nerf Posted June 8, 2003 Author Share Posted June 8, 2003 Juventinogdt: Yes, Eddy begins the game on loan at Salernitana I believe. Sunday 28th November 2004 Giugliano, currently 11th, are based on the outskirts of Napoli on the west coast of Italy. Both of our last two visits here have produced 1-0 wins, so it is a rare place where we can claim a decent away record. Marco Cirillo does not join us on the trip, not only because he is suspended but also because this week he became the latest player to dislocate a body part and will be out for an entire 2 months. Vladimiro Caramel takes Marco's spot in central midfield, and fortunately Gaspare Pellegrino's toe injury has healed sufficiently for him to be available to play. Serie C2/C Giugliano v Ragusa Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Tamburro©, Attewell, Alderuccio, Sabellini; Manoni, Caramel, Pellegrino, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Baggio. We had enjoyed a great start inside 4 minutes in last week's match against Gela, and this time we scored almost as soon as we stepped off the coach. With less than 3 minutes on the clock, Simone Tamburro's long ball enabled Eddy Baggio to fire a shot on goal, and when the keeper parried it Daniel Fonseca was lurking to convert the rebound. Giugliano got over the shock of the early strike and started to build up some pressure, but were unable to carve us open. That is until the 28th minute, when out of the blue Giugliano captain Frabrizio Romondini pulled a magical strike out of the hat to equalise. Hit from 35 yards, the ball swerved both ways and left Nicolas Cinalli a mere spectator as it flew into his net. You just can't plan against goals like that! As the first half drew to a close, Giugliano attempted one more attack to try and take the lead before the break. Stuart Attewell read the play and intercepted neatly, then looked up to spot Eddy Baggio drifting off the shoulder of the defender. The long ball sent Baggio through and tempted Lucciano Corona off his line, but the goalkeeper was left in no-mans land as Baggio lifted the perfect lob over him into the vacant goal. We had the lead back and had gained the psychological edge, going into the half at 2-1 up. The home side never recovered and the second half progressed more comfortably, with Corona called on to make a couple of very good saves to stop Daniel Fonseca extending our lead. Final score: Giugliano 1 - 2 Ragusa Elsewhere Paterno and Imolese also enjoyed victories, so despite our second away victory we remain in 2nd position in the table. We will entertain Imolese at the Aldo Campo Selvaggio this coming Sunday, with both teams going into the match on 24 points. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 8, 2003 Share Posted June 8, 2003 I just feel it,you're going to promote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 8, 2003 Author Share Posted June 8, 2003 I hope you're right Juventinogdt. Long way to go yet though... Sunday 5th December 2004 The run in to the Christmas mid-season break commences with an important clash with joint-2nd Imolese, where neither side will want to lose ground on leaders Paterno or pick up their 4th loss of the season. Our team is unchanged from the one that won at Giugliano last week. Serie C2/C Ragusa v Imolese Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Tamburro©, Attewell, Alderuccio, Sabellini; Manoni, Caramel, Pellegrino, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Baggio. The habit of scoring early goals is not something to be sniffed at, and our pre-match pep talks must be doing the business as we burst out of the traps yet again. The touch of class is provided by Daniel Fonseca, playing a one-two with strike partner Eddy Baggio before dribbling between two defenders and firing a powerful shot through Imolese keeper Emiliano Betti. 1-0 up with just 7 minutes gone. It was almost 2-0 in the 19th minute, but Fonseca had a second effort ruled out for offside. In the 36th minute our confident play brought some quality football, started by Sabellini playing the ball into Baggio's feet. He laid it off first time to Vladimiro Caramel, who spotted Franco Chiavarini's darting run in behind the full back, and Vladi fired a great ball into the area into the path of the Argentinian midfielder. Franco cushioned the pass first time, delayed the shot, knocked it wide of the keeper and clipped it home from an acute angle. Two goals up at half-time and in the ascendancy, there's no need for any changes. The second half is a similar story but with less goalmouth action, until in the 83rd minute a whipped cross from Manoni found Fonseca onside, and the 34 year old Uruguayan danced around the goalkeeper to score his second of the game. Final score: Ragusa 3 - 0 Imolese Not only does the well deserved three-nil win finally break us free from our tussle with Imolese, but Paterno's 1-1 draw in their local derby with Acireale means that we go back to the top of the table! Further down the division, the increasingly unpredictable Gladiator pulled off a shocking 7-0 victory over Castelnuovo with 5 goals coming from 24 year old striker Luigi Artiaco. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 9, 2003 Author Share Posted June 9, 2003 Sunday 12th December 2004 Varese could hardly be further away from Ragusa, causing us to journey from southern Sicily right up to the northen edge of Italy close to the Swiss border. Our hosts capitalised on Imolese's defeat at our hands last week, by leaping up into 3rd place behind Paterno, so this will be no easy task. One player not making the long trip is Stuart Attewell, who bruised his shin badly in training and will relinquish his place in the team to Dario Italia. Serie C2/C Varese v Ragusa Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Tamburro©, Italia, Alderuccio, Sabellini; Manoni, Caramel, Pellegrino, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Baggio. In recent weeks we have been fortunate enough to gain the early advantage, but this time we are on the receiving end to make an already difficult task even harder. Pietro Alderuccio's wandering hands were guilty of more pushing in the box, as early as the 3rd minute, and Srdjan Novkovic gratefully slotted the penalty kick home. We were unable to get a real grip on the game throughout the first half and went into the break 0-1 down. 10 minutes into the second, Varese's Porro was left wide open in front of goal from a flick-on, and he fired a shot past Cinalli to put the home side 2-0 up. We switched to 4-3-1-2 and our strikers clicked again in the 75th minute, Baggio firing a low ball across the box with pace for Fonseca to direct it in at the far post, but it was a false hope and we didn't really come close to finding an equaliser. Final score: Varese 2 - 1 Ragusa Varese are clearly quite a strong team, but it is still frustrating that we were unable to get out of second gear. We missed Attewell's presence at the back, and whether the extensive travelling was to blame I don't know, but it was certainly a relatively lethargic performance compared to recent displays. That win sends Varese above us into the top spot, but Paterno's surprise 1-0 loss to 14th placed Frosinone means that we don't fall any further than 2nd. