Champions fall: Fiorentino reach the play-offs with Pennarossa, Faetano and Libertas

A victory that will be remembered for a long time for Fiorentino, who knock out reigning champions Folgore over two legs. After the 2-0 win in the first leg, Malandri’s men suffered a defeat that ultimately did no damage and did not prevent them from reaching the quarter-finals, where they will face the No. 1 seed, La Fiorita. Yet Folgore pushed until the very end in search of a win by two clear goals which – in light of their better position in the regular season compared to Fiorentino – would have been enough to take them through to the quarter-finals. The deadlock was broken by Docente, who scored in a goalmouth scramble on 21 minutes after a wide free-kick taken by Dormi. However, a lapse by Sottile – the man who delivered last year’s title to Lepri’s side – wiped out the advantage: poor management of the ball on the edge of the area under pressure from Abouzziane and a gift for Ben Kacem, who stayed cool and composed in front of Mignani. Late on, Folgore reopened the qualification battle with a goal from Docente, who looked to be in a suspicious position – probably kept onside by Bianchi, the Fiorentino goalkeeper. From then until the final whistle, Falciano were unable to create further chances and Fiorentino, after an exhausting match, claim the scalp of the reigning champions. Libertas simply had to make the most of their considerable cushion from the first leg, with elimination only possible if they lost by six goals against Domagnano – who were also without Ceccaroli and Bacchiocchi. After half an hour without goals, in which the Wolves went close through an Olivieri shot against the post, Olcese’s goal killed off any lingering hopes. Excellent link-up play from Cuomo, who laid the ball off to Olcese – smart enough to feint with his left before beating Colonna with his right. At half-time Domagnano’s goalkeeper had to come off injured and was replaced by Ermeti, who was then forced to pick the ball out of the net twice more. In the second half Aruci hit the post before being forced off by cramps. On 82 minutes, a wonderful long-range strike from Morelli flew into the top corner off the underside of the crossbar, and shortly afterwards Flores completed the rout – cushioning the ball on his chest and scoring with a diagonal finish. For the side coached by Cardini and Pignieri, and also featuring the likes of Alex Gasperoni, Fraternali and Patregnani, the quarter-finals bring a déjà-vu tie with Tre Penne. Pennarossa and Faetano, on the other hand, had to work hard right to the end to clinch their play-off places. Coming off 1-1 draws in the first legs with Murata and San Giovanni respectively, Selva and Girolomoni’s teams could both go through with two results out of three in the return matches to book their quarter-final tickets. Everything happened after the break at the Ezio Conti in Dogana, where a flick from Senja at a defensive corner wrong-footed De Angelis and left Fall with the ball at his feet to make it 0-1 as early as the 47th minute. San Giovanni hit back immediately to put everything back in the balance: Strologo met Magnani’s wide free-kick at the near post and, from point-blank range, restored parity. The goal, fashioned by the two former Faetano players, did not jeopardise Faetano’s play-off hopes, and they found the goal that settled their nerves in the closing stages. A three-on-three counter-attack was finished off by Magno for the decisive 2-1. For Faetano, an enticing two-legged tie with Tre Fiori – recent winners of the 2021-22 Coppa Titano – now awaits. Murata will have plenty of regrets, having taken just 52 seconds to swing qualification in their favour after the 1-1 draw in the first leg. A brilliant arcing run by Bruma allowed the Moldovan forward to receive the ball in an onside position in the heart of the penalty area: a perfect cross, clearing even Semprini, for the simple tap-in by Comuniello. Pennarossa hauled themselves back level on aggregate just after the half-hour mark through the Martin-Tiboni axis. The striker shook off Carlini’s marking to beat both defender and goalkeeper with a perfectly controlled first touch and find the net. Murata protested about the build-up, claiming that Michelotti’s back-heel had been played when the ball was probably already over the touchline. In the second half, Fabbri’s side carved out the best chance to regain the upper hand over the two legs: Comuniello earned a penalty, conceded by Maioli, which Cangini stepped up to take. Having already scored in the first leg, the midfielder opened up his left foot, opting for a mid-height effort that Semprini managed to get his fingertips to and, helped by the spin on the ball, gathered at the second attempt. Late on, Andy Selva’s men put qualification on ice through Halilaj, who found space on the edge of the box before unleashing a left-footed strike that gave Benedettini no chance. Pennarossa’s next stop in the post-season is Virtus. Here is the full picture of the Preliminary Round ties: These are the quarter-final pairings, which will again be played over two legs. In the event of an aggregate draw, the team that finished higher in the regular season will progress. At this stage the four seeded sides enter the fray: La Fiorita, Tre Penne, Tre Fiori and Virtus.

