The Battaglini Stadium in Rovigo issued its second verdict of the weekend yesterday afternoon. Rugby Petrarca beats the hosts of Femi-CZ Rugby Rovigo 24-22 and gets the pass for the Final on 2 June: at the Lanfranchi Stadium in Parma they will face Rugby Viadana 1970 to win the title of Absolute Men’s Italian Champion 2023 /24. Great emotion for the solitary entry of Captain Ferro onto the pitch, celebrated for his 200 matches in the rossoblù shirt with applause from the entire stadium, including the Petrarchian part. First minutes with the guests very aggressive on the breakdown, the Rovigo defense however remains on track and does not give away easy meters to the opponents. In the 9th minute the first break is a black sign: the home forwards recover the ball around mid-field, but do not recover from the play at the foot, favoring an exit between Lyle and Bellini which the same winger transforms into the first heavy marking by pressing on the unsuccessful attempt of liberation at Sarto’s foot. Lyle converts, 0-7. Padova does not take its foot off the accelerator, sensing the difficult moment of the Bersaglieri in the air, who are over-stressed defensively on the opponents’ vertical percussions. In the 17th minute, Padua’s dominance brings further points into the safe: the forwards’ incursion into the 22 in attack, the ball is passed very wide by Lyle on Scagnolari who leaves the defender on the spot and dives into the flag for the second try. Lyle is flawless from the corner, 0-14. For Femi-CZ the slap was a wake-up call, and at the start of the first quarter for the first time the rossoblù moved the ball effectively in Padua territory, coming close to scoring and planting the flag beyond mid-field.
At the half hour mark, the Rovigo character emerges on a series of one-on-one initiatives that break the host’s defensive cage, sending Diederich Ferrario towards the goal, who is very good at stepping on his legs until the winning touch under the posts, resisting four tacklers. Dogliani converts, 7-14. Momentum is everything for the hosts, driven by a Battaglini fired up in the overflowing stands: Rovigo finds more and more confidence on the breakdown, with the Chillon-Dogliani duo dictating the timing for the launch of a fast line led by a possessed Diederich Ferrario : in the 36th minute the Argentine center decides to dissect the defense with a tilting run that takes away the opposition’s support, scoring a spectacular try then converted by Dogliani for 14 to 14 which sends the teams to rest. The flow of the first half does not change, with Femi-CZ grinding out meters, exhausting a defense that already seems to be in apnea: a near try in the first few minutes then becomes the penalty that in the 47th minute sends Dogliani to hit the posts from about thirty meters central. Rovigo’s first advantage and the match remains firmly in the hands of the rossoblù at this stage, 17-14. The Padua bench changes the cards up front by trying to reverse the inertia in the possession phase, but the home defense is lucid and does not register any significant failures, finding the field in attack until the forced foul on the ground by the Paduans in the 47th minute which, however, Dogliani sends away out. In the 56th minute Petrarca returns to play in the 22 in attack with a well-constructed multi-phase, which brings the black shirts five meters from the goal, with an action defused, however, by the good work of the Polesine forwards.
The Bersaglieri bench also gives ample space for substitutions and in the 58th minute Petrarca optimizes the pressure in the Rovigo 22 with a nice combination out wide, for De Masi’s try under the forward which Lyle easily converts, 17-21. Padova is once again 100% involved in the match, which the two teams face in a final quarter with an open face in all phases of the game. Rovigo keeps possession and in the 66th minute they earn a penalty which the team decides to play into touch: the drive is powerful and well managed, pushed by Battaglini’s scream up to the goal scored by Cadorini, while Dogliani makes a mistake from an easy position for the partial score of 22 to 21. In the 73rd minute there was a ping pong phase, with Rovigo unable to escape the pressure and then committing a knock-on in front of their posts: scrum closed with guest face-off, the rossoblù did not hold and Piardi awarded the penalty that 3′ later Lyle delivers softly between the posts for the new counter-overtaking, 22-24. Heart-pounding final minutes: Rovigo attacks ball in hand, exploring the double front, Padova struggles in substitutions but manages to hold the line, then the last minute, with a Petrarchino knock-on which gives the home attack the last good ball . Ball to the forwards, who work a very long multi-phase in the Paduan 22: with bated breath in extra-time the ball comes out of the rossoblù side but a poorly managed pass leaves Petrarca with the last good possession to kick out, releasing all the joy that qualification deserves to the Final on June 2nd.
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