Men’s A1 – Playoffs – Scudetto Final – Game 2
BPER SAVONA-PRO RECCO 3-12 (0-2, 0-6, 0-1, 3-3) [serie chiusa sullo 0-2]
BPER Savona: Nicosia, Rocchi 1, A. Patchaliev, Figlioli, M. Vavic, Rizzo, Cora, Bruni, Campopiano, M. Guidi 1, Djurdjic, Erdelyi, Da Rold, Bragantini. All. Angelini
Pro Recco: Del Lungo, F. Di Fulvio, Zalanki, Cannella 3 (1 pen.), Younger 2 (1 pen.), Iocchi Gratta 1, N. Presciutti 2, Echenique, F. Condemi 2 (1 pen.), Kakaris 1, Aicardi, Hallock 1, Negri, G. Rossi. All. Sukno
Referees: Schiavo and Calabrò
Note: upper number Savona 2/20, Pro Recco 5/8. Penalties: Pro Recco 3/3. 3 f. released. G. Rossi in the 15th minute, Erdelyi in the 28th minute, Aicardi in the 30th minute. Rizzo was sent off in the 24th minute for protests. In the 26th minute Da Rold replaces Nicosia in goal for Savona
There Pro Recco is pinned on the cap 36th championship of its history, the 3rd consecutive, repeating the success on BPER Savona in a match manifesto of the mentality that her coach, Sandro, was able to impress on her Sukno, brought to Punta Sant’Anna 3 years ago by Maurizio Felugo from an intuition that proves brilliant with every success of the Biancocelesti. “He seems to have come down from a hermitage”, his colleague Alberto had polemically painted Angelini after race 1. In reality Sukno and this Pro Recco seem to have been bred in a Buddhist temple: race 2 from the championship final is played – or rather, begins – in a red and white hell, Savona raises the pace, the physicality and the level of confrontation of the match to the extreme in an attempt to bring chaos to the biancoceleste defense and transform the Zanelli in the eighth man in the water. But Pro Recco remains in its bubble, isolated from the external chaos and completely focused on the objective: victory, the championship. The first 16′ are practically perfect and effectively halve the duration of the match: at half-time the Recchelini are 8-0 up and with the tricolor already in their pocket. Then the speed of the race drops, By Fulvio and teammates allow themselves some forcing in attack, but in front of Del Lungo they stay focused as only champions can. Rarely in its last magnificent years has Pro Recco offered such an impressive performance in terms of mental continuity. Savona’s first goal arrives in the 25th minute and he scores it Rocchi at 16to superiority for BPER, for the 9-1: on the contrary, the red and whites paradoxically seem to suffer from the environment, the burden of having to satisfy their fans’ desire for victory. And when they start hitting Recco’s defense they go haywire, at least offensively. Today’s heavy knockout shows that Savona still has to grow individually, as a team and also on the market to be able to disturb Pro Recco in an entire series, they are certainly on the right track as demonstrated by a brilliant regular season and playoffs . In the meantime, one can only applaud champions of Italy.
Marco Del Lungo, impenetrable for 25 minutes for Savona. Above, Cannella’s celebration (photo Schenone).
The derby atmosphere can be truly felt at Zanelli: stands packed in every row of seats, flags, scathing banners against Sukno, megaphones and even smoke bombs outside the stadium. The mood of Angelini’s team can only be influenced by it: right from the start the match is a siege on Del Lungo’s goal, Savona engages in constant melee and tries to crush the Biancocelesti’s pressing with the work of Bruni, tireless at the 2 meters and often winner in duels with Sukno defenders. There are 5 expulsions for BPER in the first 8′, but the red and whites don’t score any: Pro Recco’s man down is monumental and Del Lungo seems completely indifferent to the hell he and his team have fallen into, he eyes and hands only for the ball. But the serenity of Pro Recco is also reflected forward: after 2’04” By Fulvio – even today sacrificed on the bad side due to the absence of Bottomsinjured – look for a penalty that Calabrò he doesn’t concede, then he comes out of the water with a wound to his eyebrow after the clash with Guidi.
The captain doesn’t bat an eyelid, as does the rest of the team who play with extreme calm in the first 16 minutes, despite spending most of the time in their own half of the pitch due to the many expulsions called in favor of Savona. When he looks in front of NicosiaHowever, the Pro Recco is lethal: the circulation is fluid until the ball reaches the centreboa, the perfect extra man. Hallock assisted by Echenique – not at its best, but who notices? – unlocks the match, then the 2-0 of Cinnamon who takes advantage of an incorrect backpass of do you drive to earn a red card and score alone against Nicosia. In the second quarter Savona continues to fight, produces play, attacks the opponent and earns other serious fouls (there will be 20 by the end of the match), but Pro Recco resists, waits and strikes, in an even more violent manner: 6-0 second part, at 16′ the Biancocelesti lead 8-0 with 5/6 in superiority, two penalties converted and an impressive 0/11 in numerical inferiority.
Younger rejoices after the 7-0 goal (photo Schenone).
Cinnamon he is possessed – he scored the only equal goal of the first 16 minutes, a stone after a lift and shot for the 5-0 – but with an extra man the work of the goalkeepers is to be applauded, in particular Iocchi Scratch, Nicholas Presciutti And Giglio Rossi, who comes off for fouls in the 15th minute. In the third quarter the pace collapses, Savona no longer attacks with the same ardor and Pro Recco does everything to keep things calm. The man less remains perfect (0/15′ to 24′ for Savona), only one goal comes forward, scored by Francesco Condemi on a penalty won by Aicardi, That therefore he still finds a way to leave his mark in attack, after having sacrificed himself for a long time in marking, in the match that leaves him his 10th championship personal, that of the star. The last one with Recco before the new adventure at Quinto. In the last quarter Savona finally breaks its fast with Rocchi (9-1), but Pro Recco responds immediately with Condemi’s slash and Nicholas Presciutti’s splendid dive (11-1), who welcomes From Roldwho came on for Nicosia in the long minutes waiting for the final whistle.
Children And do you drive make the deficit less heavy for BPER (11-3), but the final Bedouin of Kakaris denies the red and whites even the slightest satisfaction of winning the partial of the last quarter. It ends 12-3: Savona applauds for the courage and fury with which they faced Pro Recco. The effort of Angelini’s team is understood by Zanelli, who despite the defeat continues to sing even after the end of the match, welcoming and embracing Bruni, Figlioli and Nicosia, still wet, in the stands. But with this head, Sukno’s team is simply unplayable. Now the Croatian’s goal is to keep Pro Recco in its bubble until the end of the season Champions League Final Four of Malta, starting on 5 June. The opportunity of the treble may have disappeared, but we are certain that we will become European champions for the 4thto time in a row he would be able to make us forget that disappointment.
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