Shamrock Rovers will take a slender lead to the second leg of their Champions League qualifying game with Flora Tallinn after Chris Turner’s first goal gave them victory at Tallaght Stadium.
Turner, suspended domestically for offensive comments made during a recent Airtricity Premier Division game, converted from a Ronan Finn cross in the 34th minute of this second round clash.
Alan Mannus had saved a Valeri Minkenen penalty just two minutes earlier after a rare Flora attack drew a foul from Ken Oman in the area.
Rovers tried desperately for another goal in the second half but the Estonian defence stood firm in front of a large Tallaght crowd.
Hoops manager Michael O’Neill made three alterations to his team with Dean Kelly, Stephen O’Donnell and Turner brought into the team.
Gary McCabe, Stephen Rice and Ciaran Kilduff dropped out as Rovers reverted to a five-man midfield after defeat to Derry City in the Premier Division last weekend.
Gary Twigg captained Rovers on his 100th appearance for the club and a fantastic atmosphere greeted the start of the game with Rovers on the attack from the off.
Twigg's shot was deflected into the path of Turner who went down as Flora goalkeeper Stanislav Pedok left his goal. Danish referee Jakob Kehlet produced a yellow card for the midfielder for diving after just two minutes.
Ronan Finn then burst through the midfield and unleashed a stinging shot that Pekok deflected away.
Billy Dennehy’s powerful effort from a short corner forced the Flora goalkeeper to palm the ball away as the Hoops continued their superiority.
Rovers lost their way for a time, with sloppy passes, ineffective long balls and a poor shape in midfield allowing Flora to stamp their authority on the game.
Rauno Alliku dragged a shot wide from just inside the penalty area after a patient build-up by the Estonian side.
Chris Turner drifted past three Estonian players in a fine run to cross for Gary Twigg from inside the area but it had too much power on it for Twigg to control and it ricocheted away.
Drama followed in the next minutes as Flora shocked Tallaght by winning a penalty after Ken Oman clumsily tackled Markus Jorgenson inside the area.
Valeri Minkenen stepped up to take the kick but his weak effort was simple for Alan Mannus to save.
Moments later Rovers went on the attack with Gary Twigg competing with two Flora defenders from Ronan Finn’s cross and the ball came to Turner to convert into an empty net from two yards.
Oman headed wide from a corner on 40 minutes and then Twigg knocked it down for Turner to fire just wide as the home side enjoyed a great spell of domination.
Turner continued to cause problems, flicking a header wide from Enda Stevens’ excellent cross on 42 minutes
The second period began quietly, filled with spells of lost possession and the Estonian side only attacking with small numbers on the break.
Substitute Geir Andre Herrem forced Oman into a good block after some hesitancy in the Rovers defence and then Dean Kelly looped a shot over the bar for the home on the hour mark.
It was clear that Rovers were only going to concede through their own error rather than a Tallinn attack and the Estonian side were happy to see the pace of the game continue at a low level.
Finn flicked on for Gary Twigg to blaze a shot high and wide from outside the area mid-way through the half.
The Hoops were desperately keen for a second goal to take to Tallinn. Dean Kelly did well to win the ball in the area but his weak effort went just past the post from Stevens’ pass as Conor McCormack and Gary McCabe were introduced to bring new impetus to their ventures.
A rare break with six minutes left by Flora saw Sergei Moskinov’s shot deflected wide by Rovers and then from the corner the ball broke to Henry Anier who saw his effort knocked just past the post with Mannus beaten.
Gary Twigg did magnificently well to head back to Craig Sives with Karl Palatu just getting ahead of the Hoops man to prevent a certain goal in the 88th minute.
Gary McCabe’s 25-yard free-kick was well off-target in added-time and meant the Hoops will still plenty of work to do in Estonia next week.
Shamrock Rovers: Alan Mannus, Pat Sullivan, Craig Sives, Ken Oman, Enda Stevens, Dean Kelly (Gary McCabe 77), Stephen O’Donnell (Gary O’Neill 83) Chris Turner (Conor McCormack 71), Ronan Finn, Billy Dennehy, Gary Twigg.
Flora Tallinn: Stanislav Pedok, Gert Kams, Karl Palatu, Nikita Baranov, Markus Jurgensen, Rauno Alliku (Nikolai Masitev 71), Sergei Mosnikov, Valeri Minkenen, Siim Luts, Zakaria Beglarishvili (Geir Andre Herrem 45), Henri Anier.
