ANKARAGUCU – HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN, BUT …….

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

OK, so it was all singing and dancing today for a change, but we are not out of the ‘soapy bubble’ yet !!

ANKARAGUCU 4 Kocaelispor 0

So, when was the last time Ankaragucu scored 4 goals in a league match I can hear you ask ? My answer is, don’t ask ! That will be a difficult project for the summer months when I can look into my crystal ball !

It was just like a summer day (in April ?) when we met in the Chopin Bar.

It was, I have to confess, the ‘downbeat crew’ after so many recent disappointments. Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Philly Kanka Jamie, Connect Kanka Steve and yours truly, mulling over the consequences of defeat, and whether a trip to Bursa next week was a viable proposition. Only Jamie was talking up optimism !

Into the Stadium then and ………. what a turn-out. It was totally full in all tribunes. Even the Kocaeli end was full and making their presence felt before and during the match. A great atmosphere !

Ankaragucu started with an offensive line-up with Ceyhun starting his first full match of the season, and it was from him that we saw Hikmet Karaman’s tactics, ie, attack !!!

Ceyhun hit the post in the first minute with a great shot which had the Kocaeli goalkeeper beaten.

Five minutes later and a free kick from Jaba but this time the goalkeeper was equal to it and turned it over the bar.

It was all Ankaragucu, and in all honesty, I was really believing that a goal would come, even after our recent bad luck.

With Kocaeli defending desperately, another free kick was awarded outside the penalty box and this time Jaba made no mistake. Into the top left hand corner it went and we were celebrating after 10 minutes. Joy ! When was the last time that happened ? Don’t ask me !!

It was still all Ankaragucu. Not just passion, but playing football the way Hibernian do it in Edinburgh (forgive me for that one !!!). 10 minutes later, another attack down the right, an inch perfect cross from Ceyhun and there was Jaba running in to slot it in for No 2. Yessssss.

More pressure until half time but no more goals. Amazing stuff.

The 2nd half got under way and Kocaeli went into an attacking mode and put Ankaragucu under pressure for the first 10 minutes, but everything they threw at the Ankaragucu defence was dealt with comfortably by Serkan in goal, Santos and Boozy sweeping up.

Ankaragucu took control again and it was inevitable that the 3rd goal would come, and so it did.

A free kick on the right just outside the penalty area which was swung over and Boozy, towering over everyone, headed in for what is probably his first goal for the Club. Tribunes…… volume up … and commence the Mexican Wave. Let’s enjoy it I said, it doesn’t happen very often !!

All credit to Kocaeli for their efforts, but it was never going to reap success on a day when Ankaragucu was playing like this.

Into time added-on, and with all the substitutes on, it was left to Inglasias to bundle in the 4th goal after good work from Murat Duruer who had also come on as a substitute.

Final whistle, and ………… cue ……. celebrations. Lap of honour from the players, Jaba throwing his shirt into the crowd, Ceyhun with his two children, Barbaros doing his Amigo act again ………. heady stuff !

Back to the Chopin for more celebrations where we were joined by Oz Kanka Chris, Mini Oz Kanka Matthew in his Ankaragucu shirt, Kaleci Kanka Tansu and Rip Off Kanka Erman.

However, with Istanbul BBS taking a point in Trabzon, it is still not clear in the relegation zone which two teams are going down with Hacettepe. Still some tense weeks ahead me thinks !

Praise today for my ‘Man of the Match’ Ceyhun who controlled everything in midfield and was a true inspiration. Also, a mention for two goals Jaba, Santos and Boozy.

So to next week, and the trip to Bursa (5 hours by bus from Ankara). We will definitely be going on Friday night and returning Saturday night. Those committed so far, are Damon, Steve, Jamie and yours truly. Probables ….. Tansu and Erman. Contact Damon or me if you would like to come.

Bursa is another challenging ‘must win’ match, but if Hikmet Bey can inspire the team to play like they did today, who knows what miracle can happen !

To be honest, I haven’t see Ankaragucu play like this since the days when Ersun Yanal was our coach. Therefore, Hikmet Karaman must take some credit for motivating the players. Now all we have to do is …. keep it going. We can’t rely on the other teams in the bottom 9 to screw-up !!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

PS ………… Get well soon wishes from us all to Maniac Kanka Harun who was ill and confined to bed today.