ANKARAGUCU ...... AND FIVE IS THE NUMBER !!!!!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Why FIVE ?     Ankaragucu move up into 5^th place in the League which is much more than we could have expected at the beginning of the season.

The team is firing on all cylinders and showing consistent performances now.   Let’s hope this can be maintained for the difficult matches to come.

ANKARAGUCU     3        Kayserispor     1

Team – Korcan, Erdem, Kone, Yalcin, Pinto, Faty, Djedje, Kenan, El-Kabir, Bifouma and  

Substitutes used – Ilhan, Cerci and Mokhtar

Battle Damaged Kanka Damon and I met up at The Anasson Bar and were later joined by Maniac Kanka Harun and Posh Kanka Ahmet.

However, before the match started, and as the players emerged from the tunnel, I noticed that olde boy Umut Bulut was wearing the captain’s armband.    I should also mention that he received a hero’s welcome from the Ankaragucu supporters.

Umut was always one of my favourite players and it was a sad loss when he left us for Trabzon.    I was also thinking that I hoped he would have a quiet day back in Ankara and be well policed by Yalcin.    Happily, that’s exactly what happened !!

There was little to say about the match at first, but after 14 minutes the match sparked into life.   Some trickery from Bifouma on the left wing left defenders in his wake – he crossed to the far post where El-Kabir met the ball and fired in a full volley to the top of the far post with the goalkeeper totally mesmerized.    A goal worthy of consideration as Goal of the Season !

A fantastic start for Ankaragucu and Djedje almost made it two 8 minutes later but his shot drifted wide.

However, we only had to wait a further 5 minutes for the 2^nd goal.   A corner on the left was sent into the near post and Faty connected with a glancing header to deceive everyone and send us all up and high-fiving !

Kayseri was stunned and responded positively, but thanks to a double defensive block by Erdem and a goalbound save by Korcan, Ankaragucu’s lead remained intact.

Approaching half time and Ankaragucu withstood the Kayseri surge.   El-Kabir had two chances to increase the lead but one effort was straight at Muammer in goal and the other high and over.   Faty also had a great swerving shot from outside the box saved brilliantly by Muammer when he deflected the ball onto the bar, but it bounced back into play and he recovered the ball.

One last breakaway by Kayseri before the break almost caught out the Ankaragucu defence when Umut just failed to connect with a cross from the left.

Into the 2^nd half and Kubilay had a golden opportunity when a cross came in from Bifouma on the left.   However, although not under any pressure, he headed weakly over.

10 minutes gone in the 2^nd half and Faty made an uncharacteristic error when he needlessly handled the ball in the penalty area.   He was in a one-on-one challenge with an attacker but not in the danger area and the referee decided it was hand to ball.    I have a suspicion that the linesman, who was closest to the incident, whispered ......’penalty’ ....... to the referee through his earphones.   In my opinion it seemed like ball to hand with both players trying to win the ball.

Anyway, up stepped Chery to send his shot to the centre of the goal with Korcan diving to his left.   This could have sparked a Kayseri revival, but ........ it didn’t !

7 minutes later the match was put out of Kayseri’s reach with a classic striker’s goal from Kubilay.   Bifouma went on one of his dangerous runs down the left and then crossed into the box where Kubilay was ideally positioned to bullet in a header beyond Muammer’s reach.   Sighs of relief all round !

Unfortunately, Kubilay limped off 10 minutes later to be replaced by Ilhan.   Then shortly after that Kana was shown a 2^nd yellow for barging into the back of Kenan and Kayseri were down to 10 men for the last 15 minutes.

It didn’t have a serious impact on the match with Ankaragucu stroking the ball around to shouts of ........ olay, olay, olay !

Cerci and Mokhtar came on late to replace Kenan and Bifouma, but it was Erdem still foraging down the right and looking for the 4^th goal when the final whistle was blown !

So, another excellent win for Ankaragucu which bodes well for the future.   The team are operating as ‘at team’ and playing some fast attacking football.   Having said that, it is therefore difficult to nominate my Man of the Match, but if I’m pressed then it has to be El-Kabir for his stunning volley to open the scoring.

Another opportunity next Saturday KO 1.30pm in Konya to win another 3 points, and if Galata....spit....saray, Antalya or Kasimpasa falter, it could propel Ankaragucu into the Top 4.

Watching this match in The Anasson Bar.

Bring it on !!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim