League: Micchi halts La Fiorita, Virtus out in front alone

Two goals per game in the three late fixtures which – with five matchdays remaining – involved the three teams still in the title race. And which probably, as of today, has been reduced to just two. The heavy defeat suffered by Tre Penne may well have cut the reigning champions out of contention, as they slip to 7 points off the top. A top spot that is no longer shared, because the draw imposed by Tre Fiori on La Fiorita has allowed Virtus to reclaim sole leadership. Bizzotto’s men, without the injured Buonocunto, got the better of Folgore with a goal in each half. The first was decidedly livelier and brought with it the black-and-greens’ opener after just 200 seconds. Credit to Tortori, released by a long ball from Passaniti and helped by Brolli’s touch which looped the ball over Venturini. Folgore had two attempts through Pancotti, but the Virtus goalkeeper was equal to both. Before the interval, Vallocchia and Tortori squandered big chances to double the lead. Otherwise, game management from the front was fairly comfortable, even though the knockout blow also stayed in the chamber for Benincasa in the 83rd minute. It was Tortori again who finally sealed the win, converting with aplomb from the spot after Pecci had earned the penalty in the dying moments. A day to forget for Tre Penne, wasteful in front of goal and far from flawless in their own box. Their second defeat in a week came against an in-form Domagnano, who made the most of their chances. It started with a Michael Parma free-kick that broke the deadlock on 48 minutes after a goalless first half. Falling behind jolted Tre Penne into life, but despite seeing more of the ball they were rarely truly dangerous. Ceci’s men struggled to hit the target and paid the price late on, caught out of position from a set piece in the 82nd minute. Parma released Babboni, who picked out Angelini, superb in shielding the ball in the area before blasting past Migani at the near post. There was little else in the Domagnano afternoon, which delivered three massive points to the yellow-and-red outfit: Paolo Rossi’s side draw level with Folgore in tenth place, all but securing a play-off berth. It was also an intense, hard-fought clash in Montecchio between Tre Fiori and La Fiorita, which ended with honours even. La Fiorita started better, but the post denied Jacopo Semprini the opener on 14 minutes. After the half-hour mark, Tre Fiori grew into the game and threatened through a Socciarelli effort. The best chance, however, fell to substitute Cirrottola, who led a counter-attack only to fire tamely into Vivan’s arms with his right foot. La Fiorita’s keeper then had to fly to keep out a long-range strike from Micchi at the start of the second half, but there was nothing he could do about the same forward’s effort from the edge of the six-yard box. A huge share of the credit for the breakthrough must go to Cirrottola – who ripped down the flank, taking on the entire opposition defence before delivering a simply perfect ball into the middle. It was an uphill battle from there for the Montegiardino club, who poured forward into the opposition half. Amati failed to trouble Nardi on 73 minutes, while Manfredini’s substitutions had a major impact. In particular the introduction of Vitaioli, outstanding as he turned a loose ball on the edge of the area into gold with a left-footed diagonal drive that gave Nardi no chance for the final 1-1. Here is the full schedule from Matchday 25 of the Campionato Sammarinese BKN301:

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