Futsal, league: Cosmos win and move into the playoff places

The battle to stay in the playoff spots is in full swing. Matchday 19 of the Campionato Sammarinese di futsal, played last night – and due to conclude this evening with the late fixture at the Multieventi between Domagnano and San Giovanni – has produced an extremely tight table in the lower half. Cosmos edge past Libertas and pick up three crucial points to stay on board the post-season train. After two consecutive draws, the gialloverdi finally claim all three points in a match that remained in the balance right to the end. Alberto Bologna opened the scoring for Muccioli’s side, but early in the second half Davide Rossi levelled things up for the granata. The winner arrived with the clock almost at full time thanks to Davide Zafferani. As mentioned, Cosmos now move up to 13 points alongside Tre Penne (who had a bye this round), San Giovanni (in action tonight at 21:30) and Libertas themselves. One point ahead of this quartet battling for the final playoff berth – 12th place – sit Murata, who last night had to give way to the more fancied Tre Fiori. Alex Bugli’s gialloblu ran riot in Acquaviva, cruising to a resounding 8-0 win. The game was effectively over by half-time thanks to goals from Lorenzo Cecchini (brace), Michele Casadei, Nicholas Zanotti and Andrea Cappelli. After the break, Michael Simoncini and Daniele Ferrenti also found the net, along with another strike from Michele Casadei. With this victory, which makes up for the débâcle suffered in the derby against Fiorentino, Tre Fiori climb to third place on 39 points. At the top – and by now it is hardly news – nothing changes because Folgore and Fiorentino both win yet again, piling up points, goals and ever more impressive statistics. Michelotti’s side put nine past Faetano while also keeping a clean sheet. On the scoresheet for the rossoblu under the heading “scorers” are Daniele Maiani, Andrea Ercolani, Lorenzo Cevoli, Davide Serra and the inevitable Danilo Busignani, who produces yet another manita. Faetano go down, but the gialloblu must not lose heart, as the playoff zone is only two points away. No less impressive is Max Spada’s Folgore, who defeat Pennarossa 7-1 in Dogana. The giallorossoneri went into the break ahead thanks to goals from Matteo Chezzi and Massimiliano Bernardi, then refused to ease off in the second half, scoring again through Chezzi, Giardi and the ever-present Bernardi, who records four goals on the night (39 in total, making him joint top scorer with Busignani). For Pennarossa, who scored through Giampaolo Brighi, this is a third consecutive defeat, but Casadei’s biancorossi still sit in a relatively comfortable position in the table (eighth with 22 points). A fine win for Virtus over La Fiorita, whose 2-0 success sees them overtake the gialloblu from Montegiardino and move alone into fourth place. However, the match was only decided late on by goals from Paolo Casadei (now up to 16 league goals) and Giuliano Sensoli. Ghiotti’s La Fiorita thus see their positive run – which had lasted since 5 December (defeat to Folgore) – come to an end. Just below the gialloblu in the standings are Juvenes-Dogana, who return to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Cailungo and occupy sixth place pending tonight’s Domagnano game. The Serravalle side took an early lead through Alessandro Zonzini, but the rossoverdi hit back immediately via Elia Venerucci. The deadlock was broken in the 48th minute of the second half by a Davide Tura own goal, sparking celebrations for Zonzini’s team and condemning Bollini’s. For Cailungo, the road to the playoffs – now nine points away – is getting steeper and steeper. As mentioned several times, Matchday 19 concludes this evening with the 21:30 late kick-off between Domagnano and San Giovanni on the Multieventi court in Serravalle. The giallorossi Wolves are aiming to reclaim sixth place, while the rossoneri are chasing precious points to stay in the playoff positions. Here is the full rundown from Matchday 19 of the Campionato Sammarinese di futsal: Click here for the updated standings.

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