Dr Ferroviaria Spezia overcomes the tough Moncalieri at the end of a particularly tough and balanced match which was resolved in favor of the eagles only in the final minutes thanks to two difficult
free kicks scored by Marco Sturlese. Dr Ferroviaria starts off very strong and in the first ten minutes of the game appears uncontainable, scoring two tries unfortunately not converted with Cesare Fabbri and Tabi Adil (10 to 0). Moncalieri felt the pinch but slowly found the strength to react, putting the La Spezia defense to the test. It’s twenty minutes of Piedmontese assault but the eaglets don’t give up. Before the end of the half, Dr Ferroviaria lost prop Umberto Conte and third line Mattia Axianas due to injury, thus two important points of reference were missing which, especially in the throw-in, contributed to causing some automatic mechanisms to fail. The eagles thus lose some effectiveness in touch but maintain a clear superiority in an orderly scrum, guaranteeing a constant supply of balls to the back line.
In the second half Moncalieri scores its first try (converted) reducing the gap (10-7). The temporary expulsions of Matteo Tendola and Germano Battezzati forced the eagles to defend themselves often with some difficulty. A free kick from Gabrielli puts Dr Ferroviaria ahead (13-7) but the guests respond immediately by scoring the second try to take the lead (13-14). The home team’s reaction was not long in coming but the attempts were shattered by the visiting defense who defended their lead with gritted teeth. The eagles get two free kicks which the expert player/coach Marco Sturlese decides to transform into points despite the fact that the specialist from the pitch Luca Gabrielli had to come off due to injury. Marco Sturlese himself takes on the responsibility of kicking. There are moments of tension before the first attempt which succeeds perfectly.
Dr Ferroviaria takes the lead again (16-14), same result a few minutes later with the second kick which allows the team to extend their lead again (19-14). The race ends without further shocks with the deserved victory of Dr Ferroviaria. Honor to the Piedmontese who played an excellent match. Among the eagles, worth mentioning is the excellent performance of Nicolò Buttini in the third row and of the very young Federico Moggia in midfield. At the end of the match the team celebrated Tabi Adil who played his last match with the Spezia shirt. A great match complete with a personal goal, there couldn’t have been a better way to end his career due to the age limit for the forty-two year old eagle athlete who leaves the baton to his son Nadir, who plays in the under 8s, to continue the family rugby tradition. Tabi started playing rugby at a very young age in Parma. Having moved to La Spezia in 2006 for work reasons, he began playing with the Club, almost continuously, playing 163 matches, scoring 55 tries for a total of 275 points scored which places him in first place in the Club’s metaman rankings.
Lineup: Manuel Mazzanti, Alessandro Fascio, Francesco Hall, Luca Gabrielli, Gianluca Sacchelli, Valentino Wu, Federico Moggia, Mattia Axianas, Niccolò Buttini, Adil Tabi, Matteo Tendola, Cesare Fabbri, Umberto A. Conte, Germano Battezzati, Kevin Mazzanti, Matteo Danè, Riccardo Pellicoro, Alessandro Melani, Lorenzo Fascio, Luca Moroni, Brian Brozzo, Marco Sturlese. Coach Marco Sturlese.
Other matchday results: Volvera-Collegno 28-14, Le Tre Rose-Prov. West 7-81, Val Tanaro-Union Riviera 31-30.
Ranking: CUS Piemonte Orientale 36, Province Ovest 36, Volvera 32, Amatori Novara 30, Collegno 24, Union Riviera 23, RC Spezia 19, Lions Tortona 19, Val Tanaro 14, Moncalieri 1950 12, Le Tre Rose -8. For the youth teams, an excellent performance by the Under 14 team led by Hall, Checchi and Batolla who conquered Carlini of Genoa for the first time, winning the match against Cus Genova by 19 to 17. U14 line-up: F. De Santis, R. Di Nolfo, F. Birga, LM Faalalo, V. Tornaboni, E. Checchi, R. Cornini, E. Foce, N. Venturini, S. Marchioli, N. Cinquini, C. Fabbri, S. Tranchita, G. Remedi. The weekend of the 18th and 19th will see the Under 10s involved in the 44th Città di Treviso mini rugby tournament.
