Futsal: Murata take on Folgore to reignite race for second place

Thursday overtime for thirteen of the fifteen teams entered in the 2023-24 Campionato Sammarinese di futsal. They will all be on court tomorrow, after Monday night's action, for Matchday 19 of the competition – with the obvious exceptions of Pennarossa (who have a bye) and Tre Fiori (who already sat out at the start of the week). For the Gialloblù it is the toughest of assignments: on the way is the derby of the Castello di Fiorentino – and played, moreover, in the local reference venue. Overtaken in the standings by La Fiorita and Murata – who still have to observe their rest day – Bugli's men will want to hand their cousins a first setback, after seventeen wins from as many outings. Also in Fiorentino, but at 20:15, there is another big match: Murata and Folgore go head-to-head with important points for second place at stake. The unexpected draw in the Serravalle city derby with Cosmos has in fact put the Giallorossoneri’s runners-up spot in jeopardy, with La Fiorita and – indeed – Murata right on their heels. At Dogana, Libertas-Tre Penne opens the evening and San Giovanni-Juvenes-Dogana closes it. On paper the first fixture looks the more evenly balanced, with Libertas keen to close the gap on the tenth place currently occupied by their opponents – who sprung a surprise by beating Juvenes-Dogana at the start of the week. Levani will be hoping for a much improved display from his side: the 6-5 defeat to the team from Città denied the Biancorossazzurri the chance to relaunch themselves among the contenders for the top four – despite the Serravalle club having already had their rest day. Of the six teams above Juvenes-Dogana in the table, only Tre Fiori have also already completed their bye week. Two matches will also be played in Domagnano, where Cosmos will be looking to build on the excellent performance produced in the derby with Folgore, testing themselves against an in-form Virtus. The Neroverdi also come into this round off a draw, earned against Domagnano – who are involved in the second match scheduled at the same venue. At 21:45 tomorrow, in fact, Gasperoni’s men will face La Fiorita. The Montegiardino club are enjoying a fine spell of form that has deservedly taken the Gialloblù up to third place – with Folgore now in their sights. Rounding off Matchday 19 of the Campionato Sammarinese di futsal is the indoor clash between Faetano and Cailungo. After their exhilarating win over San Giovanni, the Rossoverdi have another opportunity to put clear daylight between themselves and the two teams with whom they long shared the foot of the table, and to officially stake a claim as the main chasers of Pennarossa – who currently occupy the last available play-off berth and will be watching with keen interest the contest at the Palestra di Acquaviva. Here is the full programme for Matchday 18 of the league: Click here for the updated league table

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