Estonia round-up: Wintry win for new leaders

FC Levadia Maardu made it three wins out of three to go top of the Estonian First Division on a weekend disrupted by a heavy snowstorm.

Late clinchers
With previous leaders FC Flora's match with JK Trans Narva postponed along with FC Levadia Tallinn and FC Kuressaare's meeting at the artificial turf stadium of FC Kotkas, Levadia Maardu claimed a 3-0 win at top-flight newcomers FC Valga Maardu in Tallinn at the A. Le Coq Arena, which was covered with snow. Maksim Rõtskov opened the scoring with a 20th-minute penalty and Argo Arbeiter and Vladimir Tselnokov added goals in the last seven minutes.

Difficult conditions
Arbeiter, whose side have now scored five goals without reply in their three wins this season, said after the game: "In these conditions it is hard to play real football, but is not up to us to decide whether we should play. The referee made the decision and we have to obey it." Valga coach Janno Kivisild, whose side are still without a point, said: "This early penalty played a big psychological role for our young team."

'Postponements never help'
Champions Flora are now two points behind, and club president Aivar Pohlak told uefa.com: "The fixture list is very tight, especially for Flora and postponements never help. As the owners of the A. Le Coq Arena, we managed to prepare the pitch for Saturday's games at least for the two games, although looking back, maybe it would have been wise to cancel the whole round."

Goalless draw
In the other game that did go ahead on that ground, JK Tulevik Viljandi and TVMK Tallinn played out a goalless draw with the surface under 15 centimetres of snow. TVMK are third, while Tulevik moved up to fourth.