By Richard Beale ……
Esentepe had 2 players sent off late in the first half, battled bravely with 9 men for the entire second half and looked like they would come away with a deserved hard earned point, before BERKANT ISTANBUL broke their hearts scoring the winner in the last minute.
Result : DÖRTYOL SK 2 ESENTEPE KKSK 1
Sunday October 10, 2021: AKSA League 1 : Adem Nural Stadium.
Esentepe lost this match in a 5 minute spell of madness having defender Nersin sent off with a straight red card in the 42nd minute followed 2 minutes later by Şükrü for a second yellow card offence. It didn’t end there on the stroke of half time teenage striker Hüseyin Deynekli was carried off on a stretcher and eventually taken to Hospital with what looks like a serious injury.
Before the match Esentepe were without their injured midfield player Ilyas and Goalkeeper Onur failed a fitness test just before the kick off. Esentepe Coach Kılıç Ali Kahraman was forced to give League debuts to two 17 year olds, Goalkeeper Osman Erdoğan and right back Devran Güneş – both acquitted themselves well and fully justified their inclusion.
A warm sunny afternoon, a packed Adem Nural Stadium with the partizan Dörtyol supporters in full voice, set the scene for this League 1 clash.
Esentepe made a nervous start almost conceding a goal in the opening minutes, losing possession, Ridvan whipped the ball in causing confusion in the Esentepe defence, before Osmond scrambled the ball away for a corner.
Dörtyol- Esentepe match action – Dörtyol are in green.
Esentepe shocked the home team with a goal in the 7th minute, following a Deniz corner from the left that was met at the far post by EMRE MUTLU who sent a low header into the net. 0-1
After an even opening 20 minutes Dörtyol equalised when Esentepe defender Gürkan made a hash of a bouncing ball, Ayberk squared the ball across to the area where BERKANT ISTANBUL sent a fierce shot pass Osmond. 1-1.
Hüseyin Deynekli went close for Esentepe from a breakaway sending in a strong shot just wide.
The match turned on his head when a long ball sent Berkant through on goal with only Osmond to beat, Esentepe defender Nersin “took one for the team” bringing Berkant down to earn himself a straight red card. What referee Hüseyin Eyyüpler failed to see or any of his officials was a foul on Esentepe’s forward Deniz on the half way line, Esentepe protested strongly but the referee remained unmoved.
From the resultant free kick just outside the Esentepe goal area the kick was blocked by Şükrü who followed the ball out to the touchline where he clashed with Selkan and was red carded for a second yellow card.
Just on the break things got even worse for Esentepe when Hüseyin Deynekli was injured, stretchered off, the Officials needed a Police escort when they left the field at half-time as they were confronted by angry Esentepe supporters at the gate. HALF TIME SCORE : 1-1
During the interval Esentepe made 2 changes bringing off Hüseyin Ermış replacing him with Semih Arslan and veteran defender Okan Kibar for the injured Hüseyin Deynekli.
Esentepe played 4 at the back, 3 in midfield and left Deniz up front to chase and harrying the Dörtyol defence on his own.
As expected Dörtyol attacked strongly, using both flanks with their extra numbers but the Esentepe defence stood rock solid fending away any danger. Dörtyol forced several corners but with goalkeeper Osmond growing in confidence, dealt efficiently with anything in the air.
Hakan rounded Devran on the left before crossing to the dangerous Berkant who headed straight into Osmond’s arms.
Devran who had played well on his debut, fell to the ground clutching his back and was replaced by Şenol in the 66th minute.
Esentepe shocked the home team creating two chances firstly Tuğra miss hit his shot from a good position and shot straight at goalkeeper Ahmet.
Then great work by Ege chasing the ball down before finding Semih, he laid the ball back into the path of Emre who shot over the bar.
Osmond did well in the 83rd minute pushing the ball away at his near post for a corner from a Melih header.
With Esentepe supporters sensing an unlikely draw they found their voices while also glancing anxiously at the clock willing away the seconds, and the minutes but once again fate was to deal a cruel blow to Esentepe.
Photo – right Esentepe hearts are broken
It looked like Esentepe’s brave rearguard action would bring them a deserved draw but their hearts were broken in the last minute of normal time when BERKANT ISTANBUL sent a powerful header past Osmond following a right wing cross. The ground erupted as Dörtyol players and fans celebrated wildly leaving Esentepe players slumped on the floor and their fans holding their heads in their hands – football can be so so cruel at times. FULL TIME SCORE : 2-1
SUMMING UP : What can you say, you feel for the team, they gave everything, you can’t ask for more. It’s an old cliche in football but they played for the shirt, played for the badge, they did their village proud. If only the officials saw the foul on Deniz before Nersin’s foul – if only, if only. The experienced players like Okan and Emek have seen it all before in football but your hearts go out to the youngsters in the team, it must have been devastating for them.
Every player in the second half was “Man of the Match, Deniz had a good first half and ran himself into the ground as he battled alone in the second half. Overall EMRE MUTLU kept going for the full 90 minutes, scored and was the best Esentepe player. Though Dörtyol took all 3 points I think their Coach Ahmet Ogan won’t be happy with their overall team performance,
