League: the two leaders bookend the weekend’s action

With the long international break over, the sixteen clubs of the Titano are ready to throw themselves into Matchday 5 of the Campionato Sammarinese. There will be three games brought forward to Friday evening: one of them features one of the two league leaders, Folgore, still with a 100% record so far and determined to extend their winning streak in a match that will pit them against Pennarossa, currently rooted to the bottom of the table but lifted by the victory they claimed before the break – the first of their league campaign for the Chiesanuova side. On Friday evening (kick-off 21:15) the pitches of Acquaviva and Dogana will also be in use, as well as the Montecchio ground – which will host Pennarossa vs Folgore – staging, respectively, Cailungo v Libertas and La Fiorita v Murata. The Borgo Maggiore derby promises to be highly intriguing. Firstly because it is a derby, of course, and secondly because the two sides, in granata and red-and-green, are separated in the table by just two points. Cailungo approach this fixture buoyed by a win that halted a run of three straight defeats. Libertas, on the other hand, have stuttered a little of late and are seeking consistency to establish themselves firmly in the top half of the table. That area is also occupied by La Fiorita, who sit a point above the Granata and remain one of the unbeaten sides in this league campaign. Andy Selva began his tenure with a win after three consecutive draws and is now looking for further confirmation from his players in a tricky clash with a Murata side still searching for their best form, having followed up their only win of the season so far with two defeats on the spin.

Moving on to Saturday, there are just two fixtures on the schedule – all set for 15:00, as are Sunday’s. At Montecchio, Faetano will look to make a step up in quality – namely, to claim their first win of the season – after the two consecutive draws that preceded the international window. Sperindio’s men will be up against a Fiorentino side who sit two points above them and will try to recapture the sparkle of their season opener, when the Rossoblù recorded what remains their only victory so far, followed, two rounds later, by a draw with La Fiorita. This match will be broadcast not only on Titani.tv (like all the other games of the weekend), but also on FIFA+ and DAZN. Saturday’s league programme will also feature the meeting between San Giovanni and Tre Fiori, to be played in Acquaviva. The reigning champions tasted the bitter flavour of their first defeat of the season and are aiming for an immediate reaction to keep pace with the three sides currently ahead of them. The Rossoneri also come into this one off a defeat, which followed on directly from the win that had effectively got their season up and running, after back-to-back losses in the opening two rounds.

On the same pitch on Sunday, Virtus and San Marino Academy will go head to head. Virtus are in sparkling form, having condemned Tre Fiori to their first defeat and earned themselves a third straight victory, a run which – added to their opening-day draw – keeps the Acquaviva side firmly in the slipstream of the leading pair, just two points behind. The young Biancoazzurri, by contrast, need to rediscover some momentum after two consecutive draws and are still chasing their first win of the year. At present they are propping up the table alongside Faetano, while at the top of the pack, alongside Folgore, we find Tre Penne, who face a tough test against Domagnano as they hunt a fifth win out of five. The Giallorossi Wolves are experiencing a sharp slowdown after two opening victories, followed by two defeats. For them, a change of gear is now essential if they are to avoid losing too much ground on the upper reaches of the table. This clash will be played in Fiorentino, while Montecchio will provide the stage for the second derby of the weekend, between a Juvenes Dogana side in desperate need of overturning the trend of their last three games, all defeats for the Biancorossoazzurri, and a Cosmos outfit that now seem to have fully recovered, having strung together two victories in a row after a rather stuttering start to the campaign.

Here is the schedule for Matchday 5 of the league: