By Richard Beale………………
ESENTEPE KKSK 0 LAPTA TBSK 0 ( match stopped after 48 minutes)
Sunday October 8, 2017. K-Pet League 1 : Esentepe Erdal Barut Stadium
A deluge of Biblical proportions ended the match between Esentepe and Lapta after 48 minutes. At around 4-35pm a storm that probably was last seen when Noel launched his ark hit the region of Esentepe.
ESENTEPE KKSK v LAPTA TBSK
Players and Officials hastily sought shelter where ever they could and the majority of the crowd huddled together in Esentepe’s only stand. Others managed to find shelter inside the refreshment hut and the toilet block was full of spectators!. Never in my years of living in Esentepe have I seen a storm of that proportion. The rain was torrential and horizontal with winds of around 70-120 kpm recorded battering the Stadium. The pitch quickly resembled a boating lake and there was no chance that the match would restart. As is the custom with matches that cannot be finished in the TRNC, the remaining minutes will be played out by the 2 teams on TUESDAY OCTOBER 10th, starting at 3-30pm.
It may have been a godsend that the match was suspended as the first half was a turgid and poor affair. The half was littered with mistakes, poor passing and lots of niggly fouls and injuries.
Lapta had to make an early substitution in the 18th minute, when following a collision with Esentepe’s Turan, Goalkeeper Süleyman was forced to retire and to be replaced by Emre.
Esentepe have to thank their own Goalkeeper Kemal Molla for keeping them on level terms. Twice he came to Esentepe’s rescue, firstly in the 15th minute, following an error by Nersin and Ismail allowing Ertuğ to steal the ball and square it across goal to Selçuk at the far post only a few yards out, but Kemal came out of his goal quickly to block the Lapta player’s effort. The keeper was in action again after 33 minutes, when Mustafa set up a chance for Emrah only a few yards, but his effort was scrambled away by Kemal for a corner.
In injury time of the first half Emrah tried his luck with a snap shot outside the area, that saw Kemal scrambling across his line to palm the ball away for a corner.
Esentepe’s only worthwhile attempt came in the 27th minute when Emre and Başak interchanged passes, allowing Emre to cut inside the area and square the ball to the near post, where Turan’s close range effort was blocked.
BEFORE THE STORM ! – Action pictures from the match
Then down came the rain! and didn’t it pour down. The remainder of this match report will follow when the game re-commences on Tuesday.
THE GREAT STORM !
