DOĞANCI SK v ESENTEPE KKSK.
Saturday 18 March : KO3-00pm : K-Pet League 1 White Group : Aydınköy Stadium. Nr Lefke.
By Richard Beale………….
DOĞANCI SK – v- ESENTEPE KKSK
As the season nears its finale another vital and crucial match will be played out this Saturday against 2 promotion “play off’” seeking teams. Doğancı lie in 5th place and Esentepe are in 4th place with Esentepe having a game ın hand.
For Doğancı it’s a “must win” game, a draw will do them no good, whereas Esentepe can get away with a draw as long as they win their last two games. There are many scenarios to be played out as the season draws to a close, there will be jubilation and heartbreaks for quite a few teams
Doğancı is a village in the mountains near Lefke, but they play their home matches in Aydınköy village and it is a Stadium I have never visited. Indeed I don’t think Esentepe have ever played a League match away to Doğancı, this will be a first.
When League 1 was restructured in the summer, Doğancı squeezed into the League by the skin of their teeth after finishing 7th in League 2. They have done remarkably well this season and are well placed, but because this is such a difficult League to stay in, their current position 5th means they will have to be involved in the relegation “play outs”- crazy. They have only 2 matches left so they must win both of them, where they could reach “safety’ of 4th place or higher for promotion “play offs”.
Doğancı are a tough closed-knit team, with plenty of experience. They are not an easy team to play against. They are the only team to beat “Champions” elect Ozanköy and back in December 2016, they inflicted on Esentepe their first defeat of the season 2-0 at Esentepe.
Their striker Çemre Pasa is in a rich vein of goalscoring form having notched up 5 goals in 5 matches, to bring his tally to 9 goals this season. Esentepe top goalscorer Tacettin Kose is on 8 goals for the season, but has lost form and hasn’t found the net in 6 matches. However it may be Saturday’s match that he finds his scoring boots, if not some team will pay for his missed chances before the season is out.
Çemre Pasa 5 goals ın 5 matches- Tacettin Kose 0 goals in last 6 games.
Esentepe will have a full squad to choose from and after last week’s win against Denizli, (their first win in 6 matches), there were signs of their confidence returning. The only “cloud” on the horizon is that 7 of their players are on 3 yellow cards for the season, one away from a match suspension. I think the Doğancı game will be very competitive and aggressive so some of those players may be sitting the next match out.
CURRENT FORM : (last 6 matches, current 1st)
DOĞANCI: LWDWLD : ESENTEPE : WLLLDD :
What the experts think : 2 jags Graham 2-1 Esentepe win : Sabrerich : 1-1 draw a very tough match that will probably suit Esentepe rather than Doğancı. Pothole Pete : 1-1 draw.
DIRECTIONS TO THE GROUND :
Ain’t got a clue! See Google maps! Take road from Lefkoşa to Güzelyurt pass the nightclubs (or don’t pass them!). At Güzelyurt follow signs to Lefke. Aydınköy is a village on the main road about 15 minutes from Güzelyurt. Apparently the Stadium is a left turn from that road and is near to the mosque.
Editors Note : Click here to see directions to the Aydınköy stadium in the North Cyprus Forum members events calendar.
