New Kazbegi Cup goes to Zestaponi.

In the Kabegi Cup Final, Zestaponi beat Tbilisi Ameri 2:1 to win the first ever Kazbegi Cup.

This club is only four years old and has played four finals in its short history, three of which made runner-up of Zestaponi. In 2005 finals, they lost to Tbilisi “Lokomotiv” 0:2, and were twice narrowly defeated by Tbilisi’s Ameri. Zestaponi, cheered on by 15000 supporters, outplayed their opponents in every way to win the cup and avenge their previous defeats.

This year, the professional football league of Georgia and Kazbegi created the new Kazbegi Cup tournament. The cup will stay in Imereti now for at least one year.

Zestaponi had an opportunity to score in the first minute, but Nika Kvaskhvadze’s pass from the right wing was not picked up by Beka Gotsiridze, and Vieira kicked the ball past the goal. This turned out to be the only dangerous moment for Ameri during the first half, as they managed to maintain possession for the majority of the first half.

After halftime, Zestaponi returned invigorated and team captain Roin Oniani scored in 57th minute after a pass by Jilvan Vieira. Within the next five minutes Edik Sajaia took advantage of Ameri’s errors in defense and scored for the second time.

Only after this did Tbilisi coach Imeri let one of his best strikers Dimitri Tatanashvili on the field. Serving his purpose, Tatanashvili scored an impressive goal in the 89th minute. However impressive, his was the first and last goal of the match for Ameri.

When the referee blew his whistle, a cheer of jubilation erupted from the Zestaponi supporters, marking the end of the first Kazbegi Cup final.

Zestaponi was awarded with the cup by Nodar Akhalkatsi, President of the Georgian Football Federation, and Dimitri Ramishvili, President of Professional Football League and Vice-President of the Georgian Football Federation.

The team did a celebratory lap of the pitch, holding the cup aloft for all to see as fireworks exploded in the background. The victorious team returned to Zestaponi late at night, brought the cup to their stadium and celebrated the victory together with their supporters until morning. After all, this victory has opened the way for Zestaponi to UEFA.