Greetings Kankas and Kankies.
Ankaragucu, having won their 2nd league match of the season last night, I suppose we should be jumping up and down with glee. However, we should not get carried-away and believe that Ankaragucu has 'turned the corner'. True enough, there were 2 excellent goals from Keles, but it should be borne in mind that had it not been for the heroics of Man of the Match, Bora, it could easily have been a different story !
Manisa 1 Ankaragucu 2
Team -
Bora
Mehmet, Aydin, Umit and Ishak
Bilal, Abdullah and Muhammed
Atilla and Turgut
Keles
Substitutes used - Gokhan E and Gurhan
Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Cider Kanka John, Oz Kanka Chris and I met up in The Red Lion Club more in curiosity than expectation. Could the Ankaragucu 'B' Team and 'Youth Team' deal with the pressure ? It didn't take long for that question to be answered.
The match was just one minute old when we were all stunned with the opening goal. The ball was cleared from defence and fed to Turgut on the left who went on one of his now famous surging runs. He looked up, saw Keles in the middle in support and sent over a great cross which Keles volleyed in with Sehic wrong footed and motionless.
It took about a second or two to sink-in and then we were all high-fiving !
For the remainder of the 1st half it was mainly one way traffic towards Bora who pulled off some great saves to deny Mersin. Also, Ishak cleared off the line when Bora made his only mistake of the match.
Approaching half time and it flashed up on the screen that Mersin had 72% of the possession, but as I said to Oz Kanka (more in hope than anything else !) ...... 'possession doesn't win a game' !
Into the 2nd half and Mersin was still taking the match to Ankaragucu, but the defence was still holding firm. However, the inevitable equaliser came in the 66th minute when a cross came in from the left and the unmarked Erman gave Bora no chance. Lots of knowing looks between the kankas expecting the flood gates to open !!
But ................ that man Keles had other ideas ! 3 minutes later came a candidate for goal of the season. A long ball was sent upfield to Keles, and with Sehic racing out of his goal area to intercept, Keles deftly lobbed the ball over him, beat a covering defender and walked the ball in for a truly memorable goal.
It was round about this time when another memorable event occurred. Battle Damaged Kanka, who had arrived in his 'school uniform' decided to take his tie off to the cheers of the assembled throng ! Perhaps the excitement was too much for him ??!!
I interrupt my report to give the following statment from Oz Kanka ............
10 minutes to go and Ankaragucu was awarded a free kick just outside the box, near the goal line. The ball was kicked at least 20 metres away for anyone from either team. The most stupid free kick I've ever seen !!
Who was the perpetrator ? Can't remember !!! My comment now ..... come back Sapara ..... all is forgiven !
So, Ankaragucu ran the clock down with some desperate defending and we were able to celebrate an unbelievable victory and 3 valuable points.
Ankaragucu can consider themselves rather fortunate to take the 3 points, but at this stage in the season all the crumbs of luck are gratefully received !
Whether Ankaragucu's luck will hold for the visit of Beshiktrash on Sunday is debatable, so we must be realistic and not go to the Stadium expecting more 'presents' !
Meeting in The Chopin on Sunday from 4.30pm for the 7pm KO.
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
The Round Ball in Ankara! Dedicated to football lovers in Ankara (Except for those who follow Osmanlispor)
A very welcome three points!At least the year has started on a positive note.Can it be maintained?!
ReplyDeleteWant to wish all the Kankas a Happy New Year and best wishes for 2012.
Dublin Neil.
Aye Bonnie Eyeirrrrish Laddie, and on behalf of all us kankas, we wish you and yours a guid Nerday tae.
ReplyDeleteWe are not building our hopes up for this Ankaragucu turn-around to be maintained, but we will still be in the Stadium on Sunday to lend support to the players who take on this onerous task.
a great result and performance from the team last night. We rode our luck, but we have had many games this season where we were the better team and didnt get the win.
ReplyDeleteErgin was my man of the match, but agree with Jim, Bora was fantastic, i always said i rated him as s better keeper than ozden.
sunday will be much tougher, im not expecting anything from the game
I can't believe how Manisa failed to score more than one goal. They attacked and attacked. I'm with Sir Eski, my man of the match would be the Ankaragucu keeper (with Keles a close second).
ReplyDeleteThe secret to happiness is low expectations, and damn were we happy that night.
ReplyDeleteGreat report and a great new year's present from Ankaragücü.
Bora was my favorite last season, and it looks as if he is still in fine form. Man of the match for me; although, I think it would be completely reasonable for him to share it with Keles as Ergin put on his finest performance to date. I've never thought much of him as a player, but maybe he is finally coming into his own.
As for Beşiktrash, well, as I said, I'm going into that match with "low expectations".
Just saw a list of some of the players that Ankaragucu have managed to lose in the past two years... Stenislav Sestak, Marek Sapara, Metin, Özgür, Klukowski, Güven, Rajnoch, Zewlakow, Geremi, Rothen, Vassell, Adem, Gabric, Hürriyet, Kağan, Muhammet Yoldaş, Murat Duruer, Vittek, Aydın Karabulut, Meye, Senecky, Weeks, Uğur, Umut Sözen, Fatih Tekke, Cerny, Tonia Tisdell ve Serdar Özkan.
ReplyDeleteAlso read in the papers today that the security firm that provides ... er... security at the games hasn't been paid for ages and they have informed the club they won't be sending any of the bright orange vest guys to the match against Besiktas.
Naughty reporter (whoever he was) of omitting the player I met in Antalya Airport after he was red carded at the Antalya v Ankaragucu match. A real gentleman .... Bebe !
ReplyDeleteSo, we can, and MUST, expect a large police presence on Sunday !