ANKARAGUCU – PHEW !!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

What a relief ! The first league win of the season should be achieved quickly for team confidence, but it took Ankaragucu to Game 5 to do it.

Hacettepe 0 ANKARAGUCU 1

It was not important how the victory was secured last night. The 3 points was up for grabs and Ankaragucu did what was necessary, but …… only just !

We met up at The Chopin Bar with yours truly in first (I was thirsty) ! Shortly after I was joined by Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Rip Off Kanka Erman, Maniac Kanka Harun, Marash Kanka Hakan and then …… surprise surprise …… Oz Kanka with Mini Oz Kanka. Mathew had given dad permission to join us for drinkies, but NOT for the match !

We headed off to the Stadium, and as it was our `away` match, we decided to go to Kapali where we were joined by my old friend Emir, one of the old Pegasus stalwarts.

Mutterings of discontent from me when Murat Duruer was named in the starting line up, and with Jaba out injured I was none too pleased. Actually, Jaba was sitting not far from us and when Battle Damaged gave him a wave he acknowledged with a wave and a smile to make Damon a Happy Kanka !

The first half had all the hallmarks of early season matches with passes going astray, lots of high balls up to Mehmet and full-on tackles. However, Ankaragucu was looking the more likely to score and Mehamet and Gokhan went close on several occasions. Serkan was rarely troubled but when called upon, he dealt with everything. He is beginning to look the finished article and that bodes well for the upcoming matches.

The 2nd half was pretty even but still I thought Ankaragucu was looking in better shape than Hacettepe. Then with 15 minutes of the match remaining and with the game heading for a goal-less draw, a piece of magic from Mehmet. A fast break down the left, the ball swung over and the in-rushing Mehmet bulleted the ball in with Recep helpless.

Turn up the volume with Gecikondu and Maraton (crowded into the away end) in full voice and us 5 kankas jumping up and down in ……. relief !

Off went Gokhan, Duruer and Mehmet, and on came Metin, Iglesias and Tolga. What we have we keep, was obviously in Hakan Kutlu’s mind.

Then with 5 minutes of the match remaining we witnessed a bizarre decision by the referee, Deniz Coban. Iglesias and Orhan were chasing the same ball and they high-tackled the ball at the same time which resulted in both players going down. I honestly don’t know what was in the referee’s mind as he showed the red card to both players. If he thought is was dangerous play, then it would a yellow card. He could only give a red if the tackle was malicious. However, as I said, they were BOTH going for the ball. I think it was Marash who suggested that the referee may have brought the wrong card out and then was too `chicken` to admit his mistake. Well, only HE knows what the hell he was thinking about !

Some positives ? I mentioned Serkan. I should also mention El Yasa’s `goal` which was deemed offside grrrrrrrrr, Moine was solid in the back as usual, and Murat Erdogan who never stopped chasing.

Final whistle, and sighs of relief all round. Back to The Chopin to celebrate ….. yessssss ! We watched CimBom give Konya a footie lesson. I hope Hakan Kutlu was watching and taking note of the speed of the CimBom attack. He needs to have a plan to stop it from functioning when they come visiting. I was particularly impressed with Baros !

So, two wins in succession for Ankaragucu and all to look forward to next Sunday. The BIG local derby on Sunday KO 8pm with Ankaragucu the home team against Gencler. Meeting in The Chopin as usual from 5.30pm.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim