Futsal: Fiorentino redeems their season with league title and Europe, Murata finish 3rd

The trophy for the 18th Campionato Sammarinese di futsal goes to Fiorentino, just as it did for the 17th. Michelotti’s team have to chase the game for most of the first half, but manage to edge in front just before the interval and protect their lead in the closing stages thanks to Danilo Busignani’s 82nd goal of the season, his second of the night just like Maiani. Folgore, playing their eighth consecutive final (a San Marino record, beating Tre Fiori’s run from 2014-2017), are unable to complete a seasonal treble (a feat no one has yet achieved), but can still be satisfied with a campaign that saw two of the three available trophies added to the Falciano cabinet. The final takes around ten minutes to come to life. The incident that breaks the initial deadlock is a penalty awarded for a handball by Maiani (who is also booked on the occasion) as he blocks a turn-and-shot from Pellegrini. Pellegrini himself steps up and makes no mistake from the spot. Less than a minute later it is that same Maiani who restores parity. From a free kick, Busignani picks out number 6, who controls and shoots in a flash: the ball hits the back of the net and Bernardi and team-mates have to start again. Folgore respond with a move down the flank involving Chezzi and Pasqualini: the former, with a sole-of-the-foot touch, sets up the latter’s powerful left-footed strike, but Protti is alert at his near post. Fiorentino’s reply comes via a quick counter: Cevoli looks for Maiani at the far post with a tempting ball, but the scorer of the 1-1 is not where he needs to be. Shortly before the midway point in the half comes Folgore’s second lead, entirely the work of Biordi. The 1995-born winger starts wide, surges past Busignani and beats Maiani’s sliding challenge with a precise toe-poke into the far corner. A piece of brilliance that further fires up Folgore. Chezzi immediately threatens to make it 3-1, but his fierce right-footed effort is turned away by Protti’s gloves. Once that yellow-red storm has blown over, Fiorentino begin to sting again. Maiani and Cevoli both fail to hit the target from corners. It then takes Geri’s hands to preserve the 2-1 scoreline when Busignani unleashes a powerful strike. On 24 minutes a familiar pattern appears: Folgore’s pivot (this time Pellegrini) rolls the ball wide for the overlapping Pasqualini. The number 6’s left-footed diagonal is razor-sharp, but misses the target by a matter of centimetres. At the other end, Geri is again called into action to deny Busignani, this time from a direct free kick. The move continues: Busignani goes down in the area, the referees wave play on and Pasqualini sends Pellegrini clean through 1 v 1 with Protti, but the Fiorentino goalkeeper wins the duel with a crucial touch. In the aftermath several yellow cards are shown to members of the red-and-blue bench for vehement protests. The clock ticks to 30 minutes. Fiorentino win another free kick which, as before, is struck directly on goal by Busignani. Geri makes the save but the ball remains in the danger zone, where Maiani reacts quickest and lashes it in off the underside of the bar, completing his brace and bringing Fiorentino level. Folgore struggle to absorb the blow. Fiorentino take advantage and complete the turnaround in added time. This time the move starts not from a free kick but from a throw-in. Zafferani finds Busignani, who shifts onto his left and fires a low skimmer that squeezes through a tiny gap and creeps in off the post. Having led twice, Folgore go into the break needing to come from behind. Chezzi tries to do just that immediately after the restart: the number 9 takes on Cevoli down the wing and then lets fly, missing the target by a whisker. Chezzi is involved again in the 3rd minute: this time he starts from the opposite, left-hand flank and finishes the move with an excellent right-footed strike that forces Protti into a superb save. Biordi’s off-target effort precedes Chezzi’s third attempt, once more thwarted by Protti. Fiorentino reappear from a corner: Maiani finds Cevoli, who fails to hit the target, not helped by being off balance. On 42 minutes Fiorentino lose one of their standout performers: Maiani overdoes it as he pulls back Biordi, virtually “tackling” him to the ground. A second yellow for the number 6 is inevitable, and his game ends prematurely. Folgore, however, cannot make their numerical advantage count. Fresh worries for Protti arise after Rossini has come on: Bernardi cuts inside and tries to find the net – or a helpful deflection – with a toe-poke that instead dribbles harmlessly wide. The spell between the 51st and 52nd minute is when Folgore come closest to equalising. The first chance stems from a counter: Ercolani nips in ahead of Cevoli and launches a 2 v 1. The young number 15 – on target in both the Supercup and Titano Futsal Cup finals – goes all the way, dribbling past Busignani and bearing down on Protti, who stands tall to deny him. Less than a minute later, Chezzi strikes the inside of the post; the ball rebounds perfectly onto Bernardi’s head, with the goal gaping, yet he somehow heads wide. Before Folgore switch to the flying goalkeeper, there is still time for a breakaway led and finished by Cevoli, who misses the far corner by a fraction, and for a close-range left-footer by Biordi, once again repelled by Protti, who slams the door shut. The strategy of using an extra outfield player in the opposition half fails to yield results. On a couple of occasions Folgore risk conceding into an empty net (once Pasqualini even covers for his goalkeeper), and in the second minute of added time they are finally punished. It is Busignani who wraps up the contest and brings his personal tally to 82 goals this season. Fiorentino once again secure their European ticket, “avenging” their defeats in the Supercup and Titano Futsal Cup and achieving a broader objective: becoming the most decorated club in the history of Sammarinese futsal. Their total haul (six league titles, two cups and one Supercup) now stands at nine trophies, one more than their “cousins” Tre Fiori. The latter had taken to the Multieventi court earlier in the evening, facing Murata in the 3rd place play-off. The Bianconeri run out clear winners, although the first half is very even. Murata’s opener arrives inside two minutes: Mattioli drills the ball across to the far post, where Alessandro Casadei is lurking to turn it in. Tre Fiori’s equaliser comes on 8 minutes from a piece of individual brilliance by Morini, who cuts inside onto his left and unleashes a powerful strike that crashes in off the underside of the bar. Shortly after the quarter-hour mark Rizzo hits the woodwork, a warning of the 2-1 that Murata do indeed find late in the first half. The scorer is Belloni, who drives down the flank and surprises Andreani at his near post. Before the break there is time for El Attar’s dismissal, punished for loudly uttering a blasphemous phrase. After the restart Murata stretch their lead to +2 through Mattioli, who within a few seconds first clears off his own goal line and then races up the court to beat Amati with a sharp left-footed strike. The 4-1 is De Angelis’s, though much of the credit goes to Rizzo, who bamboozles his marker on the wing with a series of feints before picking out his team-mate at the far post: from there, De Angelis only has to tap in. And it is an equally simple tap-in for Paoletti, set up by Albani, to make it 5-1 and seal the contest.

