Friendlies: Under-16 National Team smiles again, this time edging past Gibraltar

Two wins from two matches for the San Marino Under-16 National Team, facing Gibraltar again after last Monday’s 5-1 victory. This time the script is different (the visitors come back from 0-2 to 2-2 before being struck late on), but the outcome is just as pleasing for coach Bonesso’s boys. As on Monday, San Marino immediately tries to take control of proceedings. A ball lost in midfield, however, immediately triggers a dangerous Gibraltar counter-attack: Rowbottom spots the right pass for Pecino, whose low diagonal effort is held by Bucci. The Young Titans’ reply is more than up to the task: Ciacci presses Garratt, then lays the ball off to Bucchi who, with his first touch, skips past Hollins Key and then drives a right-footed shot into the far corner. A few minutes later Bucchi tries to return the favour to Ciacci: the No 10 collects the long ball in the box, controls well but sends his left-footed effort over the bar. Gibraltar’s team, for the moment, sits very deep. Virtually all the attacking burden falls on Rowbottom’s shoulders and, on 19 minutes, he goes extremely close with a long-range strike that crashes off the crossbar. An excellent piece of technique that Terni tries to emulate from roughly the same distance, but the No 3’s shot flies over. As in the previous friendly, a corner brings Bonesso’s side their second goal. Cervellini swings it in from the right, the defence fails to clear and Stefani is quick to drill his right-footed effort into the back of the net, giving Becerra Lopez – unsighted by a crowd of team-mates and opponents – no chance to react. Gibraltar’s 2-1 also arrives from a corner, and in very short order. Martinez curls it in left-footed and Garratt meets it at the back post with a powerful header, timing his run perfectly to beat both markers and goalkeeper. The incident gives the visitors a surge of energy, and they draw level in first-half stoppage time. It all stems from effective pressure on the San Marino ball carrier. The rest is all down to Poggio, mixing class with speed of execution: the Gibraltar No 10 (also on target on Monday) produces an impeccable lob from 20 metres. San Marino look to restore their lead before the interval, but their immediate reaction yields only a Terni shot that finishes a couple of metres wide. After the break there is a change in goal: Sami replaces Bucci. The substitute is immediately called into action by Rowbottom, who profits from a fortunate rebound to shoot from inside the six-yard box, only to find the home keeper “blocking” his effort. Gibraltar, however, continues to play in San Marino’s half, while the Titans perhaps pay for their exertions in the first period and in Monday’s match. A few small flashpoints of tension also flare up, but the referee – helped by most of the players on the pitch – quickly calms things down, resorting to a few “strategic” yellow cards. Just past the hour mark, Stefani is forced to bring down Rowbottom, who was racing through on goal. No red card is shown, given the spirit of the game, although this does cause some grumbling in the Gibraltar camp. In practice, a free-kick is awarded on the edge of the penalty area and Garratt steps up: the ball slips through the wall and is turned behind for a corner by Sami, drawing applause from the Acquaviva crowd. Once this red-and-white spell is over, San Marino push back up the pitch. They do so also thanks to the fresh legs of Maiani, Cangini, Gritti, Berardi and Balsimelli. And it is a combination between two substitutes that creates San Marino’s first clear chance of the second half. Cangini plays in Maiani, who slaloms through half the defence and appears slightly wide on the left in front of Becerra Lopez, who does brilliantly to block the close-range effort. Gibraltar now seem to have run out of steam, while San Marino again take firm control of the game and territory. From this dominance comes the 3-2 goal: the move develops down the left, with Terni taking on Bahadur Bonet in a one-on-one before delivering a cross that is flicked to the back post, where Berardi is denied at the first attempt by Becerra Lopez but makes no mistake with the follow-up. From there to the final whistle there is still time for Argenziano and Colapinto to come on, and for a booking for goalkeeper Johnson Laoudy which, in a different game, would have been a red (Gritti was brought down before he could shoot into an empty net) – an episode that helps to silence any remaining Gibraltar protests. There are no further goalscoring chances.

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Under-16, international friendly (unofficial), MD2 | San Marino – Gibraltar 3-2   SAN MARINO Bucci (from 46' Sami); Amoretti (from 53' Balsimelli), Stefani, Pala; Valentini (from 53' Berardi), Cervellini (from 65' Cangini), Muccioli (from 82' Colapinto), Bucchi, Terni (from 82' Argenziano); Ciacci (from 53' Gritti), Raschi (from 65' Maiani) Coach: Alessandro Loris Bonesso   GIBRALTAR Becerra Lopez (from 86' Johnson Laoudy); Phillips (from 76' Soiza), Hollins Key, Garratt, Pecino (from 83' Perera Vinent); Fortunato (from 83' Dahrouch), Sanchez Soiza; Soleci, Poggio (from 90+3' Haddad), Martinez (from 46' Bahadur Bonet), Rowbottom (from 86' Omara) Coach: Victor Manuel Gonzalez   Referee: Nicola Villa (RSM) Assistants: Andrea Zaghini (RSM) and Salvatore Tuttifrutti (RSM) Booked: Martinez, Stefani, Rowbottom, Raschi, Muccioli, Ciacci, Soiza, Berardi, Johnson Laoudy Scorers: 9' Bucchi, 38' Stefani, 40' Garratt, 45+1' Poggio, 81' Berardi

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