League: Virtus and La Fiorita both win, title race goes to the wire

The BKN301 Campionato Sammarinese title for the 2023-24 season will be decided on the final matchday. On Matchday 29, on a hot April afternoon, Virtus and La Fiorita both win and keep their Scudetto duel alive. Nothing changes at the top: the Neroverdi still lead the Gialloblu by two points, so the next round will be decisive. A title play-off is also still possible – scheduled for Thursday 25 April – should the two contenders finish level on points. In Montecchio, Bizzotto’s side faced an in-form San Giovanni. Before kick-off, there was what could be described as a sliding doors moment for the Neroverdi: Tortori felt a problem in the warm-up, so Lombardi started from the first minute. The former Domagnano man would prove decisive in Virtus’ victory. It was in fact the winger who put his side in front after a quarter of an hour: Benincasa made the most of a brilliant piece of play by Pecci to carry the ball forward and serve Golinucci, who entered the box and then fired across to the far post where Lombardi was waiting to tuck home the opener. But San Giovanni were unfazed and levelled just a minute later: D'Angeli won a great ball on the edge of the box, reached the by-line and cut it back for Augusto Garcia Rufer, who beat Passaniti with his right foot. Despite the heat – there was a cooling break on every pitch to allow the players to rehydrate – the tempo was very high and in the 20th minute Virtus went back in front. Rinaldi launched Pecci, who tried a delicate touch but De Angelis smothered as he came out; from the continuation of the move, Buonocunto put the ball into the middle, San Giovanni failed to clear, and Pecci pounced to fire into the net. Late in the half Lombardi again threatened with a nasty right-footed effort, but De Angelis produced a fine save to prevent a third. The San Giovanni and San Marino goalkeeper stayed decisive early in the second half as well, stretching brilliantly to keep out Benincasa’s header. De Angelis then outdid himself a few minutes later when Lombardi struck superbly from distance, only for the Rossoneri keeper to pull off another outstanding save. Virtus were determined to kill the game off and kept piling forward. In the 54th minute a Golinucci goal was disallowed for offside, but shortly before the hour they had the chance to put the result to bed. Buonocunto released an inspired Lombardi, who burst forward at pace and, once inside the box, went down after contact with Fabbri: penalty. Buonocunto stepped up and made no mistake from the spot to make it 3-1. The exclamation mark was added by Vallocchia five minutes from time: Golinucci led the Neroverdi counter-attack and – with his second assist of the day – squared for his team-mate, who could not miss. News then came through from Acquaviva of La Fiorita’s second goal, keeping the enthralling duel alive. What is certain is that Virtus have their fate in their own hands: if they beat Tre Penne next weekend, the Neroverdi will be champions. As mentioned, La Fiorita did what they had to do: win. With a goal in each half, Manfredini’s side beat Domagnano and can still dream of the title. Little happened in the early stages in Acquaviva. The first threat came from the Montegiardino club when Fatica tried a header from an Amati free-kick, but he failed to hit the target. Domagnano replied through good work from Ferraro, who skipped past Mazzotti but then, at the crucial moment, fired into the side-netting. The game began to pick up in intensity and La Fiorita went close to taking the lead when Zampano met a low cross from Zafferani and shot from the edge of the area, the ball shaving the top of the bar. Right at the end of the half the Gialloblu finally broke the deadlock: Tommaso Guidi brought the ball under control on the edge of the box and, once inside, picked out Vitaioli, who slid in to make it 1-0. In the second half Manfredini’s men went in search of the goal that would settle it. Shortly after the hour mark, a corner routine freed Jacopo Semprini, who did not connect cleanly, but a ricochet favoured Mazzotti; the defender tried with a header, hitting the crossbar, and then Virgilio from two yards out was unable to turn it in. Without the suspended Aziz Niang, La Fiorita also sent on Alex Ambrosini after the break. The former Victor forward won a penalty late on after a coming together with Parma that Maltese referee Darryl Agius deemed illegal. Ambrosini himself took responsibility from the spot, converted for 2-0 and sealed the match. On the final day La Fiorita face Cailungo, but even a win for the Gialloblu may not be enough to clinch the Scudetto. With a 1-0 victory over Cailungo and San Giovanni’s defeat, Juvenes-Dogana are now almost assured of seventh place, which secures direct access to the play-off quarter-finals. After Pasquinelli hit the post early on, it was a perfect free-kick from Francesco Stella on 41 minutes that gave Manuel Amati’s side the lead. On the hour Meluzzi also tried his luck from a free-kick, but Francioni denied him. Cailungo struggled to create danger, apart from the 77th minute when Quaranta managed to score in a scramble, only for the referee to rule it out for handball. Juvenes-Dogana could not wrap it up and Cailungo tried to snatch a late equaliser from Serravalle’s club with a long ball from Liverani towards Jacopo Raschi, who stretched but was millimetres away from making contact. In the end, Stella’s first-half gem was enough to give Juvenes-Dogana all three points. Next up is Juvenes-Dogana versus San Giovanni: Amati’s team need only a draw to secure seventh place. Faetano also won thanks to a superb Alessandro Brisigotti – who bagged a hat-trick – to sink Fiorentino. Even though they are out of the play-off race, Girolomoni’s side produced an excellent first-half display. After a quarter of an hour the match could have opened up immediately with a penalty to the Gialloblu – won by Dulcetti, brought down by Simone Benedettini as he came out – but from the spot Brisigotti fired wide. From the resulting goal-kick after the missed penalty, Brisigotti redeemed himself instantly, collecting the ball and beating Benedettini for 1-0 with a lovely dink. Faetano’s second arrived on the half-hour mark: Palumbo drove forward but was stopped, Cekirri failed to clear properly and Brisigotti took full advantage, this time drilling a precise right-footed strike inside the near post for 2-0. Things went from bad to worse – metaphorically speaking – for Fiorentino, who also lost their goalkeeper Benedettini to injury. Michele Berardi came on in his place and immediately announced himself with a brilliant save, again to deny the rampant Brisigotti. Early in the second half there was a red card apiece: first Gueye for Fiorentino (53'), then Terenzi for Faetano (64') was also sent for an early bath. The perfect day – penalty miss aside – for Brisigotti was completed on 80 minutes when he pounced on another poor clearance from Cekirri and beat Berardi as he came out. Making the defeat slightly less bitter for Fiorentino was Mattia Stefanelli’s late penalty, beating Pelliccioni to reduce the arrears to 3-1. This defeat ends the Rossoblu’s hopes of finishing seventh, but they are nonetheless assured of a place in the preliminary play-off round. Here is the final schedule for Matchday 29 of the BKN301 Campionato Sammarinese:

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