By Richard Beale….
Esentepe pulled off an incredible win with Captain ESER KAN scoring two injury time goals to break the hearts of lowly Çanakkale who deserved at least to get something out of this match. Talking of hearts this was another heart stopping match and a great advertisement for local football.
Result: ÇANAKKALE TŞK 3 ESENTEPE KKSK 4
Sunday February 27, 2022: AKSA League 1: Famağusta Canbulat Stadium.
Esentepe turned in a right “Jekyll and Hyde” performance against a Çanakkale side who dominated the first half making nonsense of their lowly position in the table, you would have been forgiven that it was the visitors who were struggling to avoid relegation.
Çanakkale who have only won 2 matches all season tore into Esentepe never allowing them to settle their midfield trio of Hakan, Eren and Kaan completely dominating the middle of the park. Left winger Barın looked dangerous and forward Faruk Akkuş, who has fought against a serious injury for 2 years was a constant handful to the Esentepe defence.
Right from the off Çanakkale took the game to Esentepe and they should have taken the lead in the 11th minute when they were awarded a penalty after Faruk was upended by Şenol in the box. Unfortunately, Eren Kandemir with his penalty blasted the ball high over the bar.
Match Action – Esentepe in red.
Against the run of play, Esentepe took the lead in the 17th minute when following a Deniz corner which was only cleared to the edge of the box where DEVRAN GÜNEŞ cracked a low shot past Ibrahim’s right hand post. 0-1.
It took Çanakkale only 4 minutes to equalise when Barın put over a cross from the left that was headed in by IZZET TÜMKAN 1-1.
With Esentepe still on the ropes Çanakkale took a deserved lead following a free kick on the left taken by Eren that was met with a glancing header by KAAN AYDEKİ, 2-1.
Esentepe at last created a chance in the 33rd minute when Hüseyin Deynekli was put in on the right but his shot was deflected for a corner by goalkeeper Ibrahim.
To cap a real dark Mr Hyde performance Esentepe conceded an awful goal right on the break. BARIN BOZAK cut in from the left and was surrounded by Esentepe players, instead of getting a challenge in, they left it to each other, Barın simply went through the lot of them and beat goalkeeper Onur. HALF TIME SCORE: 3-1.
Esentepe should have reduced the arrears in the 47th minute when Hüseyin Deynekli put over a low cross from the right, where at the far post an unmarked Eser Kan somehow managed to put the ball wide from only a few yards out.
They however did pull a goal back in the 57th minute with an untidy goal and had a suspicion of a hand ball about out it but they all count as HÜSEYİN DEYNEKLİ bundled in a free kick from the left. 3-2.
Esentepe were now enjoying a Dr Jekyll period with Ilyas in midfield beginning to pull the strings and Hüseyin Deynelli finding more space on the right.
However, they continued to squander some easy chances another Hüseyin Deynekli cross was missed by Deniz, however Semih unmarked shot wildly over the bar.
66 minutes superb play by Deniz on the edge of the box, creating space for himself cracked a fierce shot against the right hand post.
Çanakkale players were going down like flies, with cramps or injuries trying to disrupt Esentepe’s rhythm, there was even a scuffle as tempers began to boil over.
The danger to Esentepe is that they made a number of substitutions sacrificing defenders pushing men forward and were nearly caught on the break on a couple of occasions.
Esentepe missed another golden opportunity right at the end when a cross from the right was toe poked wide by Hüseyin Deynekli.
With 4 minutes of injury time on the clock counting down Hüseyin Deyneklli chasing a through ball into the box was upended in the box, Esentepe had been thrown a life line. ESER KAN calmly stroked the penalty away to set off wild celebrations amongst the players and their travelling supporters. 3-3.
ESER KAN (in the vest !) has just scored the winner in the 94th minute.
Esentepe were not finished yet for what must be on the final whistle, Semih on the right got in a low cross with Çanakkale defence gone missing, Hüseyin Deynekli, Deniz and ESER KAN were waiting and it was the skipper who swept the ball home at the far post. Çanakkale players sunk to their knees, heads in hands, heartbroken, sparking off even more wild celebrations as Esentepe players and supporters could not believe what had just happened.. FULL TIME SCORE: 3-4
SUMMING UP: WOW what can one say Dr Jeklyll and Mr Hyde are Esentepe at the moment. Last away match Esentepe were awful, the last home match they were brilliant, in the first half of this match they were poor, the second half was much better. There is something special about this Esentepe team they never know when to throw in the towel. On paper this should have been 3 easy points, credit to Çanakkale they played above themselves, you feel for them they deserved at least a point. Like Esentepe they are a young team they gave everything, football can be cruel at times, but what comes around comes around, it has happened on many occasions in the past to Esentepe.
