League: Domagnano saved at the death again, Fiorentino make it five in a row

Virtus had no trouble dealing with Cailungo: Bizzotto’s side ran out 6-0 winners and needed very little time to light up the evening in Fiorentino. Francioni did well to turn away Scappini’s long-range effort, but Benincasa pounced on the loose ball and went down under a challenge from Montalti. The referee pointed to the spot and Scappini converted, smashing the ball in off the underside of the bar: 1-0 with not even two minutes played. The reigning champions kept their foot on the gas. De Lucia went close to doubling the lead from an Amati corner. An even bigger chance fell to Benincasa on 15 minutes after a break by Niang down the right: the striker stretched to meet his team-mate’s cross but could not steer it on target from close range. He made up for it in style midway through the half, when Gori crossed from the left and the No. 25 met it with a flying side-foot finish that gave Francioni no chance. Scappini had a first sight of a brace on 32 minutes with a shot that shaved the post, then, two minutes later, he achieved it by turning in a low ball from Zenoni. Cailungo tried to get back into it before the break, but with no luck. In fact, at the restart it was Virtus who struck again with Amati’s left-footed finish from the edge of the box. On 66 minutes came Zenoni’s 5-0, set up by Montanari. However, the last word went again to Scappini, who made it 6-0 and completed his hat-trick on 89 minutes, sealing a third straight win for Virtus and a provisional lead at the top.

Provisional because Tre Fiori were due to play at 18:15. They won that without too many problems, immediately reclaiming top spot. The side coached again by Girolomoni set about Faetano from the off. Mema could not sort his feet out on a Scarcella assist, then the winger again picked him out with a perfect cross from the right: Mema arrived completely unmarked but headed wide. The opening goal did not take long to arrive. Benedettini broke down the flank and whipped in a cross that Tugliani headed clear. Braschi adjusted his body perfectly and met it first time with a right-foot volley that was a lethal mix of power and precision: the ball flew into the far top corner and gave Tre Fiori a lead that was as spectacular as it was deserved. Like Mema, Bernardi then squandered a huge headed chance, this time from a Scarcella cross. Even so, Tre Fiori kept the pressure on and on the half-hour they found their second. The scene was similar (but not identical) to the 1-0: again a player was quickest to react to a short Faetano clearance and turned it into a shot that was almost impossible to save. This time it was Benedettini; his strike was less eye-catching than Braschi’s, but the outcome was the same: ball in the net. Faetano never really knocked on Nardi’s door, and that remained true throughout the second half, bar a single exception. Venturini, on the other hand, was called into immediate action to deny Mema. Braschi dragged wide a low shot that would have given him a brace, shortly after Zonzini had registered Faetano’s very first (and only) attacking attempt: a free-kick from the edge that sailed over. In the meantime, Venturini had to intervene twice on Benedettini and again on Mema, while on 77 minutes he was less than perfect on Pini’s left-foot strike from outside the area. The Faetano keeper redeemed himself later with a save on Dolcini, but the substance did not change: Tre Fiori won 3-0 and the pecking order at the very top of the table was restored. Girolomoni’s team will spend Christmas as league leaders and on Tuesday evening will look to put another nice present under the tree, assuming Virtus agree.

Virtus had played in thick fog – and there was no shortage of that in Montecchio either, where San Giovanni broke the deadlock against Domagnano right at the end of a first half largely devoid of emotion, apart from a couple of off-target efforts from Ferraro and Santi at one end and a scrambled attempt by D’angeli at the other. It was the latter who, on 43 minutes, latched on to Palumbo’s long ball and won his one-on-one with Papi. After the break Domagnano set about climbing the mountain: they hit the woodwork through Gozzi from a corner, but were repeatedly exposed to San Giovanni counter-attacks led by D’angeli, who on one occasion went for goal himself and on others set up Corinti and Palumbo, both dangerous with their strikes. Corinti tried again with a quarter of an hour remaining, again without success. Shortly after, D’angeli once more turned provider for Kane, who missed the chance to land the knockout blow. It was an episode that would weigh heavily. Indeed, Domagnano snatched a 1-1 equaliser in the fifth minute of stoppage time, just as they had done a week earlier against La Fiorita: then it was Contadini who spared the Wolves defeat; this time it was Babboni, finishing from a Santi assist.

Folgore returned to winning ways after five rounds of enforced abstinence. They beat San Marino Academy 3-0, with Conti called into action as early as the 6th minute (a fine save on Daidola’s angled right-foot effort) and then almost seeing his side take the lead from a corner two minutes later: Protti rose unmarked but headed wide. The game stayed in the balance almost until midway through the half. At that point Simone Gasperoni brought down Daidola in the box, conceding a penalty. Daidola took responsibility himself: Conti guessed the right way but could not reach the powerful, well-placed strike. Raschi went in search of glory with his left foot, firing just over from the edge, then swung in a cross to the far post for Garcia Rufer, who headed over. The 2-0 arrived on 36 minutes: De Nicolò cut in from the left, skipped past a couple of opponents and beat Conti with an angled left-foot finish. The third goal came from Augusto Garcia Rufer on 57 minutes, capitalising on a mix-up between Federico Ciacci and Conti: the former San Giovanni forward nipped in between the two Biancazzurri, stole the ball and rolled it into the net with ease. After going 3-0 up, Folgore had a double chance through Golinucci and De Nicolò, both denied by a quite outstanding Achille Conti. Nor was De Angelis’ open-handed save on Della Balda’s curling effort anything ordinary. From the ensuing play, Domeniconi could not turn in the rebound. At the other end, Golinucci and De Nicolò went within centimetres of making it 4-0, while Malaponti struck the post with a header from a free-kick. In the meantime San Marino Academy had mounted another foray forward, with Cervellini breaking into the box but finding no team-mates on the end of his cut-back. Folgore move, for the moment, above La Fiorita, who play tomorrow. San Marino Academy, by contrast, remain two points behind Cailungo.

On an afternoon marked by a flurry of penalties awarded, Fiorentino and Murata, facing each other in Acquaviva, stayed firmly in line with that trend. On the half-hour the referee pointed to the spot for a foul by Sebti on Bottoni. Ben Kacem stepped up but was denied by Bracconi. The Moroccan forward made amends on 42 minutes, though, curling in a delightful left-footer from the edge of the area: after tracing a wide arc, the ball nestled in the bottom corner to the right of the Murata keeper. After the interval Murata came out with good verve: Labas tried to copy Ben Kacem with a curling left-footer of his own, but Benedettini was not to be beaten. The play then swung to the other end: Abouzziane sent in a cross that Bracconi got a touch to but could not take out of the path of Gjonaj, who brought it under control and fired home for his side’s second. Murata wobbled again on the hour, when a Ben Kacem goal was ruled out for offside, and again on 71 minutes, when Gjonaj ghosted in behind Sebti and, unmarked in the six-yard box, shot from point-blank range, only to be denied a brace by a stunning reflex stop from Bracconi. Still, Fabrizio Costantini had to wait only one more minute to see his players fashion the 3-0. It was a move of real quality down the left flank, where Bottoni, Gjonaj and Abouzziane combined neatly in tight spaces before the full-back delivered a perfect low cross to the far post for the arriving Belward, who made no mistake. It was effectively the moment that killed off the contest and gave Fiorentino a fifth consecutive victory – all of them with a clean sheet to boot.

Here is the partial picture from Matchday 14 of the league:

Click here to see the table