Estonia round-up: Flora leave it late to bloom
Sunday, March 9, 2003
Article summary
FC Flora Tallinn began their title defence with a 3-2 victory against newcomers FC Valga on Sunday.
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FC Flora Tallinn recovered from two goals down to begin their Estonian First Division title defence with a 3-2 victory against newcomers FC Valga on Sunday.
Antonov opener
Flora's Joel Lindpeer hit the post in the first half but it took an hour for the deadlock to be broken, 18-year-old striker Andrei Antonov finding the net to score the season's first goal. Seven minutes later a blunder from Flora goalkeeper Pavel Kiseljov presented his former JK Tulevik Viljandi teammate Dmitri Ustritski with a simple chance to double the Valga lead.
Hamre rescue
The comeback did not begin until the 79th minute when Norwegian forward Tor Henning Hamre tapped the ball in to halve the deficit. Six minutes later Erkki Pärna brought down Andrei Stepanov in the penalty area and Hamre converted the spot-kick and in the last minute, Flora substitute Aleksandr Kulik added the winner. "It hurts to lose like this," admitted Ustritski. "We lacked the confidence to stay focused under pressure."
