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Many thanks Mark, very glad that you're enjoying it. Apologies for depriving you of some sleep
Sunday 17th April 2005
Varese arrive in town as Serie C2/C leaders and therefore, with five matches remaining, as the team looking most likely to get between us and the title. They had a comparitively quiet first half to the season, remaining on the fringes of the leading teams, until they popped up to second and then first during the month of January. Since then, aside from a blip in late February, Varese have emerged as a strong contender with some confident and consistent performances.
Our homework on Varese has revealed a mixture of good and bad news. The good news is that Dawid Duchnowski, an excellent Polish defender on loan from Atalanta who has played a big part in their impressive season, is suspended for this match. Less encouraging is that Srdjan Novkovic is expected to return to the side, a talented Yugoslavia midfielder who has enjoyed being a thorn in our side during the recent meetings between the two clubs. We will also need to keep a close eye on 29 year old forward Fabio Lorieri, a target man with 18 goals to his name this season. Finally, Varese have won 5 and drawn 1 of their last 6 league matches.
It is an easy decision for me to name the same team that has won the last two games, scoring 10 goals in the process. If anyone is feeling any fatigue from taking part in a rare midweek fixture then they are doing their best to hide it. Nobody wants to miss out on this one, it could even prove to be somewhat of a title decider between the two teams that are now most favoured to win it.
The tension is palpable in the full Aldo Campo Selvaggio as the referee blows his whistle and the game gets underway. The opening period sees the teams evenly matched, with Fabio Lorieri testing his luck from long range a couple of times without success. In the 38th minute, Argentinian midfielder Franco Chiavarini burst down the right and clipped a cross into the box. Eddy Baggio helped it on, Daniel Fonseca closed in... but was denied by a stunning save along the line from Varese goalkeeper Michele Tardioli.
At half-time the Fonseca chance had been our only real effort on goal, but we had at least come closer to scoring than Varese had managed. The second half began in much the same vein, with neither team able to get on top. In the 76th minute that partnership combined again, Eddy Baggio rising to flick the ball onto Fonseca, and when Fonseca sent the ball back across, Baggio was able to control, dribble around the keeper and score! We went crazy in the dugout, delighted to take the lead in such a crucial game, only for the sight of a fluttering flag to crush our dreams at the last moment. Eddy Baggio led the inquest, and unhappy reports filtered across to the sideline that Fonseca was thought to have been offside from the original flick on.
The game threatened to spring to life in the 84th minute. We looked on in horror as Brognoli played Lorieri in on goal, only for Nicolas Cinalli to come up big and save bravely at the striker's feet. We immediately went on the attack at the other end, Gaspare Pellegrino linking with Eddy Baggio, but Baggio uncharacteristically dragged his shot wide across the goal.
Final score: Ragusa 0 - 0 Varese
06-21-2003, 03:00 PM
Ragusa to riches (the toe-end of the boot) Post #222
What had previously seemed to be an important event in the race for the divisional title, turned out to be the biggest anti-climax possible. Varese kept it tight and did a good job of suppressing any progress we tried to make down the flanks, and, bizarrely, gave us our first draw of the entire season. I suspect Varese will be very pleased with a point, but I'm not too unhappy with a draw - it would have been a complete disaster to lose and go 5 points adrift. By the same token we also missed an opportunity to regain the lead, and we had edged a close game in terms of chances. Stuart Attewell collected the man-of-the-match award for a really solid performance, one of the reasons why Varese had so few attempts of their own.
With just 4 league fixtures remaining in the season, the Serie C2/C table looks like THIS.
Following the anti-climax of yesterday's result, it's a case of as-you-were at the top with Varese's 2 point advantage. Catanzaro, Paterno and Frosinone are mathematically still in with a chance of the title, but really you have to think that this is a two horse race now between us and Varese. The remaining fixtures for the main two title contenders are as follows:
It's very difficult to say who has the easier run in with regards to opponents, but we do have three away fixtures to Varese's two. I also have to say that I don't fancy having to go to Acireale on the final day!
