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Back in the Napoli region again for a visit to 17th placed Nocerina, who have languished in the lower reaches of the table all season. In our previous meeting goals from Gallicchio and Manoni helped us to a 2-0 victory on Giuseppe Lenea's debut.
Despite being tempted to drop Giancarlo Ferrara out after he signed a commitment to join Monza, his form is too good to justify it and we still have 4 months of his service before he abandons us. He keeps his place in an unchanged side.
Nocerina start well, with Lenea making a couple of saves from Lazzaro and Bigica to keep the score level. On 37 minutes his huge goal kick is chased rabidly by Vladimiro Caramel; Nocerina centre back Eddy Mengo looks favourite to head it clear, but the sight of the stocky 34 year old bearing down on him seems to unsettle the defender and Caramel gets something on it as the ball is allowed to drop. Ferrara nips in to collect, is challenged by D'Angelo on the edge of the area, but Ferrara bounces onto the loose ball and swerves past the advancing keeper to slot it into the net. 1-0.
Nocerina are unable to mount any convincing attempt at coming back from the goal, and Claudio Gallicchio is guilty of missing two good chances in the second half so the score remains the same.
Final score: Nocerina 0 - 1 Ragusa
04-30-2003, 06:02 PM
Ragusa to riches (the toe-end of the boot) Post #62
nerf,
just sat and read the whole thing- ferrera leaving sucks. Its too bad you couldn't tell ravenna that you would just take the 50,000, with or without the midifielder.
Great work so far.
04-30-2003, 08:28 PM
Ragusa to riches (the toe-end of the boot) Post #63
Thanks for the comment Aadik. Yes it does suck, and yes I wish we could have just taken the money . Anyway, I hope you carry on reading
Sunday 9th February 2003
2nd placed Tivoli are the next team to visit the Aldo Campo Selvaggio. They won their last match 4-2, but in our meeting earlier in the season we are able to hold them to a satisfactory 1-1 draw.
Again with respect to the opponents I chose to keep it tight and place an extra man in midfield, with Gallicchio losing out to Manoni. Danilo Sabellini was excellent against Nocerina and is really grabbing the chance to make the right back position his own, so he continues his run in the side.
In front of 2343 home fans the first half is very open and even with both teams making chances. I make no changes at the break and hope that we are the ones who manage the breakthrough.
Stephen Cooke's running with the ball had been giving the away team problems all day. On 67 minutes he held on to the ball and began a mazy run across midfield, eventually finding himself somehow in the left channel and bursting into the box. At the byline he managed to dig a cross out, and who tiptoed in at the near post to finish? Monza striker Giancarlo Ferrara.
Final score: Ragusa 1 - 0 Tivoli
04-30-2003, 08:30 PM
Ragusa to riches (the toe-end of the boot) Post #64
Another very satisfying performance and another victory lifts us to 8th position, extending our unbeaten run to 8 games and making us the form side in the division. Vladimiro Caramel was impressive again as Tivoli couldn't even get near him, but Pietro Infantino was man of the match. The big centre back made some vital interceptions as he continued his excellent recent form. Not bad for a 36 year old!
There was an incident in training today when a clumsy aerial challenge by Graziano Ursino resulted in Giancarlo Ferrara landing badly on his shoulder. The physio report from Salvatore Rinzillo revealed that the damaged shoulder could keep him out for 3 weeks... Considering Giancarlo has netted all 6 of the team's last 6 goals this is a blow, although on the bright side at least it could give us an early indication of how we might cope without him next season.
Saturday 15th February 2003
Stephen Cooke turns 20 years old today but has told me that he is more than happy to continue on loan here until the end of the season. Despite being substituted a couple of times in recent matches, he has on the whole been excellent and I'm delighted that he wants to stay.
We have been in negotiations with cash-strapped Fidelis Andria this week over two players - 21 year old central defender Stefano Fumagalli and 20 year old former Brescia striker Andrea di Napoli. As the negotiations continue back and forth, it looks like we should be able to agree fees in the region of £10,000 for each.
In other news, Lodigiani have announced for the second time in recent weeks that Giancarlo Morrone's job as manager of the club is safe. The old dreaded vote of confidence...
04-30-2003, 08:33 PM
Ragusa to riches (the toe-end of the boot) Post #65
Frosinone lie in 11th position in the league at the time of our visit, just down the road from Rome. In our previous meeting this season, 2 goals from Claudio Gallicchio guided us to a 3-1 win at the Aldo Campo Selvaggio. Claudio will get the opportunity to repeat that showing because he replaces Ferrara in the only change from the team that beat Tivoli.
With less than 2 minutes of the first half expired, Stephen Cooke made an interception in midfield and looked up to play Gallicchio in behind the defence. Centre back Omar Roma tussled with the striker as they both chased the through ball, and eventually Claudio went sprawling across the grass not far outside the area. The home fans held their breath as the referee trotted across to the protesting defender... and the protestations only got louder when the red card was raised. Adjudged to have pushed Gallicchio unfairly when through on goal, Roma was dismissed for a professional foul.
It only got worse for Frosinone. In our very next attack, Manolo Manoni wriggled his way down the left to the byline and crossed the ball in, and it was Gallicchio who showed the most determination amongst the melee to reach it and barge the ball home from 6 yards. At half-time I make one substitution, Bonaffini getting some playing time in place of the otherwise quiet Manoni.
Marco Cirillo and Gaspare Pellegrino are running the midfield comfortably, and it is Pellegrino who causes problems for Frosinone on 70 minutes. He won another tackle and the home side backed away from him, so he let fly with a shot that was parried around the post by the goalkeeper. Stephen Cooke took the resulting corner from the right, and there was Pellegrino leaping like a salmon at the near post to nod the ball in. A second goal was just reward for him personally and for the team's dominance.
With the game secure I rest Caramel and give Bonarrigo a run out for 15 minutes, and although Luca Galuppi sent an impressive volley scorching into the top corner in the last minute, it was too little too late for Frosinone.
Final score: Frosinone 1 - 2 Ragusa
04-30-2003, 08:35 PM
Ragusa to riches (the toe-end of the boot) Post #66
Gaspare Pellegrino was just awesome yesterday; he gets better and better with every match that we play. He covered every blade of grass on the pitch, passed the ball around really well and also managed to get a goal in to the bargain. Marco Cirillo alongside him is also continuing to grow in the midfield role, despite being a striker by trade. Another player to make a particularly good showing was Danilo Sabellini, carrying on his successful efforts to prove that he should be our starting right back.
With Catanzaro held 0-0 at home by the improving Latina, we climb up another notch to 7th place. I don't want to get carried away because there are still another 11 games to go, but we are now only 3 points below a playoff spot... and we will be playing 6th placed Gela in our very next match. This weekend they were helped to a good 4-1 home win over Acireale by a hat-trick from 36 year old striker Diego Zanin.
He was not the only player to score a hat-trick this weekend, as our scout Enrico informs me that transfer target Andrea di Napoli bagged all three goals in Fidelis Andria's 3-1 win over Foggia. He also pointed out that our other target, Stefano Fumagalli, was outstanding in Fidelis Andria's defence and dominating in the air.
Saturday 22nd February 2003
After we finally agreed a £10,000 valuation with Fidelis Andria for Di Napoli, we visited the player to discuss personal terms. Unfortunately we discover that Andrea is already on the equivalent of £750/week at his current club, and with my maximum offer limited to £575/week at Antoci's insistence, the young striker is understandably not too keen on the deal and dismisses our offer as unacceptable.
04-30-2003, 08:37 PM
Ragusa to riches (the toe-end of the boot) Post #67
Fellow Sicilian club Gela Juve-Terranova lie joint 5th on 38 points, 6th on goal difference, after having been the early league leaders back in October. They also bring with them the division's top scorer in Francesco Erbini - 32 goals in 29 games. Erbini netted Gela's second goal in their late 3-2 victory over us earlier in the season.
Again I can afford to name an unchanged team, and despite being the home side in this local derby we stick with the 4-5-1 formation.
Francesco Erbini went close twice in the first half, including another fantastic fingertip save by Lenea, before we hit them with a classic counterattack on 42 minutes. Stephen Cooke played a classy one-two with Vladimiro Caramel, and the Villa youngster raced in behind the defence to finish in off the far post. 1-0.
Just before half-time Cooke chipped the ball to Manoni on the left, who turned and slid Claudio Gallicchio in on goal. Claudio took a swing and thwacked the ball past the keeper, only to watch it slam back off the crossbar, hit keeper Andrea Panico on the back and go out for a corner. How unlucky can you get?
At half-time Bonaffini came on for the unusually quiet Marco Cirillo. In the 70th minute Erbini finally escaped the attentions of Pietro Infantino and the predictable outcome was his 33rd of the season. With a striker as lethal as him you only need to let him go once, and the only foot Infantino had put wrong had cost us the lead.
As late as the 91st minute I thought we would pull out a last gasp win, but Gallicchio shot straight at the keeper to let a good chance go begging and we had to settle for a draw.
Final score: Ragusa 1 - 1 Gela
04-30-2003, 08:40 PM
Ragusa to riches (the toe-end of the boot) Post #68
1-1 is not a bad result against Gela, and at least the team performance was again excellent. Our movement was good; Gela had real difficulty trying to pick up the midfield runs of Manoni, Caramel and Cooke. With the bad luck off the crossbar and Gallicchio wasting a late chance we did come close to winning and perhaps should have, but at least we have kept our unbeaten run going into double-figures now.
Conversely, I noticed that Puteolana's 1-0 defeat by Frosinone this weekend extends their run to 19 matches without a win! That might explain why they are currently sat at the bottom of the table.
05-01-2003, 02:09 PM
Ragusa to riches (the toe-end of the boot) Post #69
Today we are back on the west coast of Italy again, in a place called Santa Maria Capua Vetere slightly north of Napoli, to face 15th-placed Gladiator. Our two previous meetings, once in the cup and once in the league, finished 3-1 and 2-2 respectively with Claudio Gallicchio netting in both games.
There are two changes to the starting eleven, both forced. Danilo Sabellini followed Giancarlo Ferrara's example by managing to injure a shoulder in training, but went a step further by putting himself out of action for 2 months! Stefano Guastella therefore gets another shot at right back, and Bonaffini starts due to Manoni's suspension from his 4th yellow card.
Barely 60 seconds have passed when we force an early corner down the right. Stephen Cooke steps up and curls one in, Bonaffini darts across the 6 yard box to lose his marker and rise at the near post, and his close range header nestles sweetly in the net. 1-0 already, a great start.
As the half progresses Pellegrino and Gallicchio both see shots flash close past the upright, before Gallicchio goes one better by actually hitting it; Gladiator goalkeeper Di Muro is relieved to watch the striker's shot thump off his right hand post and bounce clear. We go into the half fully deserving of the lead without being able to stretch it.
Although we had spent the last 44 minutes of the first half searching for it, it takes just 2 minutes of the second half to find that elusive second goal. Guastella's chip down the right touchline sees Stephen Cooke sprinting in behind the Gladiator full back, and he whips a perfect cross in at pace that just begs someone to get on the end of it. Vladimiro Caramel pounces in ahead of Gallicchio to do just that, and finds the corner with a volley to make it 2-0.
Gladiator finally fashion a decent chance at our end, but Giuseppe Lenea produced an amazing save to deny Majella what looked like a certain goal. We didn't have long to worry though, as three minutes later Claudio Gallicchio found the goal that I'd been wishing him to get. Put through by Cooke's header, Gallicchio held off a defender and struck at goal... the keeper got a hand to it but Claudio finally got a slice of luck and the ball bounced in off the far post. It was his 10th of the season which will hopefully bring him some more confidence, and it was also Stephen Cooke's third assist of the game.
Final score: Gladiator 0 - 3 Ragusa
05-01-2003, 02:10 PM
Ragusa to riches (the toe-end of the boot) Post #70
"Ragusa chairman Giuseppe Antoci could not hide his delight following his team's 3-0 win over Gladiator: 'It was another beautiful result and a great team performance', said the 57 year old. 'We have made great progress under the new coach and proved that we belong in this division following our promotion last season'. Ragusa's director of football Marcello Pitino was unavailable to comment.
With the season nearing completion, Ragusa sit comfortably in the top half. After being tipped to struggle, fans and players can now start to relax or maybe even push for an extremely unlikely promotion place."
That playoff place is jointly ours, as Fidelis Andria's draw at home to Lodigiani means that we jump above them into 6th place on goal difference, level on points with both Fidelis Andria in 7th and Gela in 5th. I don't agree with the season being near to completion, however. There are still 9 matches to go and a lot can change in that time, but at the moment the table looks like THIS.
Up a couple of levels in Serie A, Chievo have sacked manager Luigi Del Neri. Rock bottom of the top flight, they are already 9 points behind the nearest team and have only managed to accumulate 11 points all season.
. Anyway, I hope you carry on reading 
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