Futsal: late wins for Pennarossa, Tre Penne and Cosmos

Not only the resounding wins for Virtus (15-0) and La Fiorita (9-1) in the advance fixtures of matchday eleven of the San Marino Futsal Championship: the other three games delivered breathtaking finales with long penalty shots and last-gasp lead changes. Pennarossa, Tre Penne and Cosmos are the ones celebrating – and breathing a sigh of relief.

In Fiorentino it was Tre Fiori who started better, going in at half-time 2-0 up thanks to strikes from Pelliccioni and Casadei. Midway through the second half the runners-up woke up: Verri broke the deadlock on 42 minutes, then repeated the feat on 55 and 60 minutes with the goals that decided the contest – after Daniele Maiani had previously netted the equaliser, before closing the scoring at 5-2 a moment before the final whistle. Bugli’s side are left with a bitter taste in their mouths, having managed to pull it back to 3-4 during the first of two minutes of stoppage time. Things go no better for Fiorentino, swept aside by La Fiorita. Between Matteo Chezzi’s brace came Para’s equaliser, but from then on the yellow-and-blue took full control: braces from Pellegrini and Tassitano, plus goals from Giuccioli and Cecchini and a Bernardi own goal, swelled the scoreline to the final 9-1.

The gap was even wider between Virtus and San Giovanni, which ended at fifteen goals by the final buzzer. There were ten different scorers for the Neroverdi, among whom braces for Stolfi, Cavalli, Dolcini, Mularoni and Zafferani stood out. On the Fiorentino artificial turf there was also glory for captain Morganti, as well as for Stacchini, De Biagi, Belloni and Cevoli. Virtus draw level with Murata at the top, with the latter visiting Domagnano this evening at the Acquaviva sports hall. The gap to Pennarossa, La Fiorita and Tre Penne remains unchanged. The latter really had to grind out their win over Folgore, who opened the scoring through Pazzaglia and, after the Biancazzurri comeback (Littera and Gabrielli on target for a 2-1 half-time lead), hit back again through Ottaviani. The difference was ultimately made by goals from Beinat, Gabrielli once more and Gamba, who steered the three points towards Città in the final quarter of an hour.

In the style of a full-blooded duel, with a heart-stopping finale and no fewer than nine cards handed out by the match officials, Cosmos-Libertas is not a game that will be forgotten any time soon by those present last night at the Multieventi. The first half was explosive, with constant lead changes: Bacciocchi opened the scoring, winning a rebound with Paesini to break the deadlock before the end of the first minute. Libertas replied immediately through the same Paesini, finishing off a counter-attack at the back post after a fine assist from Gasperoni. Shortly afterwards Bacciocchi was celebrating again, this time turning in a pass from Molinas. Cosmos’ number ten was decisive once more last night: first and foremost in ensuring the Gialloverdi led at the break. In fact, Selva’s strike and Paesini’s fortuitous second had allowed Libertas to move 3-2 in front. The third Granata goal came from a Cosmos kick-in, where one dummy too many took Ceccaroli out of the game – leaving him unable to touch the ball again without conceding a free-kick, which allowed the opponents to regain possession and score. Before half-time, it was Delvecchio who stole the show: the Serravalle club’s goalkeeper first played Molinas clean through on goal in front of counterpart Amati – beaten by a sumptuous outside-of-the-boot touch; then he launched himself on the counter, holding off Giardi’s challenge (to the protests of Libertas) before finishing off a one-two with Molinas. On 40 minutes the Granata complained about a foul on Giorgetti on the edge of the penalty area that went unpunished. Five minutes later, the new equaliser arrived anyway: Michelotti picked out the far post where Paesini popped up to make it 4-4. The match was wide open to any outcome, but in the closing stages Cosmos’ high press paid off. Guerra got to the ball ahead of Selva and drove towards goal, only to be stopped illegally by the same pivot who – already booked – could not avoid a second yellow and consequent red card. Libertas had also already used up their foul bonus: the resulting 10-metre penalty, converted by Molinas, brought the curtain down on an intense, hard-fought and compelling contest.

Below is the provisional schedule for matchday 11 of the league: