May 27, 2024
These diaries regularly dip in to the Estonian leagues, with 10 previous reviews, and today made its first visit for the 2024 season, which had now reached round 13.
Tartu Tammeka
Tartu is situated 185km south-east of the capital Tallinn and has a population of just under 100,000, making it Estonia’s second largest city. Tammeka play in the 1,750 capacity Tartu Tamme Stadium which has a grass pitch, and one stand along one side of the pitch.
Tammeka games have twice been featured in these diaries, with the most recent being the 2021 relegation play-off, when after a 9th place finish in the regular season, a 3-0 victory over Tallinna Kalev saw them retain their place in the Meistriliiga.
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2021/12/tartu-jk-tammeka-3-0-jk-tallinna-kalev.html
Tammeka had finished in 5th place in 2020, the first season covered by these diaries, and 6th in 2022. Another 9th place in 2023 meant they again had to endure the relegation play-offs, but a 6-1 aggregate triumph over Viimsi again secured survival.
Tammeka began the day in 6th place, with a 3-4-5 record, but had played only 5 of their 12 matches at home. They started the season with a four-game unbeaten run, which included a 1-0 win home win over Parnu Vaprus and a 5-0 away thumping of today’s opposition. A 0-0 draw was secured against 2023 champions Flora, and a 1-1 draw was chalked up at Kalev.
Since then, Tammeka’s form had been patchy, losing at bottom side Nomme United, but winning 1-0 at Paide Linnameeskond, who were currently third in the table. They came into today’s game on a run of 5 games without a win, with their last match being a 1-1 draw at Parnu Vaprus.
Only three of the players that featured in the 2021 play-off win over Tallinna Kalev were still with the club, midfielders Patrick Veelma and Reio Laabus plus veteran centre-back Kevin Anderson. Of the others, star striker Tristan Koskor ( 2 caps ) moved on to Flora and then Narva, but is now with Italian Serie D side ASD Asti. Defender Marko Lipp had progressed to Flora whilst two players had joined Parnu Vaprus, defender Kevin Aloe and midfielder Sander Kapper. Forward Kevin Matas had joined Nomme United for the start of the 2024 season.
Two players had now dropped down to the second level Esiliiga, defender Taijo Teniste and midfielder Artur Uljanov were now with Tartu Welco and Elva respectively. Defender Ats Toomsalu was now with third level Tartu Kalev, and keeper Karl Pechter seems to have retired ?
Tammeka’s top scorer this season was Nigerian striker Ahmed Adebayo with 7 goals in 11 games, and English ex-Bolton Wanderers Under 21 winger Olawale Tanimowo had scored twice. No-one else had scored more than once.
Their squad included two Italians, Polish born centre-back Eugenio Bracelli and midfielder Giacomo Uggeri, plus 17 year old Georgian midfielder Akaki Gvineria and Ghanaian David Epton.
Keeper Richard Aland had Narva and Flora on his CV and defender Mairo Miil was previously with Kuressaare. Midfielder Tanel Lang had played for Tulevik and defender Rasmus Kallas was ex-Paide.
The average home attendance for Tammeka was 312, the 7th best in the league.
Narva Trans
Narva is located 210 km east of Tallinn, close to the border with Russia, and has a population of just over 50,000 inhabitants. Trans faced a 180km journey for today’s match, which should usually take over two hours, 15 minutes by road.
In the past four seasons Narva have been the definition of mid-table obscurity, finishing 8th in 2020, 6th in 2021, 7th in 2022 and 8th in 2023. However, they did win the Estonian Cup in 2022/23, beating Flora 2-1 in the final, which gave them a place in the Europa Conference. This was the third time Narva had won the Estonian Cup, after successes in 2001 and 2019. However, Armenian side Pyunik proved to be too strong, winning 5-0 on aggregate.
Narva had started the 2024 season poorly and came into the match in 9th place in the table with a 2-3-7 record. Both victories had been against bottom side Nomme United, and their previous match had been a 3-1 win in Nomme.
The Narva squad contains several players who had previously featured in these diaries, including their three Georgians. Centre-back Shalva Burjanadze and striker Sergo Kukhianidze ( 1 cap ) both played for Samgurali when their game against Dinamo Tbilisi was featured in November 2022, and Zakaria Beglarishhvilli ( 1 cap ) played for Levadia in the 2021 title decider against Flora.
