ANKARAGUCU SCORN A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY !!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

This was a pathetic showing from Ankaragucu and a golden opportunity wasted to move into top spot in the league.   With Umraniye and Gazisehir losing, and Rize and Istan....spit.....bul drawing surely that was incentive enough to go to Bolu with a winning mentality ?    Obviously not !!!

Apart from Altay, Enes and Umut who looked up-for-it, it was a lethargic Ankaragucu with Bolu taking the initiative from the start and never relinquishing their grip on the match.   A well deserved win for them !

Bolu      3                        ANKARAGUCU     1

The kakas met-up at The Alerta – Oz Kanka Chris, Maniac Kanka Harun, Nurer Kanka, Posh Kanka Ahmet, Battle Damaged Kanka Damon and Vittoria Kanka Miguel.    New Kanka Murat went to Bolu, so it will be interesting to hear about his adventures on an ‘away day’ !

It was miserable weather in Ankara and Bolu with it pissing down with rain all day, and the match at 19 Mayis in Ankara between Gencler and Alanya, also the match in Bolu, was played on a water sodden pitch which made passing tricky but sliding tackles easy !

Bolu went straight into attacking mode and it only took 4 minutes for them to make their intentions clear, ie, attack !    A free kick on the right was floated in perfectly to Bolu’s unmarked No9, Poepon, who had a free header, and with Altay unprotected it was ominous how the remainder of the match would be played out.

The large group of Ankaragucu supporters in the away end made their voices heard in the 16^th minute with the Bursa song, but there was little to sing about even at this stage of the match.

Ankaragucu’s first chance of the match came on the half hour mark when a loose ball came to Sedat lurking just outside the box and his goalbound effort was well saved.

5 minutes later and Bolu was 2 up.   A free kick on the left was sent over to the far post and the No9 headed back into the centre for the unmarked Arapi to tap-in.

One minute later it was almost 3 when a Bolu breakaway left the striker one-on-one with Altay, who dived bravely at his feet as he was about to shoot, but the striker lost his balance and hit Altay in the face which required attention.   However, fortunately he recovered after attention.

There was no sign of Ankaragucu reducing the arrears with Bolu in control and giving Ankaragucu a footie lesson, so the half time whistle came as a relief to us all, especially in the knowledge that we were only TWO down !    As I said previously, apart from a few, there was no urgency in Ankaragucu’s play and Erdem in particular was guilty of giving too many balls away needlessly and was playing like it was a practice match !

This is what Ankaragucu Kankas look like when they are losing !!!!

Into the 2^nd half and the pattern of the match remained unchanged with Bolu looking the more likely to add to their score, and they almost did 4 minutes in when No17 was totally unmarked on the right as he headed in.    However, he was correctly judged to be offside.

Umut had a chance 3 minutes later but his header was tipped over the bar by the goalkeeper.

5 minutes later and another let-off for Ankaragucu when a striker totally missed an inviting cross from the left with the open goal at his mercy.

The introduction of ‘action man’, Enes, gave more impetus to the attack and it only took him a few minutes to make his mark on the match, as he did last week against Antep, when he showed his predatory skill and the likes of Parlak and Kehinde how it should be done.

With his goal came renewed hope, but that lasted only 5 minutes before Bolu struck to restore the two goal advantage, and it was a goal that any striker would cherish.   From outside the box on the right, Bentley, cut-in to avoid a tackle and curled an exquisite shot into the top left of the goal with Altay helpless.   A goal to savour for Bolu fans and neutrals !

At this point, most teams would have ‘shut up shop’, but not Bolu.    They had two more opportunities to ‘put the icing on the cake’ but we had Altay to thank for making a great save in time added-on to prevent the 4^th.

So, what now ?    That’s Ismail Bey’s problem !!!

My immediate suggestion would be to start with Umut and Enes up front with Kenan and Putsila supplying the ammunition.   Playing Mbamba in an attacking role is not an option – he’s a defensive midfielder !     Kehinde and Parlak were both useless yesterday and must spend time keeping their bottoms warm on the bench.   I don’t want to be unkind to cart-horses or donkeys, but that’s what Kehinde looked like yesterday, and ........ Parlak was posted AWOL (absent without leave) !!!

God help us on Thursday against Adana (KO 7pm) if we have a repeat of this performance !!   For those that can make it, and I will be one, we will meet in the TSYD Restarurant Cafe opposite Gecikondu.     Visting ‘olde boy’ Scouse Kanka Marcus will be with us, so at least he can keep us entertained with his sharp wit even if Ankaragucu can’t !!!

Ankaragucu are now in 3^rd top spot, 3 points behind Rize and one point behind Umraniye.   Interestingly, Bolu move into 4^th position, only 3 points behind Ankaragucu !!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim