The first round of the Serie C playoffs, in group B sees Gubbio host the red and white team of Rimini. The Umbrians finished fifth in the final standings, while the Romagnoli finished in tenth position, so in addition to the advantage of playing within friendly walls, the Euguese team would also have two results out of three at their disposal: in the event of a draw in the ninetieth position, they would not there wouldn’t even be a need for extra time or penalties but the best ranked player in the regular season would directly advance. The other matches in the first round of the same group see Pescara against Pontedera and Arezzo engaged in Alessandria against Juve Next Gen, with the amaranth ultras announcing their absence in a statement in protest against the B teams.
The match in Gubbio, as on the other fields, is played on a weekday and in the evening due to Taranto’s appeal, which was then rejected against the four-point penalty, due to administrative problems, which caused all the matches to be postponed and rescheduled. .
The evening is not the best, a spring shower shortly before the kick-off has put off a larger participation among the hosts and if the covered sector of the distinguished is quite full, the curve represented by the banner ULTRAS ONE NINE ONE ZERO records more than a few defections.
On the other hand, the Rimini presence is substantial, standing at around 350 units, a good number especially considering that the red and whites return here about ten days after the last championship match, which they lost 4-0. Despite this there is trust among the guests, the playoffs reset everything and this is demonstrated by the numbers and enthusiasm of those who followed the team in this match, among other things, also marked by an old rivalry, born over twenty Years ago. In the 2002/03 season the two teams, in fact, already met in a playoff, in an even more heartfelt final of the then C2 series championship, when it was Rimini who prevailed in the double match and landed in the C1 series, after countless attempts in previous years always failed.
Evidently this antipathy persists, given that the local sector does not wait long for the chants against the neighbors, also fueled by the friendship that binds the people of Gubbio to Forlì (rivals of the Rimini people instead), to whom several support chants are dedicated.
Both on one side and the other, torches and smoke bombs are lit several times, always keeping the confrontation alive in the stands. Hands, chants of teasing and in the second half a scarf in the away team make the comparison between the two sides very pleasant. Then it happens that five minutes from the final whistle, right under the sector that hosts the Rimini team, a newly-entered red and white player brings perhaps unexpected joy by scoring the lead which silences the locals while, on the contrary, he starts the party which continues until after the final whistle. There will be another Umbro-Romagnolo match in the next round, this time with Perugia waiting for Rimini. Another match in which everything counts and in which anything can happen, so continuing to dream is more than legitimate.
Gilberto Poggi
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