ANKARAGUCU YOUNG GUNS OUTGUNNED ...... IN THE END

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

After holding their own for most of the match, Ankaragucu folded late on to produce a scoreline which flattered Eskisehir.

On the two occasions when Eskisehir equalised immediately after Ankaragucu scored, I had the feeling at the time that Eskisehir just stepped up a gear when necessary. However, in hindsight it was probably due to Ankaragucu's immaturity at not slowing the game down and keeping possession after scoring.

Ankaragucu 2 Eskisehirspor 5

Team -

Bayram, Volkan, Ishak, Umit, Kaan, Bilal, Serkan, Orhan, Gokhan, Serol and Atilla.

Substitutes - Abdullah, Sinan and Oguzhan

Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, No Name Kanka Simon and I met up in the Stadium with the white stuff pouring down out of the sky. The ground staff had done an excellent job to clear the pitch which only started to lose its green colour towards the end of the match when the snow began to (lie) (stick) (settle) - take your pick !!!

Apart from a full Gecikondu, a poor turn-out in Maraton and elsewhere, but Gecikondu made enough noise to compensate !

Eskisehir started the match in determined fashion and looked dangerous coming forward. They were faster, more organised than Ankaragucu, and they were out-muscling Ankaragucu in tackles and on the ball.

However, on the half hour mark against the run of play, it was Ankaragucu who drew first blood courtesy of a howler between goalkeeper Ivesa and a defender. A lack of communication between them allowed the alert Atilla to 'steal' the ball and stroke it into an empty net for what was an excellent predatory goal.

Our celebrations lasted exactly one minute when Kamara was left unmarked in front of goal for an easy tap-in.

Going in at half time all square was rather fortunate and we were willing to accept the scoreline. There was no doubting Eskisehir has the lion's share of possession and on the balance of play probably deserved to be in front.

10 minutes into the 2nd half and again, against the run of play, came the Goal of the Match. An excellent sweeping movement, perhaps practiced on the training ground, saw the ball brought forward from the right in a sweet passing movement and crossed to the unmarked Serol lurking in the box who brought it under control and hit an unstoppable shot into the left corner.

Then just as I had uttered the words ..... 'now keep your heads and keep possession' ..... they did it again ! Eskisehir broke on the right wing, the cross came in and 'bang', Erkan headed in to looks of amazement all round and some broken plastic seats near us by some frustrated fans.

5 minutes later and Eskisehir went in front for the first time. From a corner, the Ankaragucu defence was 'all at sea' and Diego was first to the ball to scramble it in.

No sooner had we stopped shaking our heads than it was four. From the re-start Eskisehir took possession, drove forward and Kamara fired in and there was a significant 'hush' around the Stadium. Damon's comment was ..... 'now the floodgates have opened'. How true !

It was all Eskisehir with Ankaragucu hanging on, but with 10 minutes to go the nail was hammered into the coffin when another sweeping attack caught the Ankaragucu defence on the back foot and Alper drove the ball in for No 5.

There can be no denying that Eskisehir was the best team. After all, a 3 goal margin speaks volumes, but it was rough justice on Ankaragucu's Youth Team having held their own until folding late in the match.

Gecekondu obviously felt the same and wouldn't allow the Ankaragucu players to retreat to the dressing room until they had finished saluting their efforts.

So to next weekend and a real test of character awaits the Ankaragucu boys when Fenerbahce comes calling. After their demolition job on Gencler last night, it will be a fired-up Fener who I'm sure will have no mercy and go for a big win.

It will be the Friday night match and the KO at either 7pm or 8pm. I'll confirm that in the comments section in a day or two.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim