By Richard Beale……….
They say “Mighty Oak trees grow from little acorns”, maybe a little ambitious but the “green shoots” that were in evidence last week have grown some buds on them!
All that rubbish means that Tatlisu’s improved performance last week continued and they earned a point, only a point but in this miserable season for Tatlisu another milestone has been reached.
Result : YILDIRIM SK 1 TATLISU SERACILAR SK 1
Sunday March 11 : BTM League Red Group : Akova Eray Vudali Stadi
YILDIRIM SK v TATLISU SERACİILAR SK
10 men battling Tatlisu built on last week’s slight improvement by earning a point, it could have been more but they missed a first half penalty, had a player sent off and in the end had to be content on a point.
On a warm sunny Sunday morning this match attracted a large and lively crowd mostly from Yildirim.
Both teams showed lots of effort earlier on but with no end result. The deadlock should have been broken in the 32nd when Tatlisu’s Resat was unceremoniously brought down in the box by Kemal. Unfortunately Hakan’s spot kick was easily telegraphed as goalkeeper Doguhan guessed right and parried the Tatlisu Captain’s spot kick.
Not a lot was shown of Yildirim in attack but they came to life just before the break, when Tatlisu keeper Kurşat did remarkably well to keep out successive shots from Halil and Osman.
On the stroke of half time Tatlisu took a deserved lead when Serdal squared the ball across to EKREM ÇAKIRAL who beat Yildirim keeper Doguhan with a low shot. HALF TIME SCORE : 0-1
Yildirim put pressure on the Tatlisu defence earlier on and Halil shot wide from a good position after slack defending from the visitors’ defence.
Tatlisu were relying on quick breakaways and in the 54th minute had a golden opportunity to increase their lead when they had a 3 on 1 situation, but midfielder Asil’s final shot ended well wide.
It was end to end stuff as on this warm morning the midfield from both sides being bypassed. Tatlisu’s cause was not helped in the 61st minute when they lost defender Emrah Şanliyaka who stupidly got himself red carded after being yellow carded 5 minutes before. The defender who can be “hot headed” at times tripped Yildirim’s Serkan and rightly ended up being sent off.
Yildirim should have taken the lead in the 67th minute when following a cross from the right by Volkan, Osman unmarked at the far post completely missed his kick.
Tatlisu’s escape didn’t last long when in the 70th minute, following a short corner from Celal, OSMAN GÜN latched onto the ball and sent an unstoppable shot past Kursat. 1-1.
Reşat for Tatlisu was battling well, often being the lone attacker, he chased everything and was a constant thorn to the Yildirim defence.
The striker got his head to a Ekrem cross in the 80th minute forcing a smart save from Doguhan.
Yıldırım Goalkeeper DOGUHAN in action
Immediately Yildirim replied with a break of their own with substitute Barış letting fly and forcing a brilliant save from Kurşat who flung himself to his left to push the shot over the bar.
FULL TIME SCORE : 1-1
SUMMING UP : If only they didn’t miss a penalty, if only they weren’t reduced to 10 men it could have been so much different. But it wasn’t and Tatlisu had to be content with a point, a small start but they at least have something to build on. The confidence and belief that has been missing all season is slowly creeping back. Midfielders Ekrem and Benan Gök worked hard in midfield. Reşat up front chased everything. The Tatlisu defence at last looked solid with Önder, Hakan putting in good shifts. Undoubtedly Tatlisu’s best player was the powerful BARIŞ YILMAZ who was outstanding at the heart of the defence.
