Greetings Kankas
and Kankies.
Ankaragucu made
their season long wait to return to the Super League last night at the Eryaman
Stadium. After all, as one of the
oldest football clubs in Turkey it is their God given right to be in the Super
League ........isn’t it ??!!
Ankaragucu
needed only one point to qualify for promotion, but they made things difficult
with nerves showing throughout the match, which I suppose is understandable in
such a tense situation, especially with a full stadium of supporters.
Nevertheless,
we, the kankas, Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Kaleci Kanka Tansu, Horseman Kanka
Osman and yours truly, were full of optimism, even though we had a few
heart-stopping moments during the match
!!
As for going up
to the Super League as Champions, that is still in the balance with Umraniye
still able to claim that distinction. However,
the bottom line is that with two more matches to play, Ankaragucu has been able
to bounce straight back to the Super League and the point of who will go up as
Champions will be decided in the next few weeks.
Samsun made
things as difficult for Ankaragucu as possible and Ankaragucu had Man of the
Match, Bahadir, to thank for an outstanding performance and saving the four
shots that Samsun put on target during the match.
ANKARAGUCU 0 Samsunspor 0
Team – Bahadir,
Erdem, Yusuf, Alperen, Yasin, Abdullah, Ishak, Geraldo, Aatif, Murat and Owusu
Substitutes –
Ariyibi, Sahverdi, Eren, Ali Kaan and Cem
Ankaragucu
started the more purposeful team with Geraldo in particular raiding with menace
on both wings and being constantly fouled.
Due to all ‘the attention’ he received from the Samsun defenders, he had
to be substituted half way through the 1st half with an injury which
it is to be hoped is not serious.
Owusu had a
chance to open the scoring after 15 minutes but he screwed his shot wide.
Samsun started
to show more danger as an attacking force half way through the 1st
half and they almost scored from a fast break, but Alperen was on hand to nick
the ball for a corner as the Samsun attacker was about to shoot in a dangerous
position.
Bahadir came to
the rescue shortly after when he pulled-off a great save from a long range goal
bound shot.
To be perfectly
honest, it was a relief when Ankaragucu was able to go in at half time all square
at 0-0 !!
Ankaragucu
continued to live dangerously in the 2nd half, and after only 5
minutes in, Bahadir was well positioned to save a shot in a goalmouth scramble
which was fortunately weak.
5 minutes later
Bahadir was in action again to save a goal bound header from a corner.
Ankaragucu’s
only serious attack came in the 66th minute when Erdem sent in a
great free kick on the left which was met by Yusuf, but his powerful header was
just past the left post.
15 minutes to go
and it was Ankaragucu’s defence holding back the Samsun attacks and Bahadir
made yet another great save from Forfana’s goal bound effort.
It was becoming
tense as the match entered the final minutes and Ankaragucu missed a golden
opportunity to score in the dying minutes when a great ball was played into the
box to Eren in space, but he was too slow to react to the chance and his shot
was blocked.
Ankaragucu has a
free weekend coming up and their next match is against Bolu on 15th
May who are hovering near the relegation zone. So, another difficult match for Ankaragucu
to attempt a vital 3 points in the chase to be League Champions.
Ankaragucu’s
rivals, Umraniye, travel to Bursa next Sunday which is one of those MUST WIN
matches for Bursa to continue in their efforts to avoid relegation. Umraniye then has two more difficult
matches to negotiate against Denizli and Genclerbirligi when hopefully they
will lose points in those three matches .
It is all geared
up for a tense last few weeks of the season.
As always, watch
this space for all the details.
All the best
from Eski Kanka Jim
Hello, just found your website and enjoying all the good information. Scotsman from Aberdeen, now working and living in Ankara. Have been attending all the home games at Eryaman since arriving here, and really enjoying the football. Its great to be following a winning team and watching Ankaraguju wining the league this year. Congratulations to the team and all the amazing supporters. Every home game you guys make the atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward now to Saturdays game against Boluspor. I will be there, joining in with the chants, even though I cant yet speak Turkish, I try my best :)
Good morning Mr Aberdonian !!! Sorry for the delay in replying, but better late than never, eh ?!!
ReplyDeleteLast match coming up and we will not be able to access the small Aktepe Stadium, so we will watch it in 'our local'. We will be happy to meet you if you are able to join us.
It's The Bira Park Bar in Sumer Sok 1 in Kizilay. If you stand outside the Kizilay AVM and walk up GMK Bulvar, you will pass Izmir Cadd first, then Menekse Sok 2nd and 3rd is Sumer. Turn right on Sumer and you will see Bira Park on the right.
You can contact me here or on my Cep Tel ......... 0532- 4953247. If you are unable to meet us on Sunday, then we can try and arrange another meeting in the next few months.
All the best from Jim
Ankaragucu’s final match will be played at the Aktepe Stadium in Kecioren on Saturday 21st May kick off 4pm.
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned in my report, the Aktepe Stadium capacity is only 5,000, so I doubt that Ankaragucu will be allocated any tickets.
Therefore, the kankas will watch the match in The Bira Park Bar and no doubt TRT will be flitting between the Ankaragucu match and the Umraniye one which kicks off at the same time.
Haydi Ankaragucu............... let’s do this !!!