League: La Fiorita fall to Folgore, Fiorentino win the derby in the 90th minute

A Saturday full of surprises opens the eighteenth matchday of the Campionato Sammarinese BKN301. The biggest headline comes from the “Federico Crescentini” in Fiorentino, where La Fiorita are beaten by Folgore thanks to a goal from former player Samuel Pancotti and the decisive saves of Simone Venturini. The Gialloblu, suffering only their second defeat of the league season, thus bring to an end a positive run that had lasted since 28 October 2023. Tomorrow it will be Virtus’ turn to respond – they face an in-form Juvenes-Dogana – and a win would see them overtake Manfredini’s side. In Fiorentino the match is cagey, although towards the end of the first half Ambrosini and new signing Virgilio both go close to breaking the deadlock, but the Folgore defence stands firm. After the restart the Montegiardino club push harder and harder without finding the decisive touch. Folgore wait and strike in the 75th minute with the most classic of goals against a former club: Anzaghi picks out Pancotti in the box, he brings the ball under his spell and in a flash shoots towards goal. Semprini gets a hand to it but not enough, and the ball trickles over the line. After going behind, the Gialloblu throw themselves forward even more, head down, but in the final stages it is Venturini who saves his side twice. First he beats away Vitaioli’s effort and then, with time almost up, produces a brilliant reflex save to deny Rinaldi. In between there is also the dismissal of Amati for a second yellow, leaving his side down to ten men (90+4'). Folgore hold out to the end and can celebrate a win that lifts them to seventh place on 27 points. Despite the defeat, La Fiorita remain top with a one-point lead over the aforementioned Virtus. Late drama too in the Fiorentino derby between Michele Camillini’s Rossoblu and Andrea De Falco’s Tre Fiori. Fiorentino start better and take the lead on 12 minutes: Bottoni persists on the edge of the area and, once he wins the challenge, unleashes a powerful strike into the top corner that leaves Nardi with no chance. The Gialloblu reply towards the end of the half: a misunderstanding on the edge of the area between Simone Benedettini and Davide Simoncini allows Giacomo Micchi to pounce and level the match. It is the new signing’s second goal in four days for Tre Fiori. At the start of the second half Tre Fiori go very close to taking the lead: Bernardi crosses for Dolcini’s header, but Benedettini produces a stunning save to keep the scores level. The San Marino goalkeeper, one of the best on the pitch, is decisive again on 76 minutes: Dolcini goes down in the area after contact with the Rossoblu keeper and the referee points to the spot. Pasquale Rizzo steps up for Tre Fiori but Benedettini guesses right and saves the penalty. Fiorentino hold firm and, on 90 minutes, sense the big scalp: Chiaruzzi robs Mazzotti on the halfway line and launches the counter-attack which ends with Salemme beating Nardi as he comes out and sending his side into raptures. Tre Fiori throw everyone forward but it is not enough. The derby goes to Camillini’s side, who make it five wins in a row. It is a second defeat in three for Tre Fiori, who remain on 36 points behind Cosmos (38) and Tre Penne (39). It is celebration time too for Stefano Ceci’s side, who in Domagnano record a clear 4-0 win over Cailungo with goals from Badalassi and Dormi. The playmaker opens the scoring on 9 minutes with a precise free-kick that gives Morelli no chance. The second arrives midway through the half, again from a set piece: Dormi’s corner is perfectly delivered onto the head of Badalassi, who makes no mistake. Cailungo try to hang on and are unable to muster a reaction. On the half-hour, though, Morelli prevents a potential third with a fine reflex save to deny Badalassi. In the second half, however, the striker completes his brace on 69 minutes: a fine cross from Scarponi finds the Biancazzurri forward, who again heads home for 3-0. It is a fifth goal in four days for Badalassi, the league’s top scorer with 17 goals. Tre Penne’s fourth comes a few minutes later, from a similar move by the City club but with different protagonists: Cecchetti swings in another cross from the left and Dormi’s header makes it 4-0, putting an exclamation mark on the contest. With this win Tre Penne move up to third place – pending Cosmos’ match tomorrow – and to within seven points of the summit. Faetano are also all smiles, claiming their first victory of 2024. Paying the price are Libertas, who fall to a third straight defeat. The Gialloblu, with suspended coach Girolomoni absent from the bench, take the lead shortly after the half-hour: Brisigotti, who scored a superb free-kick in midweek against La Fiorita, produces a perfect chip that catches out goalkeeper Del Prete. Libertas push and begin to leave spaces, and Faetano are ready to strike again: Dulcetti launches a lethal counter-attack, winning the ball on the halfway line, accelerating at pace and, once through on Del Prete, beating him for 2-0. The goal that effectively ends the contest arrives on 76 minutes: Brisigotti looks to capitalise on a poor clearance by Del Prete but the maroon keeper redeems himself with the save; however, from the ensuing rebound it is again Dulcetti who finds the net to make it 3-0. Libertas limit the damage with a consolation goal from Morelli, who takes advantage of Moretti’s assist and beats Manzaroli with a crisp left-footed strike. Murata edge out Domagnano by a single goal, in the only match scheduled at 18:15 on the Acquaviva artificial pitch. Angelini’s side start better and give a debut from the first minute to new signing Cecconi, who has arrived from Tre Fiori. It is the striker himself who has an early attempt on the turn, but his effort flies well off target. Shortly afterwards Gega plays an excellent ball in behind for Gaiani, who starts to find his range, firing just wide of Colonna’s goal. Domagnano try to shake themselves into life and, on 14 minutes, Perazzini fails to hit the target from a great position, also thanks to a vital touch from Cunha as he closes down. Murata are the better side in the first half but the score remains goalless. In the 55th minute, however, the deadlock is broken: Buda loses a bad ball on the edge of the box, Gaiani pounces and shoots at Colonna, who gets a touch but cannot keep it out. After conceding, Domagnano react and begin to appear more regularly around Elia Benedettini’s area. Murata stand firm and could even kill off the game at the end, but Colonna keeps out Cecconi’s effort when he seems certain to score. In stoppage time, Domagnano’s umpteenth assault is not enough, and it is Murata who claim the win, closing the gap on fifth-placed Tre Fiori. Here is the schedule for the 18th round of the Campionato Sammarinese BKN301, all broadcast live and free via streaming on TITANI.TV:

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