FC Merivälja – Tallinna Depoo

Brilliant first half time vs. Tallinna Depoo team today. FC Merivälja opened the score after Raita found Leppik with nice assist for 1:0. In 10th minute Ojamaa increased the lead after a mess in Depoo penalty box. Just a minute later Selišek found Tebyanian with nice pass from goal-out for convincing 3:0. Depoo managed to lower the score before halftime trough Muraljov, but we were much better team in the first halftime.

Second half we started with two silly defensive mistakes, allowing opponent to level the score only after four minutes in second halftime. Match then became very open, with Merivalja creating several nice opportunities again trough Raita, Leppik and Tebyanian, while Depoo took the lead for the first time after another counter. Ojamaa leveled the score, after pass from Selišek, with a precise shot.

With 4 minutes to play, Merivälja was pressing and Depoo was defending a point with everything they had. Two minutes before the end Raita got fouled again – since it was 4th foul we were given 10-m penalty shot, but Raita’s shot was saved by Vinogradov. Last couple of minutes Raita got fouled couple more times after driving opponents nuts with his dribblings, but referee let the match go on every single time. With about 8 seconds to play, Raita was this time brutally tackled within the box, but instead of clear penalty Depoo players rushed in counter attack, while Merivälja players were protesting over referee call (Raita was meanwhile lying injured on the floor and couldn’t continue the match after – that much about fair play). Attack ended with a goal, referee admitted it despite all the protests, which meant Depoo finally won the match with 5:4.

As newcomers in this league we knew there would be some decisions against us, but still believed we’ll be treated fairly. Today we were robbed – not only of the match, but also of the chance to fight for 1st place in the group in last round tomorrow, which would qualify us directly to Grandliiga highest division.