It’s from Pro Recco, game 1 of the Scudetto final: at Punta Sant’Anna the Italian champions beat Savona 8-5 in a match dominated from the start. On Saturday, at 8.45pm, Sukno’s boys will have to win at the “Zanelli” to win the Tricolore number 36. The best scorers of the match were Iocchi Gratta and Younger, authors of two goals.
The start of Pro Recco, without the injured Echenique, was devastating: 3-0 after six minutes, with Zalanki, Condemi and Younger puncturing Nicosia in superiority. The guests never worry Del Lungo and the score does not change at the siren.
At the start of the second half the Biancocelesti fly to 4-0 with Iocchi Gratta from position 5 still with the extra man. In the middle of the quarter Kakaris ends his match due to a blow to Guidi and in the following action Savona finds the way to the net after more than twelve minutes of play with Campopiano. Del Lungo surpasses Figlioli, while Nicosia deflects Zalanki’s penalty. The Hungarian left-footed player made amends shortly afterwards by providing a perfect assist for Aicardi who, 35 seconds after the changeover, pushed the score into the net to make it 5-1. There is still time for an offensive action and Patchaliev, turning at the siren, still with the extra man, beats Del Lungo for the 5-2 which matures after sixteen minutes.
We start again, Guidi ends up in the cockpit and Younger scores the 6-2 from position 4 with a shot that bounces off the water and ends up under the crossbar. Cannella sends Pro Recco to +5 then the Biancocelesti lose clarity in the offensive phase but do not concede anything until the penalty which 70 seconds from the siren sees Rizzo pierce Del Lungo (7-3). Result that doesn’t change at the end of the half because Nicosia stops Condemi on a counterattack.
Sukno also loses Cannella to a blow to the head at the start of the fourth half, but Pro Recco continues to grind out the game and Iocchi Gratta surprises Nicosia from a tight angle. The Biancocelesti manage, the two goals by Figlioli, in superiority, arrive too late: at Punta Sant’Anna the first match is the Biancocelesti’s.
“We started the match well, an excellent defense, compact and united for all 32 minutes – the words of mister Sukno – but nothing was done, we are only 1-0 and in two days we go to Savona where a difficult match in a full pool: we are used to it and we will be ready. Between the third and fourth half, seeing that Savona was unable to organize the attack and was putting their hands on each other, I told the boys to be careful because if they go down it’s a matter of time to concede 2-3 goals in a few minutes: we had to play until the end end and so it was.”
“A good performance, with a good defense finally also in the championship where we haven’t kept the score so low for some time – adds Matteo Iocchi Gratta -. Congratulations to Del Lungo who had an excellent performance and to all my teammates who were good at making changes on all of Savona’s entries. We had to win Game 1, now we have two more games to cradle a dream we’ve been working on since September. In Savona it will be a different race and we will have to approach it with the same mentality as today.”
PRO RECCO: M. Del Lungo, F. Di Fulvio, G. Zalanki 1, G. Cannella 1, A. Younger 2, A. Fondelli, N. Presciutti, M. Iocchi Gratta 2, F. Condemi 1, K. Kakaris , M. Aicardi 1, B. Hallock, T. Negri, G. Rossi. All. Sukno
RN SAVONA: G. Nicosia, N. Rocchi, A. Patchaliev 1, P. Figlioli 2, M. Vavic, V. Rizzo 1, T. Cora, L. Bruni, E. Campopiano 1, M. Guidi, B. Durdic , B. Erdelyi, N. Da Rold, M. Bragantini. All. Angelini
Referees: Navarra and Carmignani
Partials: 3-0, 2-2, 2-1, 1-2.
Numerical superiorities: Recco 6/13 + a penalty missed by Zalanki in the second half (save by Nicosia) and Savona 4/10 + a penalty scored by Rizzo in the third half. Kakaris (Pro Recco) sent off with substitution for reaction foul in the second half. Savona coach Angelini was booked for protesting in the third half. Rocchi (Savona) left due to foul limits in the second half and Djurdic (Savona) in the fourth half.
