By Richard Beale ….
A 23rd minute goal from KAAN ERİŞİK was enough for Lapta to come away with all 3 points in this bad tempered match, with Esentepe finishing with 10 men.
Result: ESENTEPE KKSK U21 0 LAPTA TSK U21 1
Saturday October 20: Under 21 League: Erdal Barut Stadium.
On a warm sunny lunchtime, tempers were short in this feisty contest, which was a shame as this was a very competitive match, in the end deservedly won by Lapta.
It was hard to believe that Lapta were lying in lowly 12th place, compared with Esentepe who were on a good run in 7th place in the table.
ESENTEPE and LAPTA under 21 teams pose for team photos before the match
Lapta dominated the opening 20 minutes with Kaan forcing the Esentepe goalkeeper Görkem into a good diving save.
Esentepe’s lone striker and danger-man Hüseyin Deynekli was double marked by a giant of a player Ahmet Sezer and his partner Kadır Ahmet. In the 7th minute Hüseyin did wriggle free of his markers only to finish poorly.
It came as no surprise when Lapta took the lead in the 23rd minute when Hasan Ozansoy broke on the right and his shot was palmed away by a diving Görkem only for KAAN ERİŞİK following up to score from close in. 0-1
Lapta were impressive trying to play football, Samet, Hasan, Kaan and their midfield general Tügberk in particular catching the eye.
Whereas Esentepe forgot to play football, and were trying to “kick lumps” out of their opponents. There was some hefty and meaty challenges and it all came to a head in the 40th minute when Esentepe’s Ismet and Lapta’s Tügberk were involved in a fiery scuffle. Both sets of players started pushing and shoving each other, while the officials, coaches and Police were trying to restore calm. Thankfully the half time whistle was not far away to take the sting out of the match. HALF TIME SCORE : 0-1
The break seemed to have the desired effect as both teams settled down, though it was still a very combative match.
In the 48th minute Esentepe’s Hüseyin hit the top of the Lapta’s crossbar with a free kick from outside the box. The same player hit the post after going on a mazy run in the 62nd minute.
Esentepe at last started playing and had a goal disallowed ruled offside in the 75th minute through Mehmet Gürkan.
Lapta continued to look dangerous in breakaways, unfortunately tempers returned again in injury time when Osman Erdoğan was given a second yellow card.
Esentepe’s striker Hüseyin was really the only threat to Lapta, Though small in stature, he is quick and talented, with luck hopefully he will develop into a fine player, at only 15 years old he is getting a place on Esentepe’s first team replacement bench. FULL TIME SCORE : 0-1
