League: Faetano and Murata make playoff moves

Evenly split across the 15:00 and 18:00 kick-off slots, the four early fixtures of matchday 20 in the Campionato Sammarinese offered up crucial points at every level of the table. Starting with San Marino Academy-Faetano, a match of vital importance for the Biancazzurri – six points adrift of today’s opponents, who before kick-off occupied the last spot giving access to the postseason, albeit shared with Domagnano. The Academy began brightly, looking dangerous with early raids from Santi. On the first, with the ball in play, Ioli made a decisive intervention, stepping in for Forconesi. On 12 minutes the keeper himself was called into action by a direct free-kick from the usual Sammarinese forward, who however failed to angle his effort. Ricchiuti’s Faetano showed signs of life on 20 minutes, when Casadei stole in ahead even of Borasco from a corner, but couldn’t hit the target. A golden chance fell to Brisigotti on 33 minutes, but his effort from 20 metres did not do justice to the shooting qualities he has shown in recent seasons – much to Borasco’s relief. Before the interval Cervellini forced Forconesi into a two-stage save, postponing the verdict to the second half. Early after the restart, Borasco was decisive on a curling free-kick from Brisigotti, this time well directed. The chance came from a foul by Riccardi on Famiglietti, just centimetres away from a goal against his former club on the break. Ricchiuti’s side capitalised on a strong start to the half by taking the lead through Lisi: the Gialloblù captain punished a less-than-perfect intervention from Giambalvo and beat Borasco with a pinpoint right-foot finish on 57 minutes. The Academy struggled for accuracy in the final third, while Faetano threatened on the counter with the inevitable Lisi. In the closing stages even Borasco ventured into the box, but the goalkeeper was beaten to the ball by Ioli. From the ensuing action, Dulcetti broke through one-on-one with the keeper, who brought him down and was sent off for DOGSO. Nicolò Sancisi took his place between the posts and had the satisfaction of saving a free-kick on the edge of the area from Brisigotti and, above all, a point-blank effort from Dulcetti. Tempers boiled over in stoppage time, to the extent that the referee showed three red cards after the final whistle: the players dismissed were Cecchetti and Santi for the Academy, and Dulcetti for Faetano. Murata’s playoff prospects were already more concrete, and against Libertas they were hunting points to fuel their ambition of finishing seventh (a position which would spare them the Preliminary Round, where the teams finishing in the four places immediately below will head). Camillini’s side flew out of the blocks, already in front on 4 minutes through Salemme. It was a counter-attack born from a mistake by Buzi and embellished by Del Vecchio’s final pass, which put his team-mate in position to finish across goal. Libertas’ response came via Pari, who failed to hit the target from the edge of the box. Ricci also lacked accuracy after a long, patient build-up from Murata. The midfielder tried his luck from mid-range on a couple more occasions, forcing Manzaroli into low takes. The second goal seemed on its way on 32 minutes, when Salemme tried to square the ball in front of goal, but Moretti denied Del Vecchio what would have been a simple tap-in with the goal gaping. Having survived that scare, Buda’s team protested for a potential handball in the box by Castorina – which the referee did not punish with a penalty. From the resulting corner, Moretti managed only a scuffed contact, blocked in the six-yard box by Martinez. The Bianconero goalkeeper was then let off on 52 minutes when, on the counter, Uva – perfect until the finish – sent his right-footed effort incredibly over the bar. As sensational as Pari’s error, when he put an opponent – in this case Piscopo – clean through, only for the latter to misfire in front of Manzaroli. The game’s decisive spell arrived in the first quarter of an hour of the second half, when Buturca and Moretti came within centimetres of making it 1-1 (from a counter and a set play respectively). At the other end, Manzaroli denied Salemme his brace, then got his gloves to a shot-cross from D’Ascenzio. Libertas pushed with determination right up to the end of the seven minutes of added time, but Martinez’s goal remained intact: Murata move up to 30 points, while the Granata are overtaken by Faetano. La Fiorita, kicking off at 18:00 against Pennarossa, needed less than six minutes to break the deadlock, discovering the poacher’s instincts of Brighi – a defender by trade. First he was ruthless in pouncing on a loose ball after Santi had hit the post, then – again from a corner situation – he met Cicarelli’s cross with his right foot to double the lead on 23 minutes. Pennarossa, however, did not simply stand by, even if luck appeared to desert Dolci’s men: Zenoni’s free-kick, which could have made it 1-1, flew just wide of the top corner, while Carrozzo struck the base of the post with the keeper beaten after a splendid through ball from Azzurro on 28 minutes. In the second half La Fiorita squandered the chance to make it three with Affonso and Olcese, who failed to combine in a two-on-one. The club from Chiesanuova instead complained about a missed penalty on 52 minutes, when two of their players went to ground in the box from a Cobo set piece. At the other end, Santi tried directly from a corner again, but Del Prete dealt with it superbly. La Fiorita managed their lead without alarm, and in the closing stages it became a three-goal cushion thanks to a poacher’s finish from Massari. In Dogana, Cailungo confirmed their excellent form, almost taking the lead from a Labas free-kick on 6 minutes. Tre Penne responded through Guidi and Dormi, who both failed to find the net from promising positions. Sarti’s side were far more clinical, breaking the deadlock midway through the half via their man in form: Jules Labas took a pass on the edge of the area from Bastianelli before skipping past Barretta. His left-footed shot into the corner gave Migani no chance and the Rossoverdi went in front. Tre Penne were forced to chase and were wasteful before the break: Ricciardo headed down for Amati, who blazed over off-balance. Berardi’s men then had an equaliser ruled out, scored by Nigretti, for a foul by Ricciardo in the challenge – at least according to the referee’s interpretation. In between, there was a piece of sheer quality from Hirsch, who went on a solo run, beating opponents in succession before firing just wide of the left-hand post from the edge of the area. The game remained lively after the restart, with Tre Penne needing just four minutes to equalise: Vandi forced the ball home in a goalmouth scramble in the Cailungo box, with the Rossoverdi protesting for a challenge inside the area. Shortly afterwards, Nigretti was sent off for a second yellow card – judged by the referee to have committed a tactical foul on Hirsch. Despite this – and after a wayward attempt from Hirsch – the Biancazzurri turned the match around thanks to a perfect angled finish from Guidi, set up by D’Addario. In the closing stages, Tre Penne’s experience came to the fore and, even with ten men, they saw out the victory, leaving Cailungo to rue a missed opportunity to move significantly closer to the playoff zone. Here is the partial picture for matchday 20 of the Campionato Sammarinese: Click here for the updated league table.

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