By Richard Beale….
This week saw the start of the Under 15 leagues, with Esentepe in Group 5 along with their first opponents Değirmenlik, with Cihangir and Düzkaya being the other teams involved.
Being a glorious, warm, sunny February afternoon I decided to cast an eye over for what for Esentepe will be their stars of the future.
Results: ESENTEPE KKSK U15 1 MIRACLE DEĞİRMENLIK SK U15 1.
Saturday, February 12th: Turkcell Under 15 Group 5: Esentepe Erdal Barut Stadium.
On reflection, a 1-1 draw was a fair result for the opening match. No side dominated the match and neither goalkeeper really had that much to do, though it was not a boring match. Under 15 football is definitely a little “bit kick and rush”, with players mostly kicking the ball first rather than looking to build up moves. That is the nature of the age group more passing, teamwork, etc will come as the players develop. That wasn’t to say there were no moments of skill there were but mostly it was youthful enthusiasm.
Match Action with Esentepe in the red/white strip.
It was fitting that both the best players on the park, were the team’s Captains, both also scored their team’s goals.
For Esentepe DINCER KARAL stood out head and shoulders above his teammates, of course, he is a regular for the Under 21 team and that experience showed. He equalised for Esentepe in the 65th minute, when he fastened onto a free-kick from the right, controlled the ball, and shot past the goalkeeper.
Earlier Değirmenlik’s best player and Captain BERKAY GİRİTLİ a well-built defender, who plays in spectacles gave his side the lead in the 30th minute with a free-kick from the left that sailed over Esentepe goalkeeper Can Adnan’s head and nestled in the top right-hand corner of the net.
All in all a thoroughly entertaining match.
