April 2006
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April is going to be a very busy month. We have seven league games left as well as the semi-final of the Serie C Cup. We could really do with everyone staying fit with so many games ahead. Our first game of the month came in the league, away to
Foggia.
Sosa was missing through injury and
Montervino was suspended.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Serie C1/B from Pino Zaccheria (Att; 8,777)-------------------------------------------Foggia 0 :Napoli 5 : Gatti (30), Silas (39), Matteini (43, 49), Fonseca (80)MOM - Scarlato (Napoli, DEF) </pre>
A superb win meaning we have now scored fifteen goals in our last three games without conceding.
Matteini was on fire and was unlucky not to get a hattrick.
Catanzaro have been very steady lately and won again, keeping the one point gap at the top. Our next game would be vital, we faced
Catanzaro at home.
Rimini were eight points behind us in 3rd meaning it was basically a two horse race. The winner of our game would be clear favourites for the title. They had beaten us
3-0 earlier in the season so we had to make home advantage count. The players were full of confidence after the recent wins.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Serie C1/B from San Paolo (Att; 26,369)---------------------------------------Napoli 1 : Matteini (36)Catanzaro 3 : Cammarata (20, 26), Biancone (64)MOM - Di Girolomo (Catanzaro, DEF) </pre>
A fair result and possibly the result that sees us heading for the play-offs again. The confidence we had going into the game soon disappeared with two goals from
Cammarata, that took his total against us to five after scoring a hattrick earlier in the season. We were outplayed and outfought which was the most disappointing aspect, even when
Matteini scored we didn't seem to believe we could win.
We had a break from the league with our Serie C Cup semi-final against
Novara, the 1st leg is at home and it is important to give the fans something to cheer about after the league defeat.
Novara are currently 3rd in Serie C1/A with only two points separating the top seven teams. I made a couple of changes for this game with
Maradona and
Weah coming in from the U-20 squad. We played well and managed a morale boosting
4-0 win, goals from
Weah,
Corrent,
Rapaic and
Festa with his first for the club securing the win.
That result gave us a great chance of reaching the final, it would be great for the clubs finances which were starting to look a bit shaky. The wage bill is higher than the chairman would like and maintenance of the ground is costing a small fortune every month. We have the third biggest stadium in Italy but we are only filling a third of it when we play at home. On a positive note, our Under-20 side retained their league title with a number of games still left to play.
Our next league game really was make or break,
Catanzaro had extended their lead to seven points having played before us. We travelled to 6th place
Taranto, they are having a good season and have a solid defence.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Serie C1/B from Erasmo Jacovone (Att; 11,317)---------------------------------------------Taranto 0 :Napoli 2 : Matteini (22), Silas (pen 63)MOM - Silas (Napoli, MID) </pre>
We secured our play-off place with this win but I wanted the title, this win kept us in the hunt.
Matteini is finding his form at the right time and
Silas now has 14 league goals which is an exceptional return from midfield.
So, four games to go and they aren't getting any easier. Next up was our bogey team
Benevento, they had moved above
Rimini and were now six points behind us in 3rd. We haven't beaten them in five previous meetings but the team seemed confident enough.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Serie C1/B from San Paolo (Att; 26,673)---------------------------------------Napoli 2 : Guardiola (65), Silas (86)Benevento 0 :MOM - Recep (Napoli, GK) </pre>
A superb result for us, even more so because
Catanzaro had lost to bottom of the table
Fermana. The gap was down to just one point. We were solid without being spectacular and managed to get the goals at the right time.
The Cup came as a welcome distraction from the league, especially with a
4-0 lead to take into the 2nd leg. I rested a number of first team players for the trip to
Novara. My plan was to keep the game tight and defend the lead, it was good to give some of the youngsters a full game. The actual game was very poor and ended in a
1-0 defeat, that gave us a
4-1 aggregate victory and a place in the final. We would meet
Pescara in the final, another two-legged affair but played at a neutral venue.
The last action of what seemed a very long month came in the league. Every game was important from now on and with only three left we had to hope for another slip from
Catanzaro. This was to be our last away game in the league with the final two at home. We made the trip to
Cittadella while
Catanzaro played host to 3rd placed
Rimini, it could be an interesting afternoon.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Serie C1/B from Tombolato (Att; 3,689)--------------------------------------Cittadella 0 :Napoli 2 : Contini (50), Sosa (82)MOM - Contini (Napoli, DEF) </pre>
A very even game but we managed to get the all important goals.
Contini broke the deadlock early in the 2nd half when he headed home from a corner.
Sosa came off the bench to get our second. There was a huge cheer in the dressing room when the
Catanzaro result came through, they had lost
2-1.
We now sat proudly at the top of the league with just two games left, it was in our hands and both games were at home.
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