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MURATA Benedettini, Ricci (from 62' Bernardi), Genghini (from 88' Bertozzi), Toccaceli (from 88' Babboni), Cangini, Vitaioli (from 88' Gori), Fall, Carlini, Bruma, Comuniello, Valentini Substitutes: Castelgrande, Terenzi, Pari Coach: Achille Fabbri   PENNAROSSA Semprini, Tomassini, Martin, Raffelli, Maioli (from 61' Stefanelli), Michelotti, A. Conti (from 76' Isaraj), Tiboni (from 63' Cola), Zago, Rastelli (from 76' Halilaj), Mantovani Substitutes: Landi, Dema, Sebastiani   Referee: Marco Avoni Assistants: Leonardo Battista and Andrea Depaoli Fourth official: Davide Borriello Scorers: 1' Comuniello, 34' Tiboni, 85' Halilaj Booked: Toccaceli, Valentini, Stefanelli, Cangini Note: on 74' Semprini saved a penalty from Cangini  

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SAN GIOVANNI De Angelis, Senja, Angelini, Paoloni, Tasini (from 85' Perotto), Lisi, Strologo (from 57' Grillo), Magnani, Berardi (from 85' Satalino), Ugolini, Montebelli (from 57' Mema) Substitutes: Montagna, Cecchetti, Matteoni Coach: Marco Tognacci   FAETANO Marino, Soumah, Fatica, Romagna, Tomassoni, Fall, Palazzi, Giardi, Pini (from 79' Federico), Tamburini (from 64' Russo), Kalemi (from 54' Magno) Substitutes: Rossi, Della Valle, Barretta, De Buono Coach: -   Referee: Alessandro Vandi Assistants: Francesco Mineo and Andrea Guidi Fourth official: Raffaele Delvecchio Scorers: 47' Fall, 49' Strologo, 83' Magno Booked: Soumah, Grillo, Palazzi, Magno, Mema, Marino, Fatica  

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FIORENTINO Bianchi, Bottoni, Baizan, Filippi, Arrigoni, Colagiovanni, Mastrota (from 75' D'addario), Michelotti (from 60' Calzolari), Castellazzi, Abouzziane (from 75' Zouhri), Ben Kacem Substitutes: Berardi, Paglialonga, Becchimanzi, Perlaza Coach: Enrico Malandri   FOLGORE Mignani, Hirsch, Nucci, Golinucci, Sottile, Aluigi (from 90' Sabbadini), Pasini, Garcia (from 54' Francioni), Dormi, Docente, Fedeli Substitutes: Gueye, Cerquetti, Rosini Coach: Omar Lepri   Referee: Mattia Andruccioli Assistants: Laura Cordani and Alfonso Gallo Fourth official: Emiliano Albani Scorers: 22', 83' Docente, 34' Ben Kacem Booked: Aluigi, Sottile, Calzolari, Zouhri  

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DOMAGNANO Colonna (from 46' Ermeti), Nanni, Mazzavillani, Ricchi (from 49' Averhoff), Olivieri, Grieco (from 33' Faetanini), Bara, Brighi (from 68' Semproli), Angelini, Gaiani, Parma (from 68' Fancellu) Substitutes: Morena Coach: Massimo Mancini   LIBERTAS Gentilini, Moretti, Barretta, Pesaresi, L. Gasperoni (from 74' Dolente), Morelli, Berretti, Cuomo, Ruiz, Aruci (from 62' Flores), Olcese Substitutes: Zavoli, Patregnani, Giovagnoli, Nigretti, A. Gasperoni Coach: Gabriele Cardini   Referee: Outail Kaddoudi Assistants: Gianmarco Ercolani and Alfonso Giannotti Fourth official: Giacomo Cenci Scorers: 35' Olcese, 81' Morelli, 86' Flores Booked: Gaiani, Brighi, Parma

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