League: first win for Pennarossa, Tre Penne caught by Virtus

Two clashes at the top of the table were scheduled in the late fixtures of Matchday 4 of the Campionato Sammarinese. It takes Virtus just 200 seconds to break the deadlock in Montecchio against Cosmos, thanks to a moment of magic from Benincasa: the forward cushions a long ball from Rinaldi and drills a left-footed diagonal past Semprini from a tight angle. Cosmos react, carving out a huge chance with the help of the Neroverdi themselves: Passaniti is late coming out and Mossolini can lift the ball over him and set up a finish into an empty net, but his attempt incredibly fails to hit the target. The troubled relationship with goals continues for Selva’s men, who once again finish goalless – a problem Virtus do not have. On 33 minutes Bizzotto’s side double their lead from a corner, again through Benincasa, who settles a scramble in the six-yard box after Zenoni’s effort had come back off the bar. After the break Cosmos camp in the attacking third, but Mossolini, Amati and Islamaj all lack accuracy with their finishing. The Gialloverdi cannot find the key moment to get themselves back into it, despite the excellent impact of Amati off the bench: on 87 minutes only a low save by Passaniti, decisive on that occasion, denies the substitute a deserved 1-2. Virtus thus claim a third consecutive win, climbing into second place and even going close to a third goal at the death through Niang – thwarted by a superb Semprini save.

Tre Penne make a false start in Acquaviva, but Berardi’s team do not pay the price early on. Errico and Nigretti give away two poor balls on the defensive three-quarters, but Affonso and Guidi fail to make them count. The forward is more incisive around the half-hour mark, only to find an excellent Migani blocking his path. At the other end Tre Penne’s attacking forays are unconvincing, to the point that the only real scare for Vivan comes from a sliced clearance by Birghi. However, the first chance of the second half changes everything: Nigretti bursts down the right and fires a powerful ball to the far post, where Filippo Berardi ghosts in behind everyone to tuck away his third goal of the league campaign. La Fiorita respond immediately and restore parity on 62 minutes: Guidi beats Migani to the ball as the goalkeeper comes out and, from a tight angle, recycles play for the run of Gasperoni, who cleverly picks out Affonso inside the six-yard box – the scorer of the 1-1. La Fiorita finish the stronger of the two sides, but the scoreline does not change: it is Tre Penne’s first draw of the season, leaving them two points behind leaders Tre Fiori, now out in front on their own.

Pennarossa, coached by Ricchiuti, fly out of the blocks as he faces his former club Faetano for the first time as an opponent. The game begins with a miracle save from Venturini on Gregori in the opening seconds, before a clumsy own goal by Tugliani gives the Biancorossi the lead as early as the 7th minute. Ten minutes later, the advantage is doubled: Domini wins the ball high up the pitch and plays it to the near post for Gregori, who with a fine acrobatic finish leaves Venturini no chance. After twenty minutes to forget, Faetano finally wake up: Tordella does well to deal with a dangerous back-pass from Parisi, then Tugliani fires off target. That is not an issue for Devenuto, who is rewarded by a Morgante cross with a header that halves the deficit. Faetano make the right approach after the restart, going very close to an equaliser through Ioli and Romano. If the defender can curse his luck after hitting bar and post with the goalkeeper beaten, Tordella is outstanding in turning away the forward’s diagonal drive. However, the Gialloblù’s repeated efforts do not bring the desired reward, and Pennarossa are able to celebrate their first win of the campaign after three defeats in a row.

There is one chance apiece in the opening quarter of an hour of Folgore-Murata: while Cateni’s attempt mainly causes alarm in the Bianconeri backline, a deflected Gashi free-kick forces De Angelis into heroics, and on the rebound Mannarino clips the angle of post and bar, although he had started from an offside position. So had Daidola midway through the half, when the Folgore striker thought he had found a winning header – only for it to be correctly ruled out by Lerza. Before the interval former Folgore man Raul Ura lets Leardini off the hook by skying a shot over the bar with the goal at his mercy. Lasagni clearly finds the right words in the dressing room, as Folgore score twice in the space of a minute: it is a second consecutive brace for Daidola, who first shows his poacher’s instinct by reacting quickest when De Biagi’s deflection comes back off the post, then doubles up with a piece of individual skill on the counter. Folgore’s win is also built on a fantastic intervention by Toure, who with a tackle as risky as it is perfectly timed denies De Biagi a certain right-footed finish from close range. Before the end Bernardi has the chance to make it 3-0, but fails to convert from point-blank range. With this victory, Folgore stay in touch with the leading pack, overtaking Domagnano to move into fourth place.

This is the full set of results from Matchday 4 of the Campionato Sammarinese: