka Marcus, Yeni Kanka Nurer, Cider Kanka John, Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Kaleci Kanka Tansu and guest John McManus.

The Stadium was full again in all the tribunes and there were about 200 in the away section.   An amazing carnival atmosphere with Maraton setting off hundreds of blue and yellow balloons and Gecikondu covering all their heads in blue and yellow paper flags in the 6^th minute.

Maniac Kanka Harun just before the kick off.    He was still smiling at the end !!!

Ankaragucu came out of the traps fast and Omer almost opened the scoring in the 3^rd minute when his free kick went narrowly past the post.   Then 4 minutes later, Man of the Match, Serkan, exchanged passes with Erhan and shot just over.

16 minute mark and all the tribunes serenaded us with the Bursa Song !

One minute later the Ankaragucu pressure paid off and they took the lead.   From a throw-in on the left, Kenan latched onto the ball outside the penalty box and let fly with a stunning shot into the top right hand corner.   A goal to savour.

There were 2 more good opportunities to extend the lead before Menemen started to come into the match.   Harun and Serhan both had chances but Harun shot over and Erhan scuffed his shot past the post.

It was around the half hour mark when Menemen started to look dangerous.

First, a cross from the right was headed goal bound in the centre of the goal, but Korcan made a reflex save to tip the ball over.

Second, Sezgin was dispossessed in the Ankaragucu half and an inviting cross came over but Korcan came to the rescue again.

Third, and the equaliser !   A Menemen corner was taken quickly and crossed in for an attacker to have a free header with the Ankaragucu defence all at sea and in panic mode.

Approaching half time and again Sezgin gave the ball away needlessly and with a Menemen attacker on a one to one with Korcan, he made a point blank save to spare Sezgin’s blushes !

Almost on the half time whistle and Kenan almost produced another stunning strike from 30 yards but the goalkeeper made a spectacular save to tip the ball over.

Then on the half time whistle, Erhan almost scored but his angled shot went narrowly past.

So, going in at half time I suppose a draw was a fair reflection of the play so far with both teams scorning good chances.

Not much to say about the 2^nd half which was played at a slower pace.   However, Kenan had 2 excellent opportunities to kill the game but especially with one effort he had the goal at his mercy but amazingly he shot past the post.

So, I suppose on the upside we should be reasonably happy that Menemen didn’t sneak a winning goal, but in all honesty Ankaragucu should have taken their numerous chances to take all three points.   Plenty of work to be done on the Training Pitch this week me thinks !

Next weekend Ankaragucu will be ‘away’ at the small and disgusting Ostim Stadium in the outskirts of Ankara to play Bugsas in another game which they should win.    The Stadium is so small so the kankas will not attend this match !

Gumush.....spit......hane will be away in Tokat which will be a tight match and difficult to call, however, as we know .......... Gumush don’t travel well !!!

Optimism is back on the menu with promotion now in sight on the horizon !!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Ankaragucu 1-0 Trabzon 1461 match report!

Ankaragucu left it late in Trabzon with a 1-0 win that could be vital in the fight for the title with Gumushanespor. It wasn't the best of performances from Ankaragucu but they showed yet again that they have that tittle winning mentality and never say die attitude.

Team - Korcan Celikay, Sercan Balci, Sezgin Coskun, Cenk Kaplan, Mehmet Tasci, Ferhat Culcuoglu, Harun Aydin, Mohammed Gonulacar, Omer Bozan, Erhan Senturk, Kenan Özer

Subs - Emre Koyuncu, Alihan Kubalas, Hursit Tasci, Cagatay Ceken, Orhan Gulle, Emre Sahin, Enes Kubat

Although not always pretty to watch, Ankaragucu have found a winning mentality that has saw them win their last five goals without conceding a single goal. Korcan Celikay has been an excellent signing form Sivasspor in goal and made two excellent saves again today to win his side 3 points.

There wasn't much to report on in today's match, it was an awful game to watch with neither side having any real efforts on goal until the last ten minutes. It looked like we were heading for a draw until that man Omer Bozan stepped up to take a free kick, which he curled past Ibrahim Demir in the Trabzon goal with the help of a deflection.

The goal sent the Ankaragucu team and fans wild as the goal came in the 93rd minute as they maintain their 3 point lead at the top. Gumushanespor won 2-1 at home against Inegolspor as it looks like these two will go down to the wire.

Next weekend see both sides with tough matches. Ankaragucu host Menemen at the 19 Mayis Stadium in Ankara, while Gumushanespor travel to Kastamonuspor.

Another good weekend for the Ankaragucu faithful, with only 6 matches left to play we are so close but it's all still to play for.

