ANKARAGUCU SHOW THEIR METTLE AT LAST

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

When was the last time Ankaragucu returned from Kadikoy with a 3 points ? Mmmmm ….. that’s a difficult one to answer off the top of my head, but probably in the good old days of Ersun Yanal in 2000/2001. I vaguely recall writing a post on statistics a few years ago when I mentioned that Ankaragucu beat The Big Four in the same season around that time.

Fenerbahce 1 ANKARAGUCU 2

However, in all honesty I would have settled for a point pre-match, notwithstanding Hikmet Bey’s quote in The Hurriyet on Friday that he was going to Istanbul for 3 points !

I often ponder what might have been this season if Ankaragucu had started the season with Boozy and Santos alongside El Yasa and Ilkem. I live in hope that they will stay at the Club next season so that Hikmet Bey can build a team with those four and Serkan as the foundation of the side.

Back to last night, and I arrived at The Chopin Bar followed soon after by Yankee Kanka, Rip Off Kanka Erman and Kaleci Kanka Tansu. There were a few Ankaragucu present but next door in the Beer Bus it was full-on with Ankaragucu fanatics.

We had fun with them during the match singing Ankaragucu songs back and forward to each other. In fact, just like being in the Stadium !

Ankaragucu came out of the starting blocks like an Olympic sprinter. They had Fener on the back foot with some great attacking moves, and the first goal was a stunner after only 4 minutes of play.

A great through ball to Iglesias who showed great anticipation with a well timed run to leave his marker in his wake. The pass from Semavi was perfect and Iglesias stroked the ball under the despairing dive of Babacan.

Cue ….. leap to our feet and high fives all round ! What a start.

It was still all Ankaragucu after 10 minutes when a great goal bound header from Mehmet was cleared off the line by Roberto Carlos.

Fener had weathered the storm for 10 minutes and started to come into the match more and Serkan saved our blushes with a great save when he was one-on-one with Guisa.

Still it was Ankaragucu who looked the more likely to score as half time beckoned. However, Boozy, Santos and El Yasa were being kept busy at the other end and dealing comfortably with all that Fener threw at them.

Half time and Connect Kanka Steve joined us having just arrived back from Istanbul at ASTI in time to make the 2nd half. Also, appearing at half time was Rebecca and her friend Gemma. Incidentally, Gemma’s husband is a Fener supporter and I wonder if he knows that his wife is now an Ankaragucu fanatic ??!!

The 2nd half was no different with Ankaragucu still on attacking mode and chasing every ball. I’ve got to praise Hikmet Bey again for doubling their workrate and motivation – this was the Ankaragucu of old !

Half way through the 2nd half it was Jaba who did the damage. Having replaced the injured De Negris at half time he was causing all sorts of problems for Fener’s back line.

Jaba latched on to a ball on the left wing and brought it into the penalty box. A defender came in for the tackle which Jaba avoided and was through on goal but was then unceremoniously hauled down from behind. Penalty ! No question about it.

Jaba took it (Iglesias was hiding after last week’s abomination !!) . Whack ! Babacan had no chance and …………. 2-0 ! Cue …… up the volume and more high fives yessssss !

Still the tempo didn’t let up and Ankaragucu continued to go forward. However, the defence was caught out for the one and only time in the match when Deivid scored with 10 minutes remaining. A goal against the run of play, but a warning call, as if one was needed.

Ankaragucu easily played out the match and were still attacking when the final whistle brought the match to an end.

What a glorious sight to see our ‘old boy’ Gokhan with his head in his hands. I wonder if he was contemplating a return to Ankaragucu ??!!

So, with Istanbul BBS losing to Hacettepe yesterday, it means that Ankaragucu climbed out of the bottom three for the first time in a good few weeks.

A great team performance with every player involved. A great attacking display and hopefully it will be repeated next weekend at home to Ankaraspor.

All the best from an upbeat Eski Kanka Jim