Efeler 09 1 Aliaga 1

By Chris Evans

Didim’s Efeler 09 continued its season with its second home game of the season on Sunday afternoon at the Marina Road Didim Ataturk Stadium.

A solid start to the season had seen Didim yet to concede a goal, but also only score once in a win and a draw. At 90 minutes, these totals hadn’t been added to and looked unlikely to be so. Second half injury time saw mayhem ensue, even though both teams ended up sharing the spoils.

The game started with Aliağa on the front foot. Kemal Mert Ozyigit, the Didim goalkeeper, was called into action after three minutes to tip a powerful header over the bar.

Didim was struggling to get a foothold in the game. Ozyigit came to the rescue again on 18 minutes, diving full length to turn away a long-range effort. It proved a turning point as Didim came more into the game and started to gain some control.

A well-disguised free kick on 27 minutes led to Didim striker, Gokberk Efe, having a shot leading to a goalmouth scramble which was eventually hacked away.

The game became a midfield battle with the wind affecting the flow of the game until Ozyigit again proved his worth in the 40th minute by dashing off his line to make the save at the feet of Aliağa’s striker and protect Didim’s perfect defensive record. It was the last action of a goalless first half.

Didim made a change at half-time, bringing on Mustafa Karaman, a crowd favourite, to wrestle the initiative. A few minutes later, he earned a yellow card for a robust challenge on Aliağa’s right back, who’d been their best player up to that point. It proved to be more robust than it looked, as Yusuf Erdem Gumus had to hobble off and be replaced.

The second half lacked quality, with several substitutions and a whistle-happy referee preventing any flow to the game.

Everything changed on 87 minutes as Aliaga’s Malik Karaahmet was shown a straight red card for a kick to a Didim defender’s head. Clearly the correct decision, even if it took the offending player several minutes to leave the pitch.

Play resumed as the game entered six minutes of injury time. Two minutes later, Didim had its first shot on target of the second half, although it was easily saved by the keeper.

It only took another minute before Mustafa Karaman made space for a shot, which he rifled in off the bottom of the crossbar. A smash and grab win seemed inevitable.

In the final throes, there was a nasty clash of heads between a Didim defender and Aliaga’s striker, Dogukan Melik. It saw the Aliaga player being stretchered off and receiving attention from paramedics. We all wish him well and a swift recovery.

The added time saw the clock tick past 100 minutes when a long ball from Aliağa caused confusion in the Didim defence as they left the ball to each other. It allowed Aliaga’s Berke Biyik to nip in and toe poke the ball home.

We’d waited 90 minutes, but injury time came with all the excitement. The final whistle came with handbags between both sets of players and a police escort for the officials. A sight none of us need to see. A decent performance from Didim, but probably a point gained rather than two lost.

Efeler 09’s next home game is against Alanya on 5 October. (KO 4pm).

Images: Local news agencies