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2022/11/fc-samgurali-tskaltubo-1-1-fc-dinamo.html
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2021/12/flora-tallinn-2-2-fci-levadia-att-1023.html
Naturalised Russian defensive midfielder/wing-back Alexsandr Ivanjusin and forward Tanniel Usta were both with Harju Laagri last season and played in their home defeat against Tallinna Kalev.
The other foreigners in the Narva squad were Argentinian Under 20 midfielder Leonardo Rolon, who had played for Velez Sarsfield, Quilmes and Audax Italiano amongst others, Burkina Faso striker Pierre Kabore, long serving Russian midfielder and captain Denis Polyakov, and Canadian defender Kelsey Egwu. Midfielder German Slein had played for Flora, Legion, Nomme Kalju and Czech side Jihlava.
Kabore and Kukhianidze were the joint top scorers for Narva with 3 goals each.
Matchday Information
The weather at the 19.00 local time kick-off ( 17.00 UK ) was sunny and 26 degrees.
Tickets for the match were €7 for adults and €3 for students. A family ticket of two adults and children were a bargain €12.
Bet365 made Tammeka 19/20 favourites, with Narva at 11/5 and the draw at 5/2.
The match was streamed live on Estonia’s SoccernetEE website and their YouTube channel, and commentary in English was available on CW Sport Radio.
Tartu made two changes from the side that started against Parnu, with Epton and Gvineria coming in for Lang and surprisingly, Adebayo, both of whom dropped to the substitute bench. The unfortunately named Priit Peedo was also amongst the substitutes. The average age of the Tammeka side was just over 22 years old.
Narva made just the one change from the team that won at Nomme United, with Kukhianidze changing places with Kabore.
Five non-Estonian nationals are allowed on the field at any one time, and both sides were starting with the maximum five allowed.
Tartu were in their usual all blue kit, with Narva in their red shirts, black shorts and red socks.
Matchday Report
The match started quietly with not a lot happening early on until Narva forced the first corner of the match in the 6th minute, which was headed away by Kallas. A minute later a Narva free-kick on the left was swung in by Beglarishvili but Slein headed over under pressure from 6 yards.
Narva were having the better on the early stages, and Bracelli needed to produce an excellent sliding tackle to prevent Kukhianidze from racing clear.
In the 12th minute Kukhianidze made a break down the left-hand side then cut in past Bracelli to shoot from the angle of the penalty area. Aland made the diving save to push the ball away for a corner, but it didn’t look too convincing.
Tammeka’s first real attack saw Tanimowo win a corner, which was cleared away as far as Sepp, who ran forward and sent a 20 yard left-footed effort narrowly high and wide. Gvineria then ran through some ineffectual tackles to get to the edge of the area but sent his effort just wide. Tammeka were now starting to get a foothold into the match.
Tanimowo showed good skill to create space on the left and found Gvineria, but Pedmanson was crowded out after receiving the subsequent pass.
Narva fashioned the best chance of the game to date in the 24th minute. Beglarishvili’s incisive through ball released Kukhianidze to run on goal, but as keeper Aland came off his line the Georgian striker attempted a cute finish, but the ball rebounded back off the post. Kukhianidze retrieved the loose ball but his low cross struck Bracelli and was cleared.
Due to the heat the sides took a water break after 25 minutes and the first yellow card was brandished two minutes later, although Polyakov looked to have won the ball with his sliding tackle.
After 32 minutes, Tanimowo’s cross was headed away by a Narva defender but Epton’s shot from 30 yards went about 30 yards over the bar. However, the home side came a lot closer a minute later. Pedmanson played in Tanimowo whose shot from a tight angle on the left was blocked by Ivanjusin, but the Englishman was able to play the rebound to Gvineria, whose curling attempt from 12 yards struck the crossbar and bounced away to safety.
Narva were now under the cosh, and Ivanjusin conceded another corner to deny Kallas. A long throw from Miil was eventually scrambled clear, then Gvineria was played into the right-hand side of the Narva penalty area and his cross was headed against the bar by Pedmanson from 10 yards. The replay showed it was actually a finger-tip save by keeper Matrossov.
Tanimowo then had a go from 20 yards but a defender got in the way. The visitors though picked up in the last 5 minutes of the first half. Rolon saw a good cross hit a Tartu defender before being hoofed clear by Kallas, and the subsequent cross back into 6 yard box from the left was claimed by keeper Aland.
The game had burst into life and at the other end, Tanimowo did well to keep the ball from going out for a throw-in and then skipped past Ivanjusin, but Burjanadze averted the danger with an important tackle. When the corner was headed out to Uggeri, the Italian blasted over from 12 yards.