ANKARAGUCU REGAIN TOP SPOT – ASSIST ..... KARSIYAKA !!!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Sighs of relief all round last night as Ankaragucu regained top spot in the league with a hard fought victory in front of a full house of 21,000 fanatical supporters.   Praise also to ‘brother team’ Karsiyaka for disposing of title rivals Gumush.....spit.....hane down on the south west coast.

ANKARAGUCU   1       Etimesgut BBS   0

Ankaragucu were wasteful throughout the match with many chances to put Etimesgut to the sword but fortune smiled on them when the referee awarded a penalty in the 2^nd half.   That’s not to say Etimesgut were an easy nut to crack.   They persisted throughout the match to find a goal and they gave the Ankaragucu some scary moments with their fast and dangerous breakaways.   Gumush....spit.....hane will visit Etimesgut on the last day of the season and they can expect an opponent on a par with Karsiyaka.

Team – Korcan, Serkan, Mehmet, Cenk, Muhammed, Sezgin, Ferhat, Omer, Harun, Erhan and Kenan

The kankas met up at The Bira Park Pub on GMK Bulvar in Kizilay (Maniac Kanka Harun, Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Newby Kanka Nurer and yours truly) to celebrate Karsiyaka’s great win and to analyse the Ankaragucu match.   We entered the Stadium 40 minutes before KO and it was almost full at that point.   An unbelievable atmosphere for a Wednesday night match and .............. 2^nd League match !!    Gecikondu and Maraton were in full voice mode and they didn’t let up for the whole match, except to have a breather at half time !!!

Ankaragucu went straight into attack from the whistle and the players were buzzing – playing in front of a full house does that !    However, it took until the 13^th minute to have a clear cut chance when a cross came in from the left and a goalbound header (we were too far away to see who it was) hit the crossbar and cleared.

One minute later Omer had another chance but his shot was high and over.  Then came the Bursa song on the 16^th minute followed by another great chance which fell to Erhan but his goalbound shot was well saved.

Another great chance on the half hour mark was cleared off the line, but as I said before, Etimesgut was looking dangerous on the break and they almost silenced us with a goal on the 32^nd minute mark when from the cross on the right the ball was flicked towards goal, but it was just inches past the post.

Just before the half time whistle Ankaragucu was awarded a free kick just outside the box on the left and Omer tried one of his special dead-ball efforts but it was well saved.

So, a disappointing 1^st half insofar as there were no goals to show for all the Ankaragucu pressure which Etimesgut had to withstand.   However, we were still optimistic of cracking open their defence !

Ankaragucu started the 2^nd half as they did in the 1^st half, ie, on full throttle and they should have opened the scoring from the kick off when Erhan was put through with only the goalkeeper to beat but he shot narrowly past.   He will surely have nightmares about that miss !

One minute later an Ankaragucu penalty claim was quite rightly waved away by the referee when the ball hit an Etimesgut defender’s hand in the box, but as I saw it, he was only protecting his face and it was ‘ball to hand’ !

3 minutes later and another golden opportunity was missed when Ferhat’s shot from outside the box hit the bar and went over.

Still it was all Ankaragucu with Etimesgut still looking for a goal with their breakaways, however, the Ankaragucu defence was ‘standing up’ and Korcan ably dealing with any shots which came his way.

Then in the 64^th minute, the breakthrough !   From yet another Ankaragucu attack an Etimesgut defender used his hand to push the ball out of play, but it was spotted by the referee who pointed immediately to the spot.   Up stepped Erhan to stroke the ball in with the goalkeeper nowhere.

15 minutes to go and time for the stadium to enjoy a Mexican Wave which was followed by a ‘firefly display’ by thousands of the fans with their Cep telephones and serenading the players at the same time.   There has never been scenes like this since the good olde days when Ersun Yanal took Ankaragucu into the UEFA Cup !!!

5 minutes to go and Ferhat and Enes had efforts saved and then in the final stages of the match Erhan almost connected with an Enes cross but the goalkeeper smothered the ball.

So, it was back to The Bira Park Pub to celebrate and round off an excellent evening.

Ankaragucu will be away in Trabzon next weekend and with another attacking performance like this we can hopefully expect them to return with all 3 points and maintain top spot.   The ball is well and truly in the players hands now !!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Ankaragucu return to the capital with all 3 points!

Ankaragucu and Gumushanespor both continued their Championship winning for this afternoon after hard fought victories which keep things as they were at the top of the table. Ankaragucu won 1-0 at Eyupspor, while Gumushanespor came back from a goal down to beat Kirklarelispor 3-1.

Team - Korcan Celikay, Sercan Balci, Sezgin Coskun, Cenk Kaplan, Mehmet Tasci, Harun Aydin, Ferhat Culcuoglu, Orhan Gulle, Omer Bozan, Erhan Senturk, Kenan Özer

Subs - Altay Bayindir, Alihan Kubalas, Hursit Tasci, Emre Sahin, Cagatay Ceken, Emre Kara, Enes Kubat


With the TFF again showing their incompetence and playing this round of matches at 4pm midweek when everyone was at work, it was left to John and Harun to keep us up to date with what was happening in Istanbul.