Tuesday 19th April 2005
A tricky run-in just got harder. In training this afternoon, centrocampista Gaspare Pellegrino gave me a sinking feeling when he limped gingerly out a 5-a-side session. Salvatore's report proved that I was right to be worried, as Gaspare was diagnosed with a groin strain that will need 3 weeks to heal. He should make it back in time for the final match, but we will be without him for most of the sprint and who knows if by then it will be too late?
06-21-2003, 10:50 PM
Ragusa to riches (the toe-end of the boot) Post #223
And so the final flourish begins... and begins with arguably our toughest test of the four. We travel the relatively short distance across to the Golfo di Squillace on the south coast of mainland Italy, where Catanzaro stand in third position and can already claim a win over Varese this season. In our previous meeting back in December, goals from Fonseca and Pellegrino gave us a 2-0 home victory.
We decide to show Catanzaro a touch more respect on their home turf than we did with Imolese, so I encourage the full backs and wide midfielders to not play as attacking as they usually would. Marco Cirillo will join fellow 'striker' Claudio Gallicchio to fill in at centre midfield for the injured Pellegrino.
6500 fans are crammed into the Nicola Ceravolo stadium in Catanzaro, to cheer on their team towards their aim of securing a playoff spot. The first half gives them little to shout about though, as the two teams settle into a fairly quiet game. This is shattered in the 33rd minute. Stuart Attewell gained the upper hand in the battle of youth as he hit 17 year old striker Stefano Corona with a strong tackle, and, after Tamburro and Cirillo had exchanged passes, Tamburro sent a searching ball swirling across the Catanzaro defence towards Eddy Baggio cutting in from the right. The striker collected the pass, chipped a cross into the box, and Daniel Fonseca's run was timed to perfection to arrive and sweep the ball into the net. 1-0.
At half-time Alessandro Bonaffini replaced an ineffectual Vladimiro Caramel on the left. The second half progressed with utmost similarity to the first, to the extent that Daniel Fonseca repeated his trick in the 78th minute. Eddy Baggio laid the ball wide to Chiavarini on the halfway line and went for the return, and although the ball back was sloppy, Baggio had the determination to win his tussle with both Raoul Zanutto and Mario Ausoni. In a two-on-one situation against Giuseppe Morrone, Baggio chipped the young defender and the rest was pure Fonseca. Meeting the ball in the D on the edge of the area, the Uruguayan maestro made the first-time left foot volley look like the easiest thing in the world. The top corner of Gentili's net bulged, and we had the comfort of a two goal lead.
Catanzaro were unable to come back in the last 10 minutes, managing a few hopeful long range efforts around decent chances for Corona and Baggio that were saved by the respective goalkeepers.
Final score: Catanzaro 0 - 2 Ragusa
Two more goals for Fronseca and an efficient victory confirms our guaranteed place in the playoffs, but an 80th minute penalty by Duchnowski sealed a 1-0 win for Varese over Igea Virtus, maintaining the 2 point lead with 3 matches remaining. We are also now 9 points ahead of third placed Paterno, so what looked like a two team race is now mathematically so (thanks to our insurmountable advantage in the goal difference column).
Elsewhere, Monza were confirmed as the early champions of Serie C2/A and secured their promotion to Serie C1 for next season. In the report of their 3-1 win over Pavia today, I was interested to read that the increasingly frustrated Giancarlo Ferrara was sent off in the first half.
06-23-2003, 08:53 AM
Ragusa to riches (the toe-end of the boot) Post #224
Defender Pietro Alderuccio joins Gaspare Pellegrino on the treatment table with a groin strain of his own, so they will share the next two weeks on the sideline and should both return for the last day of the season.
I managed to get away from injuries and promotion chasing for a couple of hours tonight, by settling down in front of the television with snacks and a nastro azzuro for one of the biggest matches of the season. It is the Champions League Quarter Final 2nd Leg, and a sea of over 85,000 people is overflowing in the San Siro for the Milan derby. Inter had a 3-1 lead from the first leg, but in a stunning second leg the red half of Milan explode with an emphatic 6-1 destruction of their rivals, Ukranian forward Andriy Shevchenko netting a hat-trick in the process. Inter can point to the missed presences of Vieri, Recoba and Crespo who were all unavailable, and gain slight consolation from the fact that they still have a 1 point edge over their opponents as the same two teams fight it out at the top of Serie A.
At Old Trafford, a brace from Ruud van Nistelrooy gives Manchester United a 2-1 win and helps them sneak through their tie by the narrowest of margins, eliminating fellow 1999 finallists Bayern Munich 4-4 on aggregate thanks to the away goals rule. Spanish sides Barcelona and Deportivo also progress to the semis, at the expense of PSV and Leverkusen respectively.
06-23-2003, 08:55 AM
Ragusa to riches (the toe-end of the boot) Post #225
Igea Virtus are down in 13th place and not having the best of times, losing 6 of their last 7 matches. While we attempt to make that 7 in 8, Varese are over on the east coast of Sicily to see how they fare at Acireale.
The first half is not exactly all one way traffic, but we do manage to end the period with our noses in front. In the 36th minute it was Vladimiro Caramel's incisive low crossfield pass that found Eddy Baggio wide open on the edge of the area, and Eddy drew the keeper before firing into the net with the confidence of someone who had already done that 33 times this season.
We started to gain more control over the match as the second half progressed, and on the hour Daniel Fonseca made it 2-0. Marco Cirillo played a pass to Gallicchio, Gallicchio sent Baggio through, and his square ball allowed Fonseca to sweep home our second goal. This seemed to kill the unhappy visitors off and it was plain sailing from then on. I brought Giuseppe Lenea on in place of Cinalli, just to get him some playing time again.
In the 84th minute Eddy Baggio made it 35 for the season from Fonseca's curling cross, finishing clinically off the inside of the far post to complete what had turned out to be a comfortable victory.
Final score: Ragusa 3 - 0 Igea Virtus
We had done our job and the reward was two-fold, as news arrived minutes after the final whistle that Acireale had held Varese to a 2-2 draw! I announced the good news in the changing room, much to the delight of the players, that we had gone back to the top of the table on the basis of goal difference.
With just two matches left, this could be the breakthrough we were hoping for! The events of the day have left the Serie C2/C table looking like THIS.
Over in England, Manchester United were confirmed as Premiership champions today. They completed the job with a 3-0 win over previous holders Newcastle, who lag behind in 6th place.
06-24-2003, 10:23 AM
Ragusa to riches (the toe-end of the boot) Post #226
Nice to hear from you again Juventinogdt, I hope you had a nice vacation
Sunday 8th May 2005
The journey across to Tricase is a nervous one, every member of the squad well aware that this really is crunch time. The title is going to go down to the last day anyway, but today's results will have a massive impact on the way the final matches take shape. We cannot afford to slip up now and let Varese take a commanding step into the driving seat. There is also the added bonus that if we win and Varese do the unlikely by failing to get any points against Frosinone at home, then our lead in the goals column could make us all-but champions today.
Our hosts are rock bottom of the division, and it is as good as impossible for them to avoid finishing the season there. Tricase need to win both of their last two matches and claw back a large gap in goal difference if they want to save themselves, so it's a fair bet that they know they might as well be relegated already. That said, they might want to finish up with some pride in front of their home fans and no away game is ever easy.
Alderuccio and Pellegrino are still not fully recovered, Lupo returns to the bench after his injury, and the starting eleven is unchanged from the one that cruised past Igea Virtus last week.
