WIND IS THE ONLY WINNER AT HAMITKÖY

By Richard Beale….

The players huffed and puffed against at times a near gale force wind that made the playing conditions very difficult but Esentepe should have come away with all 3 points missing an injury time penalty.

Result: HAMİTKÖY ŞHSK 0 ESENTEPE KKSK 0

Saturday September 30, 2023: AKSA League 1 : Hamitköy Esat Erdoğmuş Stadium

Weather : Sunny but with a very strong wind.

On paper this looked like it would be a good game but unfortunately the strong wind blowing right to left was a deciding factor. Both teams were unable to adapt to the conditions either overhitting passes, not allowing for the wind on corners or free kicks and failing to shoot on sight when the wind was at your back.

Esentepe brought a large following with them as Esentepe kicked off in a 4-1-4-1 formation against the strong wind and with the sun in their eyes.

Esentepe were under early pressure but were battling away, in the 18th minute Serhat taking advantage of the wind behind him let fly from fully 35 yards out which Ahmet the Esentepe goalkeeper palmed over the bar. Incredible how it seems but that would be the only shot that either side would take in the entire match.

The match was scrappy with wind playing havoc with passes, corners, shots etc.

Hamitköy missed a golden opportunity to take the lead in the 32nd minute when Cemre through on goal dragged his shot wide.

In a rare Esentepe attack in the 33rd minute following a free kick into the area Yusuf tried a bicycle shot which just cleared the bar, a great effort.

Hamitköy forced several corners which goalkeeper Ahmet dealt efficiently with.

42 minutes Hamitköy missed another great chance a deep cross from the left found Altan in oceans of space, all alone, he hits the Esentepe post from 6 yards out with a header then blazes the rebound wide, an incredible let off for Esentepe.

Esentepe would be happy and relieved to go into the break all square.

HALF TIME : 0-0

Esentepe made a change at the break bringing on Mahmut in place go Oğuz, presumably injured.

The opening 15 minutes of the half were again scrappy, the wind still causing major problems for all the players.

Esentepe were coming more and more into the game now after 72 minutes a Salih free kick into the area saw Devran get in a powerful header which was acrobatically pushed over the bar by the Hamitköy goalkeeper Mahmut.

The hard-working Yusuf created a chance for himself to put in a shot that brought a smart save from Mahmut in the 85th minute.

With 4 minutes of injury time put up on the board, Deniz was through on goal on the right, maybe he should have carried on and had a shot himself instead he squared the ball across to Yusuf who was poleaxed in the area by Salih Sakallı, a clear penalty. Deniz took responsibility for the penalty and shot to the goalkeeper’s right but Mahmut leaped to his right to push away the shot. A distraught Deniz sunk to his knees.

Esentepe finished the game strongly forcing numerous corners that came to nothing.

FULL-TIME SCORE : 0-0

SUMMING UP: I don’t think other than a penalty neither team would have scored in a month of Sundays. Game lacking in quality, I thought, scrappy, spoilt by the strong wind.

A point away from home Esentepe will the happier of the two teams. They are still not the finished article through injuries. They are missing the injured Emre Mutlu in midfield and not having right back is a problem, Salih Karal did a very good job there but they missed his energy and flair in midfield. Tuğra gave his all for the team though maybe he is carrying an injured. All of the defence had strong games with DEVRAN ALİ GÜNEŞ being the pick of them and going close with a header in the second half. Esentepe’s attacking tactics remain a mystery to me, Deniz is too often left alone with 2-3 defenders marking him he runs into blind alleys and gets more and more frustrated as the game goes on. Ege Can and Yusuf seemed employed on the flanks interchanging during the game but still leaving Deniz on his own.

ESENTEPE TEAM: Ahmet (gk) : Salih, Nersin (c), DEVRAN, Oğuz (Mahmut 46) ; Tuğra : Ali (Ilyas 55), Semih, : Yusuf, Deniz, Ege Can.

Replacements not used: Osman (gk), Hüseyin, Burak, Sahin, Dinçer, Mehmet Ada, Dursun, Emre.

HAMITKOY TEAM: MAHMUT DEMIRGAN( gk) : Salih Sakallı, Salih Adakan, Mahmut Polat, Serhat, Hasan, Altan (Ersan 56), Kemal, Süleyman, Cemre, Eser.

Yellow cards: Serhat (Hamitköy), Devran, Nersin, Deniz (Esentepe)

Referee: Utku Hamamcıoğlu – reasonable match.

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