By Richard Beale….

Leaders Esentepe's unbeaten 9-match run came to an end when they were deservedly beaten by Ozanköy.

Esentepe chose this match to turn in their worst performance of the season they struggled to adapt to the local conditions.

Results: OZANKÖY SK 2 ESENTEPE KKSK 1

Saturday November 25, 2023: AKSA League 1 : Mustafa Özkayım Stadium.

Weather: Cloudy and blustery.

As expected with such a short journey Esentepe brought a large following of support and a very good ex-pat turn-out as well.

Unfortunately, the team was unable to give this large support any joy as they turned in a very disappointing performance.

We must give credit to Ozanköy who in their previous 3 matches were without a Coach but they still managed to secure draws against Yilmazköy, Gönyelli, and Hamitköy teams in the top half of the League. Now under newly appointed Coach Hasan Burgaç, they can add the scalp of League leaders Esentepe.

Esentepe in the first half had the advantage of a strong wind behind but they totally failed to make this count, persistently hitting long hopeful balls that were hit too hard for forwards Ege Can and Deniz. I felt sorry for Yusuf playing wide on the left, he had balls to him going over his head, left or right of him into touch or hit at him so hard he struggled to control the ball.

Ozanköy took the lead in the 26th minute with a simple goal Murat on the left unmarked crossed to right to an equally unmarked ZAFER EMRE TAŞKIN to shoot past Osman 1-0

Esentepe’ Deniz had a couple of half chances shooting wide from an acute angle and then taking a free kick that forced ex-Esentepe keeper Kurşat to save with his feet for a corner.

A much disputed free kick in the 45th minute led to an Esentepe equaliser, TUĞRA KILIÇ 35 yards out on the left, saw his free kick maybe getting a little wind assistance to deceive Kurşat who could only help it into the net.

HALF TIME SCORE: 1-1

Esentepe Coach Davut Kansu had seen enough of his team’s poor first-half performance hauling off the ineffective Ege Can, Mehmet Ada, and also a disappointing Oğuz. These players were replaced by Ali, Semih, and Devran unfortunately they couldn’t make an impact in the second half either.

Esentepe had their best spell of the match in the first 10 minutes of the second half, a throw-in by Tuğra led to a Yusuf overhead pass to the far post to Deniz who saw his shot charged down by Kurşat for a corner.

Ozanköy replied with attacks of their own İsa drilling a shot past the left-hand post in the 59th minute and then Abdullah setting up İbrahim who hit a viscous volley over the bar.

Ozanköy took the lead in the 69th a long ball over Devran fell to IBRAHIM KUNUR who cooly lobbed the advancing Osman to record his 5th goal of the season.

Midfielder İlyas had previously come on for Salih struggled to get into the game and Esentepe made their final roll of the dice bringing on forward Şahin in place of defender Mahmut in the 70th minute.

The closest Esentepe got to equalising came in the 72nd minute when a great Emek left-wing cross found the head of Devran whose downward header almost surprised Kurşat who just managed to push the ball over the bar for a corner.

Emek’s trusty left foot let him down in the 76th minute putting over the bar a disappointing free kick.

However, it was Ozanköy who finished the game the stronger side, Yusuf Uzun shooting wide from a corner.

The home side should have sealed the match in the 85th minute catching Esentepe in a 3-1 situation, goalkeeper Osman did well to block Nedim close-range shot, and the ball fell to Mahmutcan Birol who sliced his shot wide of an open goal.

FULL-TIME SCORE: 2-1

SUMMARY: All unbeaten runs come to an end eventually but surprisingly this came at Ozanköy in a Stadium that Esentepe hasn’t been beaten in their last 5 meetings.

Too many players were off their game, a small uneven playing surface, a small ground, and a strong wind, maybe all of these helped contribute to this surprise loss.

Not many positives to come out of this match Nersin was probably Esentepe's best defender. Goal scorer TUĞRA KILIÇ who has a great engine in him, kept going but too many of his colleagues were off form.

Esentepe in past matches have worked hard for each other this was missing in this match with the team’s lack of a creative midfielder and a natural wingman being exposed.

Esentepe missed the energy and combatant play of midfielder Emre Mutlu, these conditions would have suited him but he is still nursing a niggly injury.

ESENTEPE TEAM: Osman (gk) ; Mahmut (Şahin 70), Nersin (c), Oğuz (Devran 46), Emek : TUĞRA , Mehmet Ada ( Semih 46 } ; Salih (Ilyas 63) ; Ege Can ( Ali 46), Deniz, Yusuf.

Replacements not used: Onur (gk), Burak, Gökdeniz, Okan, Dinçer.

OZANKÖY TEAM: Kurşat (gk) ; Barış, Murat Besli, Ahmet, Abdullah, Ibrahim (Ekrem 86), Ertu, Zafer Emre (Nedim 80), Isa, Yusuf, Mahmut Can Birol.

Yellow cards: Ertu (Ozanköy) Yusuf (Esentepe)

Referee: Firat Tuna - not a bad match, maybe a bit lenient at times.

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https://cyprusscene.com/2023/11/27/unbeaten-run-ends-for-esentepe/