Shoot-out success for Skonto

Latvian champions FC Skonto beat Estonian title holders FC Flora in Riga to claim the first Livonia Cup after a thrilling penalty shoot-out involving all 22 players. Skonto goalkeeper Andrejs Piedels was the hero, as his penalty secured a 10-9 shoot-out victory for his side after the game had finished 2-2 in normal time.

Early lead
The Estonian side started the match better, and took an early lead through centre-forward Aleksandr Kulik in the fourth minute. Flora continued to dominate, and deservedly doubled their lead seven minutes into the second half with a penalty from new signing Vjatseslav Zahovaiko.

Skonto fight back
However, Skonto battled back and veteran substitute Aleksandrs Jelisejevs pulled a goal back 16 minutes later. The goal set up a frantic finale, and Jelisejevs snatched an equaliser deep into stoppage time to take the game to penalties.
 
Penalty drama
The shoot-out began badly for Flora, as central defender Taavi Rähn missed his side's first kick, but Jelisejevs saw his kick come back off the crossbar to leave the score at 4-4 after each side had taken five kicks. The next five penalties for each side were all converted, and Piedels made it 10-9 to Skonto, meaning his opposite number Pavel Kiseljov had to score to keep his side’s challenge alive.

Inaugural winners
However, the Flora goalkeeper’s kick hit the post, meaning Skonto became the first winners of the competition, which was created by the Estonian Football Association (EJL) at the end of last year as an end-of-season tie between the champions of Estonia and Latvia.