Lamezia Terme – The anticipation is mounting at Vigor Lamezia, tomorrow they will be playing at the “Guido D’Ippolito” in the most important match of their season so far: the regional play-off final against Cittanova, the first step towards that dream called Serie D. Because the green and whites’ chances will pass, first of all, through the match against Reggio Calabria, who in the semi-final managed, despite controversy, to conquer Soriano’s “Primerano” 3-1.
Indicated by most as the main antagonist of Sambiase at the starting line of the last Eccellenza championship, the team led by Graziano Nocera did not exactly live up to expectations, above all due to the draw (seven x signs, of which six consecutive) that he immediately slowed down his progress in the first round. With direct access gone, however, the dream of promotion remains as alive as ever, also on the back of a success that few would have bet on, considering the excellent season of the Vibo team.
However, this is not the case for the Vigor Lamezia coach, Danilo Fanello, who was not at all surprised by the Giallorossi’s exploits on such a difficult pitch: “We are talking about a team that, like Sambiase, has never hidden its ranking ambitions – declares the coach at Il Lametino – and you can only go so far if you are aware of being a strong and expert team. It is therefore legitimate to expect a similar result in a one-off match, where anything can happen, against a certainly younger team, the real surprise of this championship of Excellence. In the end, Cittanova’s strength and experience prevailed and that’s something to take into account in matches like this.”
Two characteristics, strength and experience, which are certainly not lacking in his Vigor, whose two weeks of rest served to recover the psychological and physical energy that was a bit lost in the last month, also affected by numerous injuries. But it is a predictable physiological decline, especially after a successful return round like that of the green and whites: “In the last month we have had a few too many problems – continues Fanello – especially at the back, where we were forced to replace the three central defenders at the same time owners, which is not at all simple. An emergency coincided with a slight physiological decline that was absolutely normal after a journey like ours, in which he pushed the accelerator to the max. In this sense, I believe that these two weeks have been useful. The team worked well, spared no energy and I am sure that, thanks also to our experience, we will face this final in the right way.” Having recharged our batteries, however, there are still some doubts in defence, where the emergency may not have been completely resolved: “There’s no point in hiding, we still have some problems behind us, but we will try at the last minute to recover as many elements as possible, because we know we’re facing a strong team , made up of several footballers who last year won the Eccellenza championship in Gioia, therefore accustomed to playing at certain levels. The hope is to have all the staff available and arrive at this important event – concludes the coach from Lamezia – in the best conditions”.
The match will be refereed by Mr. Vito Mattia Losapio from Molfetta, assisted by assistants Matteo Domenico Varacalli from Locri and Francesco Paolo Graziano from Paola. Kick-off at 3.30pm. In the event of a tie at the end of ninety minutes, extra time will apply. In the event of further balance, the best ranked team in the championship, i.e. Vigor Lamezia, will advance.
Francesco Sacco
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