The number of yellow cards was levelled when Sepp attempted to rugby tackle Kukhianidze. The free-kick was defended but Beglarishvili regained possession and laid the ball back to Rolon who delivered a great cross from the right for Usta to rise the highest with the two Tammeka centre-backs ball watching and send a header into the far bottom corner. 0-1 after 45+1 minutes
Heading to the dressing rooms a goal behind was a little harsh on Tammeka, as they had twice hit the bar, but on the other hand, Narva had hit the post, and more importantly, had scored the only goal of the half.
Tanimowo continued to look lively on the left but after getting to the by-line his low cross was gathered by Matrossov by his near post. Rolon then made a surging run for Narva but perhaps ran out of legs as his 20 yard shot lacked power and went straight to Aland for an easy save. A floated free-kick from Beglarishvili needed a Tammeka head to prevent the ball reaching Kukhianidze at the expense of a corner.
Tammeka were still pushing for the equaliser though, and Maksimkin conceded a corner under pressure from Gvineria. When the set-piece was partially cleared, Epton laid the ball off to Kallas, whose 30 yard drive deflected away for a corner. Burhanadze headed away and the long range shot back went well wide.
Tartu then fashioned a nice move as Gvineria weaved into the Trans area and laid the ball back to Miil, but Tanimowo just couldn’t control the full-back’s ball across the 6 yard box.
Play then became scrappy, with neither side able to retain possession for any length of time. The bobbly pitch wasn’t helping both sides to play passing football.
Tammeka continued to go for optimistic long range efforts, with Uggeri the next to sky over the crossbar from 20+ yards. With two substitutions made, Tanimowo switched to playing down the right-hand side, but after running onto a long ball over the top, his shot from close to the byline was blocked by the legs of the Narva keeper.
Veelma was then found in space in the right-hand channel, but his pull back was put over the bar from 12 yards by Uggeri, leaning back.
Another water break was taken after 69 minutes, and Tammeka made their fourth substitution, but top scorer Adebayo stayed on the bench.
The home side won a free-kick in a promising position after Rolon fouled Kallas, but the delivery was overhit and the ball sailed off for a goal-kick.
Narva nearly doubled their lead 11 minutes from time after a rare foray into the Tammeka area. Usta outmuscled Miil and shot from the edge of the area on the left, only for Aland to make a flying save. In retrospect though, Usta probably could have run quite a lot closer to the goal before shooting.
Tanimowo still looked the most likely source of an equaliser for Tammeka and with 8 minutes remaining he showed a clean pair of heels to Ivanjusin but his cross was again too long. When the ball was played back into the area from the left, Tanimowo headed across the goal, but no team-mate was on hand to finish.
The home side were becoming increasingly frustrated and Lehter and Peedo were shown yellow cards for niggly fouls, whilst Narva’s Slein saw yellow for a silly trip on Lehter.
With one minute of normal time to play, Narva won a corner, which was played into the middle of the area rather than kept near the corner flag. The ball found Burjanadze who turned and shot through a crowd of legs from around 14 yards. Aland dived and made a one handed save, but Kukhianidze reacted the quickest for a predator’s finish from inside the 6-yard area. There was a VAR check for a possible off-side, but the goal stood. 0-2 after 89 minutes.
Five minutes of added time were signalled, and it was Narva who nearly added a third goal, but Usta’s 20-yard drive produced another good diving save for a corner from Aland. Nemsadze then went down in the area, but no penalty was given.
At the other end, Veelma went down in the Narva area but again no spot-kick was awarded. As play continued, Tanimowo was unable to reach a ball at the far post.
The referee ended the game shortly after and Narva were able to go home with a second consecutive away win. They remained second from bottom but are now in the cluster of sides in the bottom half of the table, and one point behind Tammeka, who stayed in 6th.
Tartu might be wondering how they lost this match, but they need to be much more clinical upfront.
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8KA6KFti-Q
Tartu JK Tammeka : Aland – Miil, Bracelli, Kallas, Sepp ( Tammik ) – Veelma, Epton ( Lang ), Uggeri – Pedmanson ( Lehter ), Gvineria ( Peedo ), Tanimowo
JK Narva Trans : Matrossov – Ivanjusin, Burjanadze, Maksimkin, Skinjov – Rolon, Slein, Beglarishvili, Polyakov – Usta, Kukhianidze ( Nemsadze )