According to John it was a pretty scrappy match with Ankaragucu looking the better side and the Eyupspor keeper making some good saves to keep them in the match.

With Gumushanespor winning 3-1 the pressure was on Ankaragucu to take all three points, and thankfully the team delivered. Kenan Özer scored his first goal for the club after the initial free kick was saved from Bayburt, he was on hand to fire the rebound into the net.

Special mention goes to the Ankaragucu fans who made the trip, with over 1,000 fans cheering the team onto victory.

Next up for Ankaragucu is a home match with Etimesgut next Wednesday night, while Gumushanespor have a tough trip at Karsiyaka. It looks like it's going to go right down to the wire with there now being a two horse race.

ANKARAGUCU ENSURE THAT SEAGULLS ARE UNWELCOME IN ANKARA !!!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

As we all know, the sun always shines on Leith, but today the sun was shining on Ankara.   However, whilst Leith welcomes seagulls, Ankara definitely does not.    So it was that we sent Sariyer seagulls back to Istan....spit.....bul to think again !!!

ANKARAGUCU   2      Sariyerspor    0

The kankas met up near the stadium – Maniac Kanka Harun, Cider Kanka John, Posh Kanka Ahmet, Kaleci Kanka Tansu ............ and ........... (new name !!!) ....... prodigal son kanka, previously known as ..... scouse kanka, who did a ..........’Nadeem’ and popped in from Ingallind to watch the match !!!   We also had some guests with us .......... Murat Kaya and Murat from Turgutreis who is the owner of the Target Bar there.

It was chaos in and around the stadium.   I estimate that there were 18,000 there today with all the tribunes full and punters having to sit on the ailes.    Only about 40 in the away end !

As you can imagine, it was a fantastic atmosphere and in the 6^th minute there was a confetti and balloon show from all the tribunes !    A great opportunity was missed at this time when Muharrem shot straight at the goalkeeper from an excellent cross from Serkan.

Six minutes later Muharrem missed another chance when another cross from Serkan was half saved by the goalkeeper with Muharrem following through and injuring the goalkeeper.

16^th minute, and on cue from Gecikondu ........... the Bursa song which was picked up by the other tribunes.

It was mostly all Ankaragucu pressure so far, but that pressure finally paid dividends in the 33^rd minute when Ankaragucu was awarded a free kick outside the box.   Ankaragucu player of the season, Omer, stepped up to the mark and sent in a curling free kick around the wall into the corner with the goalkeeper well beaten !

4 minutes later at another free kick on the left, Cenk almost made it two when his header was just over.    Must highlight his contribution today.   He was solid at the back and not afraid to join in the attack, especially at dead ball situations in the danger area where he was always likely to connect with crosses.

Approaching the half time whistle and all the tribunes decided to put on a performance of the Mexican Wave.   Had to smile when the Sariyer fans decided to join in too !!!

Half time, and entertainment was provided by a group of 50 Professional Misket Dancers.     Some of the kankas commented that they were almost as good at dancing the misket as me !!!

10 minutes into the 2^nd half and Serkan went on one of his runs down the right wing (he still hasn’t lost his speed or skill !).    He beat about 2 or 3 players on his way into the penalty box    and then he was ignominiously brought down.   PENALTY !!!     The referee obviously has a hearing problem because he didn’t hear us and waved play on !     To be fair to him, he is probably only a Class 2 or 3 referee !    I would have given it !!!!

Half way through the 2^nd half and Kenan made a great run through midfield and fired in a great shot which was well saved.

Then ........... just as I thought ...... the referee is probably only Class 2 because he realised his mistake from before and gave Ankaragucu a penalty.   We were all looking at each other coyly and all agreed that it wasn’t !!!    Anyway, having just said to Posh Kanka a few minutes prior to this incident that we really need a 2^nd goal ............. it was gratefully received.   Erhan stepped up to the mark and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to ease our nervous dispositions !!!

10 minutes to go and Muhammed soured the atmosphere a little by losing his discipline.   The referee penalised him for a foul and showed him the yellow card.   Not content to get on with the game and see it out, he was right up into the referee’s face and said something which was obviously distasteful to the referee and out came the red card.    Muhammed .......... you are brain dead and should know better than to resort to stupidity with only 10 minutes remaining and leading 2-0 !!!!

That was it, and off to the Yeni Sedir to celebrate and watch  Everton almost snatch an equaliser against the Spurs !!!

With Gumush....spit....hane also winning it is no change at the top with both of us on equal points.    Still all to play for in the weeks ahead.    Keep watching this space as the story unfolds !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim