EMRE (second right) who scored and EMEK (3rd right) who made the goal get congratulated by their team mates.
By Richard Beale….
According to the song by Fiddler’s Dram in the 70’s, what more can you ask for glorious weather, good company, great grub and an ice cold bee r (courtesy of Fast Food Takeaway, Alsancak), a good game of football, 3 points and more beer at our local in Esentepe – a great day out!
Result: LAPTA TBSK 0 ESENTEPE KKSK 3
Saturday, October 29, 2022: AKSA League 1: Lapta Şht Şevket Kadır Stadium.
Weather: Dry, sunny and mild.
Always nice to visit Lapta whose supporters are always friendly and welcoming, a large crowd witness a good entertaining match, played in good spirits between the teams and refereed in excellent fashion by Ali Özer.
With regular right full back Mustafa Soytürk serving a 4 match match suspension, his natural replacement Mahmut Izoğul also out with a shoulder injury then Esentepe Coach Davut Kansu was forced to play midfielder Salih Karal in that position. The 18 year never let his Coach or team down putting in a good performance in that unaccustomed position.
The Coach also made an astute tactical switch playing lanky striker Semih Arslan in a withdrawn forward position, so that the two giant Lapta central defenders Necip and Ahmet Sezer had to mark Esentepe quick and much shorter forward Deniz Kibar and they both struggled against him.
Esentepe took an early lead in the 7th minute when a glorious ball from Kaan sent Deniz through closely marked by Necip with Goalkeeper Okyanus advancing, Deniz first shot was blocked by Necip but the ball fell kindly again to DENİZ KIBAR who made no mistake. 0-1
Deniz speed and control was causing the slow turning lanky defenders all sorts of problems he was through again this time shooting across the goal from an Emre pass.
The second Esentepe goal came in the 24th minute when following a Salih corner from the right, Semih at the far post headed the ball down to teenage defender DEVRAN GÜNEŞ to slot home. 0-2
To make matters worse for Lapta Goalkeeper Okyanus, who had been injured previously was unable to continue and was substituted with replacement goalie Ersenal after 30 minutes.
Lapta looked in disarray, were struggling to get their game going, rarely troubling the Esentepe goalkeeper Onur and were restricted to long range shots that went either wide or high over the bar.
The nearest they game was in the 41st minute when following a free kick from the right by Mustafa, defender Ahmet Sezer headed straight into the arms of Onur.
The first half ended in dramatic fashion in the 45th minute when a great through ball from Ege Can sent Deniz away on a one on one with goalkeeper Ersenal, as the Esentepe forward tried to round him he was brought down by the substitute goalkeeper. Referee Ali Özer had no hesitation in awarding a penalty and red carding the unfortunate Eresnal who had only been on the field for 15 minutes. Outfield player İsmail Çakır was summons from the bench and donned the goalkeeper’s jersey. The drama continued when the double substitution goalkeeper saved Deniz poorly struck penalty with his feet to give Lapta some hope as they went into the break. HALF TIME: 0-2
There were more Goalkeeper problems before the second half started this time Esentepe changed their keeper with Onur suffering from a knee injury, with the Tuğrul coming on for him.
Like most teams playing against 10 men Esentepe couldn’t take advantage of their number superiority as they struggled to put any pressure on Lapta’s make shift Goalkeeper Ismail.
Lapta took off one of their giant defenders Sezer and replaced him with another giant but this time a forward Barış Baro in the 60th minute.
Lapta’s leading goal scorer Enes Kubat was trying but having a frustrating time, unable to find the target.
Esentepe third goal and what a goal it was came in the 73rd minute worth the admission price alone, a free kick on the left taken by Emek to the far post was met first time on the volley by EMRE MUTLU, which gave Ismail no chance – even a regular goalkeeper would have been beaten by this superb effort. 0-3.
Lapta made a spirited effort in the last 10 minutes to open their account but replacement goalkeeper Tuğrul, who has retired many times, but never lets his team down when called upon made a couple of good saves to keep a clean sheet. FULL TIME: 0-3
SUMMING UP: Full marks to Esentepe Coach Davut Kansu who got his tactics spot on. Lapta who have won 3 and lost 2 of their matches this season, are inconsistent and this match they were poor.
Şenol Captain and defender had a fine match, supported by Devran, in midfield “unsung hero” TuĞra worked his socks off, challenging, chasing, harrying. I thought midfielder EMRE MUTLU who capped another all action display with a superb goal was Esentepe “Man of the Match”.
ESENTEPE TEAM: Onur gk(Tuğrul 46): Salih, Şenol ©, Devran (Nersin 75), Dursun : Kaan (ilyas 65), Tuğra, EMRE, Ege Can (Emek 65); Semih ; Deniz (Şahin 80)
ESENTEPE REPLACEMENTS NOT USED : Eser, Okan, Mahmut Şen, Ahmet, Ismet.
LAPTA TEAM: Okyanus (gk)(Arsenal 30) : Necip, (Batuhan 90), Ahmet Sezer (Barış 60), Berkay, Süleyman, Tarkan (Ismail 45), Orhan, MUSTAFA YASAR, Göksel © (Tuğberk 60), Selçuk, Enes.
Red Card: Ersenal (Lapta 45) ; Yellow cards : Necip, Mustafa .
Referee: ALİ ÖZER – excellent match.
