Championship: Fiorentino beat La Fiorita, only Tre Penne live up to the ranking

One draw and two wins against the ranking hierarchy. That’s the outcome from the evening dedicated to the first legs of the quarter-finals, where only Tre Penne lived up to expectations – based on their regular season position – and even carved out a useful cushion ahead of the return fixture. Libertas held out for a half before succumbing to quick-fire goals from Badalassi and Gai at the start of the second period, leaving themselves needing to win by at least three goals next Sunday to reach a semi-final that, as things stand, looks a very tall order. The league’s top scorer was quickest to turn in Vandi’s cross, and two minutes later Gai found the bottom corner with a first-time right-foot strike from the edge of the area. The only blot on Stefano Ceci’s evening was the straight red card shown to Vandi in added time. In Acquaviva the schedule pitted the top side against the ninth in the Single Group: Fiorentino overturned the odds, finding the breakthrough on 67 minutes with a wonderful curling right-foot strike from Abouzziane, ending La Fiorita’s 12-game unbeaten league run. Lasagni and his men will now need to win the second leg, while also taking care not to leave themselves exposed to the deadly counter-attacks of the rossoblù. The other win of the night came at Dogana and again it was the side that had fared slightly worse in the regular season that came out on top. Virtus and Pennarossa had finished fourth and fifth respectively, but with one key difference: Virtus went straight into the quarters, Pennarossa did not. Having knocked out Murata, Andy Selva’s side also made the ideal start to the quarter-finals, thanking goalkeeper Semprini in the first half – a superb save from Angeli’s penalty – and then finding the decisive goal deep into the second half, when Giacomoni’s unfortunate deflection on Mantovani’s cross sent the ball spinning beyond Passaniti. The only draw of the evening came in the all-yellow-and-blue clash between Tre Fiori and Faetano. Here too the deadlock was broken late: on 79 minutes substitute Federico headed in from a corner to put Faetano in front. But the lead did not last until the final whistle, because in the 88th minute Adami Martins – again from a corner – rose to head home the 1-1 equaliser. Here is the quarter-final line-up in the league:

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LA FIORITA Vivan, Gasperoni, Miori (from 27' Serra Sanchez), Di Maio, Grandoni, Errico, Loiodice, Amati, Lunadei (from 64' Pancotti), Rinaldi, Guidi (from 74' Gregori) Subs: Venturini, Santi, Zafferani, Bonifazi Coach: Oscar Lasagni   FIORENTINO Bianchi, Bottoni (from 64' Paglialonga), Baizan, Filippi, Arrigoni, Colagiovanni (from 90+3' Zouhri), Calzolari (from 89' D'Addario), Mastrota (from 64' Molinari), Castellazzi (from 89' Perlaza), Abouzziane, Ben Kacem Subs: Berardi, Michelotti Coach: Enrico Malandri   Referee: Emiliano Albani Assistants: Ernesto Cristiano, Laurentiu Ilie Fourth official: Alessandro Vandi Booked: Rinaldi, Loiodice, Gasperoni, Vivan, Amati, Castellazzi, Baizan Scorers: 67' Abouzziane

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VIRTUS Passaniti, Battistini, Nodari, Giacomoni, Gori, Focaccia (from 13' Raiola), Golinucci, Ciacci (from 74' Sopranzi), Magri, Sorrentino, Angeli (from 74' Apezteguia) Subs: Paolini, Castiglioni, Muggeo, Raschi Coach: Luigi Bizzotto   PENNAROSSA Semprini, Mantovani, Martin, Baldani, Tomassini, Cola, Michelotti (from 76' Rastelli), Conti, Tiboni (from 86' Dema), Halilaj, Isaraj Subs: Giuliani, Sebastiani, Ottaviani, Codispoti, Raffelli Coach: Andy Selva   Referee: Giacomo Cenci Assistants: Salvatore Tuttifrutti, Fabrizio Morisco Fourth official: Nicola Villa Booked: Nodari, Tomassini, Giacomoni, Baldani, Sopranzi Scorers: 79' og. Giacomoni Note: on 31' Semprini saved a penalty taken by Angeli

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TRE FIORI Simoncini, Censoni, D'Addario, De Falco, De Lucia, Lentini, Adami Martins, Gjurchinoski, Dolcini (from 82' Ciccione), Grani (from 75' Ramundo), Cuzzilla Subs: Castagnoli, Astolfi, Della Valle, Tamagnini, Ronci Coach: Gian Luca Borgagni   FAETANO Marino, Tomassoni, Fatica, Romagna, De Buono (from 56' Soumah), Fall, Palazzi, Giardi, Pini (from 69' Federico), Russo (from 69' Kalemi), Magno (from 56' Tamburini) Subs: Rossi, Barretta, Broccoli Coach: Danilo Girolomoni   Referee: Antonio Ucini Assistants: Francesco Mineo, Alfonso Gallo Fourth official: Elison Luci Booked: Grani, De Falco Scorers: 79' Federico, 88' Adami Martins  

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TRE PENNE Migani, Sartori (from 69' Cesarini), Vandi, Battistini, Lombardi, Genestreti, Pieri (from 61' Chiurato), Righini, Badalassi, Gai, Ceccaroli (from 75' Cibelli) Subs: Zambetti, Cauterucci, Semprini, Zonzini Coach: Stefano Ceci   LIBERTAS Zavoli, Moretti, Barretta, Pesaresi (from 67' Flores), Nigretti, A. Gasperoni (from 86' Berretti), Patregnani (from 86' L. Gasperoni), Giovagnoli (from 51' Cuomo), Ruiz, Aruci, Olcese Subs: Gentilini, Ndao, Morelli Coach: Gabriele Cardini   Referee: Andrea Mei Assistants: Gianmarco Ercolani, Andrea Guidi Fourth official: Davide Borriello Booked: Barretta, Pieri, Righini Sent off: Vandi (straight red) Scorers: 51' Badalassi, 53' Gai

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