BKN301 Titano Cup: Tre Penne roar, Virtus clinch quarter-final spot in the 116th minute

The 0-0 draw in the first leg between Pennarossa and Tre Penne was followed by a second leg with a decidedly sky-blue stamp on it. The match in Montecchio opened up on 36 minutes after a clash in the box between Mezzadri and Barretta: Righini stepped up to the spot and sent Gueye the wrong way with a right-foot finish. At the end of the first half Pennarossa lost a costly ball, and Tre Penne launched a lightning-fast counter on the Gai-Righini axis: the scorer of the opener picked out Pieri in the middle of the area, and all it took was a simple side-foot to put the Chiesanuova side in a commanding position. Midway through the second half, a left-footed razor from Pieri himself made it three, before Imre Badalassi added the fourth on 78 minutes: a simple tap-in from the sky-blue striker after Gueye’s short parry. Late on, a fine right-footed effort from medium range by Giordano gave Pennarossa a consolation goal. Little damage done for Tre Penne, who will face Juvenes-Dogana in the quarter-finals. The latter had the advantage of their first-leg win, although a single-goal lead over Cailungo offered no absolute guarantees for Amati’s men. And in the return leg the outcome remained in the balance for a long time. The clock had just ticked to 75 minutes when Benedetti produced the spark to beat Landi, undone by a low drive from the edge of the box by the number 14, who had started on the bench. In added time another substitute, Marinaro, sorted out a scramble and brought Cailungo back within one; but they could not, in the very little time remaining, find the one piece of play that would have taken the tie to extra time. There was never any real prospect of extra time, however, at the Domagnano ground. Here, Libertas simply confirmed what they had shown in the first leg; indeed, they went one better. The 2-0 inflicted on Domagnano was followed by an emphatic 6-2, opened in the 7th minute by Bucci’s header from a corner. Domagnano levelled through Fedeli, who timed his run perfectly on the offside line and remained ice-cool in front of Savastano. But that was not the last word of the first half. On the contrary, Libertas found two more goals before the interval: first with Aruci, who burst in behind the yellow-red backline and calmly slotted past Colonna; then with Bucci, who grabbed his brace with a powerful right-foot strike under the bar. Straight after the restart Fedeli clipped the woodwork with a long-range right-footer tipped by Savastano; from the resulting corner Domagnano reduced the deficit thanks to a wonderful back-heel from Zonzini. But Libertas still had plenty of firepower. Three minutes later, Aruci also completed his brace, making the most of a perfect assist from Bucci. The latter was back in the spotlight on 55 minutes: this time it was Aruci who played him into the box, and with a precise header he again beat Colonna for Libertas’ fifth goal and his personal hat-trick. The final seal came from Olcese: his diagonal strike from the edge of the box was lethal, the ball nestling in the far corner. Domagnano are out of the competition and Libertas advance to a quarter-final meeting with La Fiorita. In the top half of the draw, holders Tre Fiori were waiting for the winners of the tie between Cosmos and Virtus. Virtus had edged the first round. But the 1-0 scoreline, signed by Buonocunto, was far from a done deal. So Cosmos came flying out of the traps in the second leg. Berardi’s side took the lead just after the half-hour mark: after a challenge between Guidi and Passaniti the ball bounced kindly for Docente, and the number 99 in yellow and green only had to apply a simple finish into an empty net to restore complete parity in the tie. Just before the break a goal by Docente himself was ruled out. Several outstanding saves from Passaniti did the rest. As a result, the contest went to extra time. And there, the difference came down to energy reserves. Virtus unquestionably had more in the tank, also thanks to the substitutions made by Bizzotto. And indeed it was two substitutes who combined for the winning goal that sealed qualification: Sabato burst through on the left (after a neat back-heel from Buonocunto) and squared into the middle for Contadini, who opened up his right foot and fired the ball in off the underside of the bar. It was the 116th minute and Cosmos’ hopes were hanging by the thinnest of threads. Berardi’s men threw everything (what little they had left) at it, even sending Di Maio up front. But Virtus held firm, and even contrived to miss the chance to make it truly game, set and match. It was not needed. The draw on the night was more than enough for Bizzotto’s side, who extend their golden run and book one of the most prestigious quarter-final ties possible. Here is the full picture from the round of 16:

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