ANKARAGUCU - TOP OF THE LEAGUE ........... AT LAST !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

I've been dreaming of writing this headline for years and finally it has happened. There is only one way for Ankaragucu to go now, and that is …....... back into the PTT League !

Lots of positives from yesterday's match, eg,

ANKARAGUCU 2 Altinordu 1

The Ankaragucu Kankas 10 months 'sabbatical' ended.

15,000 fanatics turned up to support the team.

A last minute 'world class' header from Levent to propel Ankaragucu to the top of the league.

However, although Ankaragucu deserved to win, it wasn't plain sailing, especially in the first half when Altinordu was breaking out at speed and causing all sorts of problems for the Ankaragucu defence. So, let's begin at the beginning ….........

The kankas met up at The Chopin …... Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Kaleci Kanka Tansu, Braat Kankie Laura and our two Genclerbirligi Kankas, Flying Dutchman Kanka Carlo and Yorky Kanka Carl. So, after some 'refreshments', off we went to the Stadium at 1.15pm.

Quite a long queue for tickets, but we finally made it into the Stadium at 2pm without queuing further. By KO time there were no seats left in Maraton with some punters sitting in the ailes. Gecikondu was full and in great voice as usual. All the other tribunes were almost full and there was a fantastic atmosphere in the Stadium. I counted a mere 40 poor souls in the away end !

Team -

Gokhan, Aytac, Selim, Gurkan, Onur, Hasan, Serkan, Serhat, Levent, Umut, and Mehmet Cakir

Substitutes used – Orhan, Teoman and Kaan

Prior to KO we were also entertained by a group of Ottoman Dancers who received a well deserved round of applause.

Ankaragucu won the toss and elected to kick into the away end as usual, and they started like an express train. Their tackling was hard and they were looking determined.

However, after only 6 minutes on the clock it was Altinordu who took the lead with a well worked goal. A corner was sent over and perfectly flighted for the inrushing Sinan to head in with Gokhan well beaten.

Groans of frustration all round, but 4 minutes later we were all up shouting and singing when Umut headed in from a corner to make it all square. Ankaragucu had their tails up and were pressing forward and pinning Altinordu back into their own half. Umut had two more efforts but the goalkeeper, Ramazan, was up for the 1^st the 2^nd effort was wide.

16 minutes in and the customary Bursa song was sung !

It became an end to end match now with both teams in attack mode. However, in the 38^th minute, the influential Mehmet Cakir went off injured to be replaced by Kaan.

Approaching half time and both teams were looking for the break through. Altinordu's speedy forwards were causing a few problems, particularly on the right wing but the Ankaragucu defence managed to withstand the Altinordu breakaways. The tall Ankaragucu central defenders are slow, but they didn't flinch in the tackle.

So, a fairly even 1^st half and I suppose the 1-1 scoreline was a fair reflection of the play.

Ankaragucu started the 2^nd half as they had the 1^st half, ie, on the attack, and it was Umut who almost put Ankaragucu ahead. From the kick-off he almost scored with a header, but Ramazan got down well to smother his effort. 10 minutes later and the crossbar denied Umut with another goalbound header.

On 66 minutes the impressive Aytac had to go off injured. He had been instrumental in shoring up his defensive area and he put in a great shift throughout to snuff out the danger on the Altinordu left wing.

15 minutes to go and the breakthrough almost came from Hasan who sent in a screamer from just outside the box. With Ramazan beaten the ball hit the post and rebounded to safety.

It was around this time when Altinordu decided to settle for a point and they started to slow the game down. Principle offender was Ramazan who blatantly took his time in collecting the ball and placing it, not once but many times. It was obvious to everyone, except the referee, what he was up to ! There is no doubt in my mind that the TFF Observer/Assessor will have marked Emre Altun down for his leniency !

Into injury time and a last surge by Ankaragucu. A corner followed by a long throw from Kaan and there was Levent perfectly position to bullet a header in for goal of the match !!! The fans in the Stadium went berserk – us included – and the decibel count crept up !

Final whistle and then the players gave an impromtu Misket dance display in the centre circle before doing the lap of honour.

What a finish to the match !

Back to The Chopin for celebrations which Kaleci Kanka and I extended to Crossroads Pub !!

Looking forward to our next match. According to the schedule it will be an away match against Kizilcahamam on Tuesday 22 October. However, I heard a rumour yesterday from one of the supporter's that it is being brought forward to next Sunday and possibly held at 19 Mayis Stadium. Perhaps our oracle, Bellshill Kanka, can check this out with his contacts and confirm it or not.

All the best from a happy Eski Kanka Jim