Futsal: Folgore target Pennarossa as Fiorentino-San Giovanni play for pride

After last Thursday’s “detour”, the San Marino Futsal Championship is ready to get back on track. In practice, that means moving on to the fixtures and talking points of Matchday 27, one that will not feature Murata – sidelined by a bye week. The leaders are under no kind of threat, their position already mathematically secured. The same cannot be said for Pennarossa, back to losing ways against Virtus and now under serious pressure from Folgore. The Chiesanuova side will have to dig deep to hold on to fifth place and their next outing is another test against one of the Fab 4, namely Tre Penne, who sat out Thursday’s round and absolutely must reverse a trend that has seen Penserini’s men lose their last two games, dropping them down to fourth. Once again, just as in the rearranged Matchday 15 fixture, Pennarossa will play on the court of the Acquaviva Sports Hall, in one of two postponed fixtures that characterise this fourth-from-last round of the regular season – specifically the Tuesday night game. The other late fixture, also scheduled at the Acquaviva Sports Hall, will be played on Thursday evening and will be a private affair – more than that, a derby – between Cosmos and Juvenes Dogana. Both are coming off a defeat and sit side by side in the table (seventh and eighth), although Cellarosi’s team, thanks above all to an excellent run before losing to Murata, can currently boast a decent cushion of points (+5) over their “cousins”.

As for the packed Monday evening schedule, Folgore will try to gift themselves at least 24 hours in fifth place. Zonzini’s men are eyeing a fourth win in a row, which would mean overtaking Pennarossa and piling the pressure on the Biancorossi while they wait to play their game with Tre Penne – already mentioned above. However, Folgore will need to beware their next opponents, a Tre Fiori side buoyed by their derby victory and firmly back believing in a play-off spot. One thing is certain: Bugli’s team take to the court in the knowledge they can no longer afford any slip-ups; whether that proves a plus or a minus will become clear late tomorrow evening, given that Tre Fiori – Folgore is the second of the two fixtures scheduled in Fiorentino. The first will be a clash between Domagnano and La Fiorita. The latter can ride the wave of four straight wins and the authority of a recently secured outright third place. Not only that: Pietrangeli’s group also have their sights set on second place, just three points away. Domagnano, meanwhile, have also banked some positive energy thanks to their comeback victory over Faetano. The Wolves have not yet resigned themselves to finishing ninth: they see Cosmos just a point ahead and Juvenes six points clear.

Fiorentino, on the other hand, have already bowed out of the play-off race, as have San Giovanni. The second-bottom and bottom sides in the table will face off in a contest that is mainly about pride. This game will open the evening in Dogana, which will then be completed by the clash between Virtus and Libertas, the former intent on protecting second place, the latter keen to extend a three-match unbeaten run that has allowed Levani’s boys to chase away a few ghosts – albeit not yet definitively. The last Monday fixture – in chronological order – is the indoor meeting between Cailungo and Faetano. The Rossoverdi have lost momentum after their series of consecutive wins and need to bounce back above all in terms of morale, given that the table leaves Venerucci and Pollini’s side relatively comfortable. On the other side, a Faetano team whose recent form has been somewhat up and down still need to make one final push to definitively secure their place in the post-season. The game will be played at the Multieventi.

Here is the fixture list for Matchday 27 of the championship:

Click here to view the league table