By Richard Beale………
Two late free kicks from L. Gençler Birliğli (LGB) midfield player METE SAĞIR was enough for the visitors to return to İskele with a hard earned victory.
Result : ESENTEPE KKSK 2 L. GENÇLER BİRLİĞİ ASK 3
Saturday June 13 : Friendly Match : Esentepe Erdal Barut Stadium.
A entertaining match between these two League 1 rivals was ideal preparation for when the League recommences next weekend.
Injuries in the last friendly match to Eray and Hürkan, resulted in Esentepe being short of strikers for this match. With Şükrü rested, it was left to midfielder Kaan and 16 year old Hüseyin Deynekli to fill the attacking options
Esentepe in the first half look disjointed and tired as LGB were the more impressive team, unlike the previous two matches where Esentepe were able dictate from the midfield.
Esentepe’s best chance of the half came early in the 9th minute, a good run by right full back Muhammed saw his cross to the far post retrieved by the overlapping Nersin whose cross found Kaan who shot just over the bar in a fine Esentepe move.
Match action with Esentepe ın the black strip
It was LGB’s turn to string together a fine move which led to the opening goal in the 21st minute. Ahmet Kara beat Muhammed on the left, cut inside and with a deft reverse pass found LGB leading goalscorer BÜLENT ÇAKMAK to shoot pass Görkem, the Esentepe goalkeeper got a hand to the ball but could not prevent it entering the net. 0-1
The remainder of the half was dominated by LGB and they deservedly went into the break in the lead. HALF TIME SCORE : 0-1
Esentepe made changes at half time bringing on Vurkan, Yakup and Mustafa Günlü as well as some positional changes, that gave the team a better balance and that soon made a difference.
In the 52nd minute Kaan was upended in a dangerous position central, just outside the box. He took the resulting free kick himself, his shot hit the LGB crossbar, and bounced down to where a grateful YAKUP ŞEN was waiting to stab the ball home. 1-1
67 minutes and Esentepe took the lead when Mustafa Günlü was bundled over in the box by Seyhan and NERSIN OSMAN duly converted the penalty. 2-1
The lead lasted only 5 minutes as LGB equalised in the 72nd minute. They were awarded a free kick around 30 yards out slightly to the left, METE SAĞIR struck a powerful kick over the defensive wall and into the right hand side of the net with a despairing Görkem struggling to cover his near post. 2-2
Both sides rang the changes with Esentepe bringing on a number of youngsters from their Under 21 team.
Another worry for Esentepe when they lost forward Hüseyin Deynekli who hobbled off after following a strong challenge on Erkan. in the 80th minute.
85 minutes and it was that man METE SAĞIR who sealed the game for LGB with another powerfully struck free kick. This this time it was on the right hand side, it made no difference as his fierce kick gave 16 year old replacement goalkeeper Ülaş no chance as it powered into the net. 2-3
For Esentepe I thought Mahmut had a good match as did Şahın in defence. For LGB I was impressed by their powerful full back and Erkan Neval, with the experienced Ertan having a good match playing in a number of positions. FULL TIME SCORE : 2-3
