ANKARAGUCU ALMOST BECOME THE FIRST SHOCK CUP EXIT !!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Serik is a small town on the south coast to the east of Antalya, and their football team play in the Tukish 3^rd League, so it was expected that Ankaragucu would brush them aside with a ‘cricket score’ !     However, Serik showed great resilience to almost cause an upset.

They may have been over-awed at first, but in the 2^nd half they continually took the match to Ankaragucu and severely tested their defence.    On this performance they must be serious promotion contenders !

ANKARAGUCU    2          Serik    1

Ismail Bey decided to rest his normal attacking trio and gave the fringe players of the squad a run-out.   There was no Hopf, Djedje, Heurtaux, Faty, El Kabir, Mokhtar, Bifouma and Kubilay, but that is no excuse for Ankaragucu’s abysmal 2^nd half performance !

Battle Damaged Kanka, Damon, and I met-up at The Anasonn Bar (the Kanka Group was posted absent without leave !!!) and settled down to watch a goal feast.   However, all we saw at first was the Sanliurfa v Yomra match !   Panic stations with the bar staff trying to find the match, but it was down to A Spor TV deciding to switch, showing that match and ours every 10 minutes or so.   Later there was a third match in the mix when the Rize match joined in !!   So, when the Urfa match was shown, all we had was a ‘minu screen’ in the bottom right of the TV screen !    Bloody frustrating !!

Anyway, we saw most of the action and when the first goal came in the 10^th minute we were smiling and saying ........ here we go for our goal feast !

It was a goal to savour with Ilhan the provider with an excellent pass for Kehinde to fire in a screamer.   Kehinde had another opportunity 8 minutes later but his shot was high and over.

New signing, Cerci, was controlling the match at this point and on this showing he is going to be a key player in Ankaragucu’s attacking armoury.   His deft touches and control oozed pure class !

Cerci was the inspiration for the 2^nd goal on the 22^nd minute mark when he took a quick corner on the right with Ilhan.   He played a one-two with Ilhan, and with everyone expecting a shot to the near post, he drove his shot to the far post and in through about 3 confused defenders.   Shocking defending but a peach of a goal nonetheless !

We were still thinking that this is ‘easy’ and expecting another goal before half time, BUT the goal came at the other end on the half time whistle !

A Serik attacker was put through on the left with an excellent pass which evaded Alihan’s outstretched leg, and he shot across Altay inside the right post for a well taken goal.

We were thinking that this was a ‘wake-up call’ for Ankaragucu, but we were sadly mistaken !

It was Serik who came out for the 2^nd half firing on all cylinders and they obviously ‘smelled blood’.   They continued to harry and chase every ball throughout the 2^nd half and it was backs against the wall for Ankaragucu, with Ankaragucu being restricted to breakaways out of defence.

In the 60^th minute, Altay came to Ankaragucu’s rescue with an outstanding save to tip the goal bound shot over for a corner.

At this stage of the match, A Spor TV was jumping between THREE matches, so we were unable to see any action until the 75^th minute.

Serik was still in the driving seat and looking likely to conjure up the equaliser.

Ankaragucu did score an ‘offside goal’ in the 78^th minute, but we were unable to see the replay due to skipping to the Rize match ..............aaargh !!

I can’t tell you the language we used at this point.   All I can say is that it was uncomplimentary aimed at A Spor TV !!!

So, Ankaragucu ‘escaped from jail’ and avoided extra time, but it was so nearly a night to remember for the Seasiders from Serik.   All credit to them for their efforts, fitness levels and never say die attitude !

Nevertheless, Ankaragucu is into the draw for the next round of the Cup and I’m sure that Ismail Bey will not make the same mistake again of resting so many of his key players at the same time !

Back to League business on Monday night KO 8pm against Antalyaspor at The Stadium from Hell in effin Yenikent.   There will be no under-estimating their opponents for this match with 3 points up for grabs and a chance to move into the Europa cup positions.

I’ll be back at The Anasonn to watch it.

Bring it on !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim