League: Libertas win and ignite the sprint, Juvenes-Dogana up to eleventh

All the teams involved in the race for the Preliminary Round were on the pitch at 15:00, with Dogana as the main venue. Here Domagnano and Libertas faced off: the last side currently in and the second of those excluded from the postseason before kick-off. A naturally tactical match which, for the Giallorossi, also depended on how Juvenes-Dogana – Pennarossa in Domagnano would go. Faetano, on paper up against the toughest nut to crack (Folgore), were in action at Montecchio, while San Marino Academy and Cailungo met in Fiorentino. At the end of the head‑to‑heads, Juvenes-Dogana sit eleventh, with Domagnano and Libertas level just a point further back.

At the “Federico Crescentini” Stadium the match took off immediately with chances for Marco Gasperoni and Labas, both going very close to breaking the deadlock. The opener came from the spot in the 9th minute, when Giacopetti – who two minutes earlier had shaved the upright – beat Gallinetta with a right-footed effort across goal to put the Academy in front. The penalty was clear for a foul by former Academy player Luvisi on Simone Gasperoni, while the Academy protested over the spot-kick awarded to the visitors in the 13th minute. Great work by Quaranta who, one against two, slalomed past defenders and went down in the area in front of Federico Ciacci. From the spot Conti also chose to go across with his right, but struck the outside of the post. Midway through the half it took a superb Borasco to turn away a magnificently struck free-kick by Mezzadri. Cailungo kept pushing and in the second half found the 1-1 equaliser: an excellent move on the deck, with Hirsch supplying the final pass for substitute Costa, who only had to tap in from close range. Earlier, Gallinetta had produced a miraculous reflex save to deny Marco Casadei – whose run into the area was excellent, but whose finish lacked conviction. That stop matched the one from Borasco on Labas’ header, at a time when the Academy were still defending a lead. Late on, De Luca almost scored against his former club, but was denied by another monumental intervention from Borasco, who then merely watched Gimenez’s overhead kick drift wide at the death. The final chance fell to Giacopetti, who could not generate enough power on his left-footed strike from the edge of the box.

Far more tactical, at least in their opening phases, were the other early-afternoon fixtures. At Montecchio, Faetano almost went ahead inside 200 seconds with a run from Lisi, who did brilliantly to make room for a shot in the box after an excellent first touch. Guddo, though, reacted sharply to avert the danger. Folgore’s keeper repeated the feat in the 37th minute, stretching to palm away Tolomeo’s header. The second half was livelier, complete with goals: Lisi’s strike was magnificent, putting Faetano in front thanks to a solo move finished with a thunderbolt from 25 metres. Folgore’s reply was immediate and arrived in two passes: Facchetti launched for Ura, who laid it off perfectly for the run of Miori, ice-cool in front of Forconesi. Momentum now swung entirely towards the Falciano club, who camped in the attacking third and almost completed the turnaround through Pancotti. But the headlines in the final quarter of an hour belonged to Forconesi, decisive on at least two further occasions to deny Ura – both in open play and from a free-kick. A precious point for Faetano, who came agonisingly close to a smash-and-grab win when Romano’s low drive crashed off the base of the post in the 79th minute.

After half an hour of sparring, it was Libertas who made the first bold move in Dogana. The lead for Buda’s side came from a corner: Morelli’s delivery picked out his near namesake Moretti, who broke free of Merendino’s marking and guided his header into the far corner for 1-0. Earlier, there had also been a thunderous effort against the bar from Michelotti. At the other end, a brave Manzaroli stood tall to smother Moscardi’s run into the area. Domagnano’s afternoon took a serious downturn, especially with Juvenes-Dogana taking the lead at the same time. Libertas dropped into a low block to protect their 1-0 advantage, packing their own half and looking to break into space. Domagnano struggled to prise open the visiting defence, managing only a handful of efforts on target and cursing their luck when Giacomo Buda’s shot hit the crossbar on 54 minutes. The Giallorossi were let off the hook in the 78th minute by Michelotti, who blazed over with the goal gaping from the edge of the six-yard box. The closing stages turned into a rearguard action for the Granata, reduced to ten men from the 85th minute after Morelli was shown red for a bad foul on Gozzi in midfield. Samuele Buda’s team absorbed the late pressure and drew level with Domagnano in the standings, one point behind Juvenes-Dogana. The final sprint for eleventh place is now underway, with the Serravalle club occupying it as of today and Libertas needing to keep picking up points between now and the end, as they trail both rivals in the head‑to‑head record. In the event of a three-way tie, Juvenes-Dogana would prevail, also boasting the best overall goal difference.

Good performance from Juvenes-Dogana, who went in search of a far from straightforward win over Pennarossa. During the warm‑up, Pedini pulled out, handing a starting spot to Arradi. The former La Fiorita man would prove decisive, delivering the cross for Tani’s headed goal in the 37th minute. Earlier, Fabbri’s side had missed a penalty – awarded after Ricci’s late challenge on Mazzavillani. From eleven metres, Colonna fired wide. Cordioli, by contrast, was thwarted by an excellent stop from Del Prete, who was however partly to blame on the move that led to the visitors’ goal. In the second half, the pattern did not change; if anything, things worsened for Filippo Dolci’s Pennarossa – the coach having been presented before kick-off with the award for March’s best manager. In fact, in the 65th minute, Diop was sent off for an off-the-ball offence in the Juvenes-Dogana area. Later Tumidei spurned the chance to make the game safe, gifting his back line a nervy finale as they had to defend two consecutive corners. Pennarossa, however, failed to register a single shot on target, while Fabbri’s players could celebrate a precious victory that lifts them up into eleventh place in the table.

Rounding off the programme of early fixtures was the clash between San Giovanni and Murata, both in the hunt for seventh place and the resulting direct qualification for the Quarter-finals. The first half was anything but thrilling, despite an early close-range header from Montebelli – tasked with the difficult job of replacing Augusto Garcia Rufer, suspended along with De Nicolò. Murata replied with two long-range efforts from Socciarelli, both comfortably dealt with by Starna. Between those two attempts came a shot from Salemme – teed up by Echel – which forced the San Giovanni goalkeeper into a very tricky low save. On that play, Fabbri suffered a muscle injury and waved the white flag on 29 minutes, making way for Celli. The best chance of the first half fell to Nicola Sartini, who robbed the ball on the edge of the attacking third, exchanged passes with Aprea and then dragged his shot just wide of the post. After the break, it took a superb reflex stop from Martinez to tip Azael Garcia Rufer’s thunderbolt onto the bar, after the latter had tried his luck from a 20-metre free-kick. Murata responded with a couple of raids down the flank: on Socciarelli’s driven cross-shot, Castorina fired over after beating Starna to the ball, but was flagged offside. Five minutes later Echel combined with Tomassoni before blazing over from a promising position. Midway through the half the tempo dropped, with only two speculative efforts from Salemme and Montebelli worthy of note. Aprea had the clearer chance, shifting the ball onto his left before forcing Martinez into a save. In the closing stages, Murata won a free-kick on the edge of the area: Ricci stood over it but his effort crashed into the wall set up by San Giovanni. Deep into stoppage time Del Vecchio also had a go, doing well to spin on the edge of the box but failing to hit the target. It finished in a fair draw, which keeps the Rossoneri among the league’s top seven, while Camillini’s side miss the chance to close in on the express train to the Quarter-finals.