I'm on edge as I walk to my position in the dugout, praying that we can get off to a good start and settle down quickly. Someone up there was obviously listening, as in the 11th minute two Tricase defenders got in a comical mixup and Eddy Baggio pounced to capitalise, lobbing the keeper for 1-0. The early goal does our tense team the world of good, and when Franco Chiavarini latched onto Sabellini's throw-in down the right wing in the 25th minute, his cross was met by the diving form of Daniel Fonseca for the second.
The half threatened to end on a less pleasing note however. Tricase have a young English striker by the name of Alex Knowles, a Sheffield Wednesday youth product, and when he collected the ball outside our area, Cinalli could only spectate as a cleanly struck shot flew over him into the net. It would be 2-1 at half-time then, an entirely different prospect, and no doubt the home side would be encouraged by pulling one back. I was already running through in my head what I was going to say during the break, when we immediately sprang on the attack from the restart. Simone Tamburro got down the left, volleyed a hard cross into the area, and Eddy Baggio went one better with a crunching volley that almost ripped the net. That's a relief.
Alessandro Bonaffini replaced Caramel at half-time to add some fresh legs, and also save Vladi for our trip to his former club next week. We killed the game off early in the second half with a goal that pretty much summed up our season in a nutshell, Eddy Baggio playing a simple cross into Fonseca's path for his partner to finish. The remaining 35 minutes was a stroll in the park, Tricase already knew they were relegated and the home fans were in sombre mood. For the last 10 minutes I rested Daniel Fonseca and the tiring Dario Italia to give Lupo and Guastella a quick run out, and although Tricase lifted themselves briefly to attempt a final flourish, they never really threatened Cinalli and we got the three points that we needed.
The final whistle confirmed Tricase's fate as a Serie D team next season, but we couldn't care less. Time to nervously await the result from Varese.
Final score: Tricase 1 - 4 Ragusa
The result filters through before we board the coach home... Varese 1... Frosinone 0. A single Stefano Brognoli goal on 62 minutes had been enough for Varese to collect three points of their own, and as predicted we face a week on tenterhooks before the final Sunday arrives. Claudio Gallicchio is the unfortunate one, because the yellow card he picked up today means that he will be suspended for the trip to Acireale.
So the title race will indeed go down to the last fixture. The table is set up like THIS.
06-24-2003, 10:25 AM
Ragusa to riches (the toe-end of the boot) Post #227
It might be unlucky for some, but Friday the 13th brings good news as both Pietro Alderuccio and Gaspare Pellegrino came through a full day's scrutiny yesterday and were passed as fully fit this morning by Salvatore.
Understandably the training ground has hung heavy with tension all this week, but the players have actually spent more time here in the past 4 days than in any previous week. Rather than shy away and try to escape the frayed nerves, the vast majority of the squad have preferred to stay most of the day and do various low intensity exercises or just hang around. Stuart, Gaspare and Franco have often been seen relaxing with some casual head-tennis in the shade of our unkempt old tennis court, and Claudio, Danilo, Nicolas and Alessandro have spent most of their free time mixing with various other members of the squad in the lounge area.
The mood is good though the nerves are there, but you'd think it odd if they weren't. There is also an undercurrent of determination, a quiet buzz of excitement, and team spirit is genuinely sky high. On Sunday they could be trophy winners, and next season they could be playing in Serie C1. The possibility that that might not transpire, well, best not to think about it too much.
"...chi sa... si, spero cosi... il cuore, si, si... grazie... ciao, vedali presto. Ciao, ciao." Clutching a package, I pass Simone Tamburro talking on his cellphone in the car park as I return to the training ground ahead of the afternoon session. My package is dropped off in the 'video room' - a spare room with an old television and a few rickety chairs - ready for tomorrow morning, when we would be going over those tapes of our previous meeting with Acireale in January. Shortly afterwards my own phone rings; it is Corrado Vaccarro, now assistant manager at Altemura, sending his well wishes for the coming weekend. By the time the call ends, Antonio is already outside preparing the equipment for the week's penultimate training session.
06-24-2003, 02:39 PM
Ragusa to riches (the toe-end of the boot) Post #228
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