Greetings Kankas and Kankies.
After being served lots of helpings of disappointment during the past few years, I suppose it is not a bad record for ANKARAGUCU to boast an undefeated home record in the League and Cup at the half-way stage. Tucked comfortably into 8th position in the league this morning only 3 points behind 5th placed Kayseri gives hope for the 2nd half of the season. Yesterday……
ANKARAGUCU 1 Kayserispor 1
On a crispy cold Anatolian December afternoon, Eski Kanka was first into the Chopin Bar for tuzlu fistik (salted peanuts) washed down with luvvlie luvvlie EFES ! Joining him soon after was Dan the Man (Kirita’s buddy) and the 3 Yanks (Giant Doug who plays darts for Those Damn Yanks in the Red Lion Club League, Mini Doug and Jeff). Latecomers were Kaleci Kanka Tansu and Oz Kanka’s old OZ buddy Jason visiting from Istan…spit…bul (a closet Gencler fan !).
Where was Maniac Kanka and Battle Damaged Kanka I can hear you all asking ? Well, firstly, Maniac phoned in `sick` with a toothache !! This being unacceptable to Eski Kanka, I left him to ponder some words of wisdom…..
Pain is nothing…….. ANKARAGUCU is everything !!!
Surprise surprise…. It did the trick !! He was waiting at the Stadium with his entourage, Yankee Kanka and Rip Off Kanka !
As far as Battle Damaged Kanka is concerned let’s just use the expression……
He’s a `Light Man` ...... and wait for his response !!!
Kirita led the team out again to the usual chorus of lie..lie…lie…lie… lie …lie … lie…. Ankaragoooooooogooooo ! It seems as though Club Captain Emre will be leaving the Club soon and so Kirita may well be installed as the new Club Captain. Good news ! From what I saw yesterday he is doing a fine job in the motivation department and he seems to have settled quite well into his new position as sweeper/stopper !
The referee, Mr Simsek, lived up to `his name` and gave Kirita an early Christmas present after only one minute of the match gone. First tackle of the match – Kirita went in hard but it was an innocuous looking tackle and whoooosh…. out came a yellow card in `Lightning` fashion !!
Kayseri is not the type of team to play defensively and so that’s the way it was yesterday. End to end stuff, but Kayseri’s attacks were breaking down more often than not and Serkan was never seriously troubled in the 1st half. However, their close passing game in midfield was pretty nice to watch, even if it was breaking down.
15 minutes into the match and the impressive Murat Dueuer took the ball down the left wing, avoiding a few tackles on the way to the corner flag. He looked up, saw the incoming Bebbe, fired in an inch perfect cross for Bebbe to bullet a header in for the opening goal. The cheer went up…….. Olay Olay Olay…. etc etc and BehBeh, BehBeh, and we were all in party mood.
Jaba was having `one of these days` again. Put through a few times, he either lost his footing, was out-jumped (not difficult), or out-thought. Kayseri’s defence was dealing comfortably with him. The sooner Diawara comes into the reckoning for a place up front the better !!!
Kirita, ElYasa and Da Silva were looking good at the back and I was dreaming of 3 points !
Half-time came and went, and sad to say, (using the old cliché…. it was a game of two halves !!) the match degenerated into a hoofing it up in the air affair. Jason compared it to an Aussie Rules Footie match !! I was screaming at ANKARAGUCU to play footie, and to use Murat’s speed down the wings, but nobody was listening to me !!!
10 minutes to go and we were hanging on, but then it happened ! A Kayseri attack and the ball was swung in from the right wing. With 3 Kayseri attackers in the box, they decided to play `ping-pong` heading the ball to each other. Serkan and the ANKARAGUCU defence did everthing but applaud as they stood mesmerised admiring their skill. Thank you very much said Toledo as he headed into an empty net to equalise !
Eski Kanka had his head in his hands (in tears) and then the cries of derision rang out from Gecikondu towards Serkan (they still haven’t forgiven him for his `howler` last week !). Serkan was clearly upset, but all credit to him for pointing to his ANKARAGUCU badge on his shirt and kissing it ! However, it may well be time to bring Zafer off the bench and give Serkan some respite from the Gecikondu boys ?!
Into time added on, and it was all ANKARAGUCU as Kirita drove them forward looking for the winner. He took a free kick which was scrambled away in a panic, only for another to be given a few yards closer to the penatly area line. Up steps Kirita and what a screamer. Up we all jumped shouting…… `Goal`…… only to see the ball come ricochetting back off the upright. Shit !! It would have been a cracker of a finish if it had gone in !
On the subject of Kirita, he is now becoming a `cult figure` in much the same way as Yilmaz was a few years ago. The fans love a player who not only plays with skill, but also with his heart !
So, off to The Cappadokia Bar for some more amber nectar and Belpinar Kofte……. ….mmmmm…. yummy and scrummy !
Time also to watch Hibs ALMOST beat Celtic live on TV, but that is probably another story from Hibbie Kanka ?!
As I said, the league winter break is now upon us. However, we still have Cup footie to look forward to in January –
6th - Ankaraspor v ANKARAGUCU
Gencler v Manisa
9th - Kirikkale v Gencler
16th - ANKARAGUCU v Sekiztrash
Gencler v Adana Demir
23rd - Rize v ANKARAGUCU
Trabzon v Gencler
A Happy New Year to all my readers for 2008.
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
The Round Ball in Ankara! Dedicated to football lovers in Ankara (Except for those who follow Osmanlispor)
Did Jason come down to the match only to to discover that I was sunning yself at Manly beach?
ReplyDeleteQuite the opposite. I came because I knew you were sunning yourself on Manly beach. Someone has to fly the flag in your absence!
ReplyDeleteBut, ever the diplomat, Jason didn't wear his Gencler top !!! However, he did fly the flag well.
ReplyDeleteShit.... Sivas is on fire and Gencler has some work to do next year !!
Ok, Jimmy, you got me. I was a light weight this time round. And to top it off I was in Istanbul of all places with my wife for the Bayram. Even as I write this I can hear Maniac Kanka Harun's voice echoing in my head saying "Fuck Istanbul! Fuck Istanbul! Fuck Istanbul!!!!!"
ReplyDeleteBut let us remember that even our old friend Martin, who when prodded by a group of young guys about whether he supported one of the big three teams in addition to Ankaragücü and responded Ne Beşiktaş ne Cim bom bom, ne ibne kanaryalar (neither Besiktas, nor Galatasaray, nor those gay Fenerbahce canaries), was able to appreciate Istanbul as a city.
Anyway, on the day of the match, I was having trouble even finding the score, but luckily I found two security guards outside the Istanbul Modern (where I went to see a Cihat Burak exhibition) who knew what was going on and were able to fill me in.
I must say, a tie with Kayseri even at home is respectable. And thanks to Jim and the Round Ball in Ankara, even if I wasn't able to be there, the report almost makes me feel as if I had been. Looking forward to seeing you all at the next match.
P.S. Hats off to GB Oftas for tying with GS this wknd.