Play-off time for USR Benevento. Sunday 19th May will have to face Formigine on the neutral ground of the city of the popes at 4pm, last place in group 2 with 14 points resulting from 2 victories and 20 defeats.
Benevento ended its group with 26 points (5 wins and 17 defeats). The winner will remain in Serie B, the loser will still have one last chance to recover in the final match of 2 June against the loser of the play-off between Recco (group 1) and San Marco Venezia (group 3).
The hope is that Benevento can achieve salvation in this first match, avoiding the anxieties and fears of a further play-off.
Make a prediction about the race Sunday it is difficult both because the teams have played in different groups and there are no precedents, and because the psychological approach and coldness of character with which the teams will face a particular match will count a lot.
The match in Viterbo brings to mind two other occasions in which the Samnites were involved in survival play-offs in the roaring ’80s. In the 81-82 season, the Serie A championship (the one that awarded the scudetto) Benevento achieved salvation by beating Brescia 11 to 4 in the play-off. In the 85-86 season, still the Serie A championship, at the end of the season there were three teams with equal points forced to play a mini Italian tournament with only one place saved. These were the results
Game 1 Benevento – Lyons Piacenza 12 to 9 – Game 2 Benevento -Calvisano 3 to 3 – Game 3 Calvisano – Lyons Piacenza 14 to 6. Only the points difference decreed Benevento’s bitter relegation from the top national league.
