Cup glory for Haka

FC Haka clinched their eleventh Finnish Cup title with a convincing 4-1 win over ten-man FC Lahti on Saturday.

Heavy snow
Despite heavy snow, both teams came into the game determined to win but Lahti were hindered when Timo Marjamaa was dismissed for his second yellow card for bringing down Juha Pasoja down in the area just before half-time. Pasoja dusted himself down to slot the resulting penalty past goalkeeper Gabor Bardo and send the Haka fans wild with delight.

Ylonen on target
The spirited underdogs levelled through Jarkko Koskinen's 66th-minute penalty but Sergei Torkkeli fired into the top left-hand corner to restore Haka's lead two minutes later. Sami Ristila made it 3-1 on 73 and skipper Harri Ylonen wrapped up the win seven minutes from full-time.

'Awesome final'
The result means that Haka will play in next season's UEFA Cup, while AC Allianssi, who finished fourth in the league, will play in the UEFA Intertoto Cup. "It was an awesome final," said Haka coach Olli Huttunen. "I'm happy, really happy. It feels like we have achieved something."