Despite playing at home, the Estonians entered as the underdogs, with Ireland having already won the competition six times, while the hosts' best previous finish was fourth place, attained two years ago.

The teams went into the individual matches tied at 1-1. After Richard Teder and Mattias Varjun lost their matches, Carl Hellat earned a point for Estonia to give the Irish a 3-2 lead, leaving the two remaining matches to require extra holes to decide the winners.

Varjun won on the second extra hole, but Kevin Christopher Jegers was beaten by Thomas Higgins, meaning the visitors won 4-3 and became European champions for the seventh time.

The Estonians had earned their historic place in the final on Friday with a 5-2 victory over France. In the foursomes, Varjun, Jegers and Ralf Johan Kivi won their matches, while star player Richard Teder and Varjun sealed the final berth in the singles.

Ireland had reached the final with a hard-fought 4-3 victory over Italy.

"It was a great competition. The guys were absolutely brilliant," team captain Mattias Varjun told ERR. "We'll have some time to reflect on it, but my first reaction is: What an unbelievable week of golf. The emotions we gave ourselves and the people here in Estonia, at one of our home courses – I think this is the kind of thing you read about in a book or see in a film. We got to live that life for a week. I think that's pretty amazing."

Team player Kevin Christopher Jegers added: "It's disappointing, of course. It would have been great to win, but second place is still very good, and if someone had offered us the chance to finish second at the start of the week, we definitely would have taken it. You can't be too sad. At the end of the day, it's still a great achievement."

More poignantly, Varjun noted Saturday's final represented the swansong for the team in its current line-up, despite its winning ways.

"This particular group has been together for, I would say, four or five years, and some of the guys for nearly 10 years," the captain said.

"I think that's a big reason why we can do well in competitions like this. This team really is a team – we practise together. We often travel and stay together at tournaments. The good emotions we get from this are even more special because you get to share them with people who are your good friends."

Teder, who last year became the first Estonia to make a major tournament after making it into the British Open, noted the team spirit was "really amazing," adding: "We've been playing together for many years and have got to know each other very well. The team vibe has always been there, and that's why we play so well – because we get along really well and the teamwork is very strong."

The European Amateur Team Championship was held for the 43rd time this year. Europe's top 16 national teams in the first division took part, and it represented Estonia's 21st appearance.

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