Estonia Vs. Ireland Ends 1-1 in Dublin
Having recovered from the severe thrashing in Tallinn, Estonia ended their most successful ever European Football Championship preliminaries with a draw against Republic of Ireland in Dublin's Aviva Stadium.
The first half ended 1-0 to the triumphant shouting of the 50,000 Irish fans after Stephen Ward, unhampered by two ill-positioned Estonian defenders, had scored from goalie Londak's dropped ball after a corner on 30 minutes.
Getting their game rolling in the second half and definitely possessing the ball more against Ireland's dynamic midfield, the blueshirts finally scored a long-awaited goal of honor on 56 minutes, when Konstantin Vassiljev drove home a shot from 25 meters past Ireland's Shay Given.
With an overall score of 5-1 from two games, Ireland secured their place in the final tournament played in Poland and Ukraine in 2012.
Erkki Sivonen