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Campionato Sammarinese di futsal 2023-24, 1st/2nd Place Final | Fiorentino – Folgore 4-2   FIORENTINO Protti; Maiani, Busignani, Zafferani, Ceccoli Subs: Bollini, Gasperoni, Stacchini, Rossini, Bacciocchi, Casadei, M. Giacobbi, Serra, Cevoli Coach: Matteo Michelotti   FOLGORE Geri; Pasqualini, Bernardi, Pellegrini, Chezzi Subs: D. Giacobbi, Volpinari, Pelliccioni, Giardi, Ercolani, Biordi, Morri Coach: Claudio Zonzini   Referee 1: Cristian Tonelli Referee 2: Sirio Lanuti Referee 3: Giovanni Notarpietro Referee 4: Alessandro Vandi Booked: Maiani, Pellegrini, Bollini, Geri, Busignani Sent off: Maiani (second yellow) Scorers: 10' pen. Pellegrini, 11' and 30' Maiani, 14' Biordi, 30+2' and 60+1' Busignani

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Campionato Sammarinese di futsal 2023-24, 3rd/4th Place Final | Tre Fiori – Murata 1-5 TRE FIORI Andreani; M. Casadei, Simoncini, Morini, F. Burioni Subs: Amati, Crescentini, Verri, Toccaceli, D. Casadei, Conti, Esposito Coach: Alex Bugli   MURATA Giusti; De Angelis, Mattioli, A. Casadei, Belloni Subs: Bizzocchi, Capicchioni, Ghiotti, Albani, El Attar, Paoletti, Rizzo Coach: Massimiliano Spada   Referee 1: Raffaele Delvecchio Referee 2: Luca Tura Referee 3: Alessandro Vandi Referee 4: Giovanni Notarpietro Booked: Mattioli, Simoncini, Albani Sent off: El Attar (straight red) Scorers: 2' A. Casadei, 8' Morini, 27' Belloni, 39' Mattioli, 49' De Angelis, 55' Paoletti

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