ANKARAGUCU - GOLDEN STRIKE (Hurriyet's Headline - Not Mine !!)

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

On a cold and crisp Saturday afternoon in Ankara .....

ANKARAGUCU 1 Gaziantepspor 0

Good turnout from the kankas yesterday with Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Rip Off Kanka Erman, Yankee Kanka, Alpine Kanka Wolfgang with his son Chris and his buddy, Mountaineering Kanka Robbie and his `Bilkent Babes` Jennifer and Abi. Also, Andrew and Ian from Bilkent.

Maniac Kanka and I were working (as usual at this time of the year) and were conspicuous by our absence ! But...... we did turn up for post-match celebrations !!!

However, I can tell you that Murat Erdogan scored the vital (golden goal !!) in the 54th minute from a break from El Yasa and an astute pass from Jaba.

It was in ANKARAGUCU's hands (and feet) to add more, but...... according to Damon and Robbie, they retreated into a defensive formation for the last 10 minutes of the match and performed some professional time wasting tactics. Tut tut tut !!!

Well............. 3 points are 3 points and they are welcome as ANKARAGUCU keep up their pursuit of that UEFA Cup place.

The full report of the match will be added as an EDIT by Moutaineering Kanka Robbie soon. So, watch this space for more !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim


EDIT..... Sunday night.....

Well, WELL! Mountaineering Kanka here and I am honored to be giving this week’s report. It is a testament to what perseverance can accomplish as I can now tick off one more thing on my “things to do before you’re dead!” list. To spare those who suffered from the last report, I will not be writing any Russian novels. Oh no, only the necessary information…(who came to the match, what happened at the match, and who was wearing the most ridiculous piece of clothing!)

A contingent of Bilkent Kankas headed to Chopin at around 12:30 to look for comrades but alas found none and so headed off to the match. Present were… Myself, Battle-Damaged Kanka Damon (who may be changing his name), and four as of yet unnamed Bilkent supporters. Kankas Ian and Andrew and Kankies Abby and Jennifer. All were present for the Battle of Sakarya Caddesi 2 some weeks ago and were ready for more!

Upon arrival in the stadium around 1:15, we were surprised to see a smaller crowd than normal. Because of the slight change in temperature no doubt. After some time, some familiar faces showed up and joined us for the viewing. Rip Off Kanka Erman, Alpine Kanka Wolfgang (supporting Gucu more and more every week!) along with one of his “wolf cubs” and a friend. Yankee Kanka completed the group and we were ready to go.

The game started with Gucu taking it to GAspor. In the first minute Bebbe nearly scored on a self-induced volley opportunity… just wide! The attacks continued with Kirita (captain because of an absent Emre) setting up many of them. Also notable was the stellar play of Murat Erdogan, a definite rising star! The referee clearly wanted to be involved in the match and the whistle was blowing early and often. In about the 25th minute a rare back pass violation gave Gucu a free kick a mere 5 meters from Antep’s goal. A screamer from Kirita connected with the keeper of Antep’s face and left him an uglier man! The attacking play of Gucu began to subside and they settled into the all too familiar long pass rhythm. This opened the field up a bit and gave Antep more chances to attack themselves on fast breaks. There were a few shots on our goal, one of which Serkan tipped neatly over the bar. Close! The play continued with Gucu’s offense anemic and by the time the half was called it looked like anybody’s match… 0-0.

Second half began much the same as the first with Gucu attacking hard to try and gain the advantage. A ball played down the right line to Yasin was taken nicely and crossed back into the box just a tad early for a diving Jaba. You could sense that something was coming and then in about the 52nd minute, El Yasa (who played great) took the ball down the right side and crossed it in to Jaba who saved it from going over the touch line and put it back up to the top of the box for a waiting Murat Erdogan… BANG! Keeper had no chance. 1-0 Gucu.

This left GAspor scrambling a bit and they began to up their attack but Gucu’s defense were up to the task. The referee was still very involved and prompted many arguments for his calls. Nice job from Kirita to deflate tensions quickly. In the last perhaps fifteen minutes of the match, something happened to Gucu’s defense. I haven’t seen them play such poor defense in a long time. Note Hakan Kutlu: This is an area that needs to be addressed! The absence of Emre was noticeable as there was a clear lack of communication, Defenders were waiting around and missing tackles left and right. The last five minutes were very tense and I am ashamed to say that Gucu did employ some time-wasting tactics. Finally though the whistle blew and the three points were ours! Still undefeated at home!

After that it was off to the pub where we met up with Eski Kanka Jim and Maniac Kanka Harun. Drinks and Kofte were had by all and Gucu were toasted more than once! Well, that’s two out of three, so now on to the most ridiculous piece of clothing worn. It simply must go to Ian for that Soviet Era dead animal hat he was wearing. As Jim said, it looked much better on Abby. So, pending ratification from Oz Kanka and Eski Kanka I will dub Ian “Bad Hat Kanka”, long may he continue to come to matches!

Cheers and hope to see all of you at the stadium soon!
Mountaineering Kanka Robbie

Yesssss............. great report from Mountaineering Kanka. More in the future me thinks ??!! Bad Hat Kanka for Ian ? Most definitely............ go for it !

Alpine Kanka is now a `secret` Ankaragucu fanatik, but............. for God's sake, don't tell Oz Kanka !!!

GLORY TO THE GREAT ANKARAGUCU from Eski Kanka Jim