Reim on mark

Estonia opened their World Cup qualifying programme with an uneasy 1-0 win over Andorra at Tailinn yesterday. Despite dominating the game throughout, they had to depend on a penalty, converted in the 67th minute by captain Martin Reim, for a win which had been regarded as a formality.

Depending on weight of numbers in defence, Andorra frustrated the home team to such effect that apart from the penalty, Estonia had no more than a couple of half-chances. Among the attendance was Ian Evans, assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland, who are drawn in the same group. He later described his journey as a worthwhile exercise.

"What the game proved was that there will be no easy points on offer in our group," he said. "Andorra set out to close it up at every opportunity, with their most advanced player seldom straying beyond the halfway line. I reckon that's the way they'll play every time, home or away. Estonia were going forward almost from the start, but they made little real impression."