League: Pennarossa back to winning ways by tripping up Virtus

You can’t say there were many goals scored in the early kick-offs of the final round of the first half of the BKN301 Campionato Sammarinese season, but every goal this afternoon carried significant weight. Starting with the only goal in Domagnano, venue for the Borgo Maggiore Castle derby between Libertas and San Giovanni. The Granata – today in all white – made Olcese’s penalty enough. The experienced forward thus opens the match with his seventh goal of the season – his fifth in the last four games. More good news for Zavoli: Libertas rediscover a clean sheet; it hadn’t happened since their league debut against Folgore (0-0) on the opening day. A setback for Virtus, who see an eleven-game unbeaten run come to an end and fail to score. That had only happened twice before this season, when they drew 0-0 with Tre Penne and Cosmos. Today in Acquaviva, however, it is only Passaniti’s net that bulges, with the goalkeeper less than perfect at the end of the first half when Stefanelli pokes in a winner worth three points. Virtus’ efforts come to nothing, despite playing half an hour with a man advantage after Tomassini’s sending off on 61 minutes. They repeatedly run into the Pennarossa back line and an excellent Simone Benedettini. The Chiesanuova club can finally celebrate again, earning a victory they had been missing since Matchday 3 of the league: that was in mid-September. The Neroverdi close out the first half of the season on 28 points, four behind La Fiorita (current leaders) and potentially six behind Cosmos, who would be crowned winter champions if they beat Tre Fiori tomorrow. Tre Penne will be looking to take advantage of the head-to-head at the top when they face Faetano. Domagnano-Murata, meanwhile, risks being a last chance, or close to it, for the Bianconeri, who have only recently been handed to Angelini. This afternoon, indeed, Cailungo moved off second from bottom by beating Juvenes-Dogana 2-0. It is a goal from former player Filippo Quaranta that breaks the deadlock on 15 minutes: the San Marino defender, bursting forward from deep, turns Liverani’s cross into gold to beat Gentilini at his near post. Amati’s goalkeeper can do nothing midway through the half when Giangrandi unleashes a thunderous left-foot strike that crashes off the underside of the bar before hitting the net from bottom to top. In the second half, Merli and his team-mates press but cannot get back into the game – also due to a great goalkeeping performance from Cailungo’s Elia Benedettini. It is a third consecutive defeat for Juvenes-Dogana, who slip to third from bottom; for Protti’s side it is a fourth positive result in their last five matches, a run in which the Rossoverdi have collected 8 of the 14 points they have so far amassed. The table also moves for Fiorentino who, despite remaining second from bottom, pick up a precious point against Folgore which allows Malandri’s side to close in on Juvenes-Dogana and Domagnano (both just one point away). Santoni’s opener, picked out at the far post by a powerful low drive from Sartori, is cancelled out by Torsani – in very similar fashion. The forward scores his fourth league goal, making the most of Dolcini’s perfectly timed vertical ball to D’Addario, who delivers a precise assist into the middle of the area. An offside flagged against Golinucci, in the fourth and final minute of stoppage time, chokes off the celebrations for the Falciano club, who are unable to build any momentum in terms of results. As today, all of tomorrow’s fixtures will also be available to watch free of charge via live streaming on the on-line platform Titani.tv. Here is the partial picture following the early kick-offs of the 15th round of the BKN301 Campionato Sammarinese:

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