League: demanding midweek round in the race for eleventh place

Eleventh place in the Campionato Sammarinese BKN301 table is the last berth that gives access to the post-season. This is because, with the exception of the league leaders – who will be crowned national champions at the end of the regular season – another ten teams will take part in the play-offs. The top six will go straight into the quarter-finals, while the other four will go through a preliminary round to determine the final two teams in the play-off field. As it stands, Faetano and Domagnano – level on 14 points – would both miss out. Libertas, one point ahead, would instead be inside the group of teams entering the season’s final phase. Cailungo, on eleven points, will have the chance to reopen the battle. Indeed, the Rossoverdi will face Fiorentino on Wednesday evening. The Rossoblù, currently in excellent form, are targeting seventh place, which would spare them the preliminary round. The gaps are small both above and below, and a potential Cailungo win would reshape the entire picture. It will not be easy to pick up points for the other three teams just mentioned. Faetano are preparing for a highly charged clash with La Fiorita, who this year more than ever look a cut above. Manfredini’s side have defended the top spot they snatched from Virtus just over a week ago and have no intention of returning the favour. Girolomoni is back at Faetano and signs of improvement were already evident in the goalless draw with Murata, but it will take something extra to halt a train at full speed like the one driven by Ambrosini and his team-mates. It is precisely Angelini’s Bianconeri who are next up for Libertas, who after the expected win over Pennarossa then had to deal with the form team of the moment – La Fiorita – suffering a heavy defeat. To understand the true level of the Granata – radically reshaped in the winter window after failing to live up to expectations in the first part of the season – it is fixtures like this that provide the most telling litmus test. Murata are not in their brightest spell and, after the initial wave of enthusiasm, Angelini will need to convince his players to keep one eye on what is happening behind them: Folgore and Juvenes-Dogana are climbing with real conviction, and at least one of the three will miss out on direct qualification for the play-offs. Amati’s side will be up against Domagnano. The Wolves have shown progress, although over the longer distance they have tended to pay the price, especially against more physically and tactically structured opponents. The comeback conceded to Tre Fiori (2-2) after leading 2-0, and the more recent one against Cosmos (from 1-0 to 1-3), have given Perazzini and his team-mates the awareness that they can compete on equal terms even with sides of that calibre. Maintaining that level until the final whistle is Paolo Rossi’s challenge. A win would not only propel the Giallorossi in the race for twelfth place, but would also significantly close the gap on the teams above. That is where Folgore hope to remain, despite a very tough derby with Cosmos looming on the horizon. Berardi’s side racked up an eighth consecutive victory at the expense of Domagnano and are flying, even if the top two are leaving only crumbs for the chasing pack. In the meantime, however, the Gialloverdi have caught and overtaken Tre Fiori and Tre Penne to move into third place on their own, driven by a colossus-like Ben Kacem. No less impressive has been Pancotti’s form in 2024: the San Marino winger has scored three braces in a row, and tomorrow night’s clash in Acquaviva will be a genuine test of resilience for him and his team-mates – one that Folgore are determined to pass. The task facing Tre Fiori is anything but straightforward. De Falco’s men are coming off a defeat to Virtus which, on points, was deserved, but in terms of how it unfolded can hardly have gone down well in Fiorentino. San Giovanni have shown themselves to be a well-balanced, ruthless side, with quality players in the key areas of the pitch. On paper, it is a match within reach for Islamaj and his team-mates, but the Rossoneri’s enthusiasm – fresh from a 5-0 win over the Academy – can help bridge the technical gap, while the enforced absence of Mazzotti poses a real puzzle for De Falco, who must do without his main playmaker. For the aforementioned San Marino Academy Under-22 side, there is an extraordinarily tough midweek assignment. On Wednesday in Domagnano, Cecchetti’s youngsters will take on a clearly angry Tre Penne, still smarting from the outcome of their match with Juvenes-Dogana. After overturning an early deficit from the penalty spot, Ceci’s team were repeatedly denied by Gentilini and hit the woodwork three times before being punished by two clinical counter-attacks. Rounding off the day’s programme is the most classic of top-versus-bottom clashes. Pennarossa will meet Virtus on Wednesday in Montecchio, with the league leaders coming off a narrow win over Tre Fiori. Bizzotto’s side, who led the standings for the first fourteen matchdays, surrendered first place to La Fiorita in the final game of the first half of the season against Tre Penne. On that occasion they suffered a bitter defeat, given the volume of play produced by the Neroverdi who, overall, have shown they have everything needed to fight for the title right up to the last minute of the regular season. On the other side, a Pennarossa rebuilt in the summer and revolutionised in the winter will be looking as soon as possible for a balance which – even now – seems hard to find, but which must underpin the foundations for next season. This is the full schedule for the 17th matchday of the Campionato Sammarinese BKN301, which will be broadcast in full, live and free to watch – with full commentary – on TITANI.TV:

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