Championship: La Fiorita and Tre Penne go through

In the quarter-finals of the BKN301 Campionato Sammarinese play-offs, the balance of power seen over the regular season was confirmed. It is in fact the four teams that finished directly behind Virtus that claim a place in the semi-finals: La Fiorita and Tre Penne join Cosmos and Murata after coming through their double-headers with Juvenes-Dogana and Folgore unscathed. For Tre Penne, who had won the first leg 3-0, the return match looked little more than a formality – even a defeat by the same scoreline would have been enough to see Ceci’s side through, thanks to their higher league placing compared to Juvenes-Dogana. Yet it was anything but a comfortable evening for the defending champions. The first headache for the club from Città arrived in the warm-up with an injury to Migani, replaced by Dalla Libera. On the pitch, Juvenes-Dogana honoured a more than positive season by winning the second leg 4-2. However, it was Tre Penne who broke the deadlock with Dormi’s tap-in on 15 minutes. Driving Amati’s team on was a towering Gianmaria Borghini, who would end the night with a hat-trick, despite the weight of a missed penalty late on. His goal for 1-1 came with the help of Dalla Libera, while his strike for the lead arrived directly from a free-kick. Tre Penne’s temporary 2-2 equaliser, on 62 minutes, was scored by Scarponi. Then Borghini again, heading in from a corner, and Colonna from the spot reopened the qualification race, with Juvenes-Dogana needing two more goals. Thus the second penalty awarded to Amati’s side on 86 minutes put the teams at a crossroads – one that ultimately favoured Tre Penne: Gianmaria Borghini sent wide the penalty that could have made it 5-2, leaving time for hopes of a sensational late turnaround to reach the semi-finals. The season ends with a bittersweet victory for Juvenes-Dogana: it is Tre Penne who go through and will face Cosmos on Saturday in the first of two meetings spread over the course of a week. La Fiorita, meanwhile, will meet Murata. The Montegiardino club, after their narrow first-leg win, kept another clean sheet to book their place in the semi-finals. It was a disciplined performance from Manfredini’s men, who allowed Folgore very little – although they came close to taking the lead in the first half through former player Pancotti, who struck the woodwork from a corner situation. For the Gialloblù, even a one-goal defeat would have been enough to see them through, a scenario Brolli came close to creating with a powerful right-footed drive. The Montecchio clash therefore ended goalless, sending La Fiorita through to the BKN301 Campionato Sammarinese play-off semi-finals. Here is the full schedule for the quarter-final second legs of the play-offs. All matches will be streamed live for free on TITANI.TV, with Italian commentary:

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