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 9, 2003 Author Share Posted June 9, 2003 Thursday 16th December 2004 The injury merry-go-round continues. As soon as Stuart Attewell and Alessandro Bonaffini pass fitness tests, experienced midfielder Vladimiro Caramel strains ankle ligaments and will be sidelined until the New Year at the earliest. Sunday 19th December 2004 Catanzaro, doing quite well up in 5th position in the table, are the next to test their luck at the Aldo Camp Selvaggio. With Marco Cirillo and Vladimiro Caramel both ruled out, Dario Italia finds himself thrown back into midfield again, and Alessandro Bonaffini returns to the substitutes bench now that his ligaments have healed. Serie C2/C Ragusa v Catanzaro Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Tamburro©, Attewell, Alderuccio, Sabellini; Manoni, Pellegrino, Italia, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Baggio. 10 minutes in we win a corner, taken by Fonseca. The cross is cleared, but the referee blows and points to the spot - apparently spotting an infringement whereby Baggio was unfairly pushed by his marker. Daniel Fonseca stepped up and stroked an accurate penalty into the bottom right corner. 1-0 at the half, and Alessandro Bonaffini replaces Manolo Manoni during the break. Our most significant move of the second half arrived in the 61st minute, when a long ball found Fonseca out on the left wing. The Uruguayan dribbled forward and cut his cross back to the edge of the area, where Gaspare Pellegrino was in acres of space to sidefoot his 4th career goal past Gentili. Final score: Ragusa 2 - 0 Catanzaro Back home and back to winning ways. Even Gaspare popped up with a goal, as he seemed to enjoy the extra freedom allowed by letting Dario Italia take on the holding responsibilities that usually belong to him. Best of all, Varese's loss to Igea Virtus causes them to plunge to 4th and we step back into pole position. Paterno and Latina fill the places in-between. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 9, 2003 Author Share Posted June 9, 2003 Thursday 23rd December 2004 Bad news hits in the build up to the last game before the Christmas break, when old Salvatore informs me that Gaspare Pellegrino will need an agonising 2 months to recover from a knock picked up in training. Danilo Sabellini is carrying a minor niggle and isn't 100% fit, but I will risk him for this match in the knowledge that he has the mid-season break afterwards to rest fully. We leave Gaspare in Ragusa with Marco Cirillo and Vladimiro Caramel, and make the relatively short trip to the north of the island to Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto, home of Igea Virtus. Our hosts occupy 8th position in the table and were responsible for Varese's slip-up at the weekend, so this will be no walk-over. Especially as the centre of our midfield is now made up of a winger and a centre back, in the forms of Bonaffini and Italia. Serie C2/C Igea Virtus v Ragusa Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Tamburro©, Attewell, Alderuccio, Sabellini; Manoni, Bonaffini, Italia, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Baggio. No early goal this time, and in fact it is Igea Virtus who strike first in the 27th minute. Semplice finds himself in a big gap in our marking to receive the ball from a free-kick, and he confidently slots the ball through Cinalli's legs to put his side 1-0 up. That is how it stays through to half-time. Deep into the second half Pietro Alderuccio climbed high to head the ball clear, and from Baggio's intelligent flick we turned defence into attack in an instant. Daniel Fonseca ran through and struck the ball in off the far post to score for his sixth successive match. At 1-1 we then set about the notion of scrapping for a point, with both Manoni and Bonaffini picking up yellow cards in the remaining 20 minutes. With three minutes remaining, Igea Virtus collected the ball and started to build another attack. Even at this late stage Eddy Baggio is alive and sharp though, so when a tired defender misplaced a sloppy pass he was in like a flash. Taking the ball forward, the keeper pushed him wide but he managed to dig it back across the goal from a tight angle, and Daniel Fonseca tip-toed in at the far post to prod in his second goal. The home fans in the D'Alcontres stadium were stunned, though their team were not finished yet and it took a couple of last ditch tackles by Alderuccio in the dying moments to secure our win. Final score: Igea Virtus 1 - 2 Ragusa Slightly against the run of play we had stolen another away win, even if we probably didn't fully deserve all three points today. We worked hard and put plenty of effort in, but it was really the Baggio-Fonseca show that saved us again and Igea Virtus will be disappointed that they let us escape with all the spoils. Paterno and Varese also win to take up 2nd and 3rd, and Latina lose to fall back to 4th. The name of Ragusa stays at the top of the table and we can go into the Christmas break as the leaders of Serie C2/C! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobBev Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 This is a great read nerf. I've got my fingers and toes crossed for promotion this season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by BobBev: This is a great read nerf. I've got my fingers and toes crossed for promotion this season <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Isn't necessary,he and Ragusa will promote. Gianluca has spoken! PS My name is Gianluca that's why Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 Wow! Great story! I read through the whole thing today and this truly catches the spirit of Lower Leage Management. Keep up the great work. Good Luck! -Bohinen Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev J Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 nerf, Great great story. Just a quickie. I take it you're playing CM4? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 10, 2003 Author Share Posted June 10, 2003 Kev J: yes this is CM4. Thanks for the comments everybody Friday 31st December 2004 Christmas is spent back home in England again, visiting friends and relatives. Stuart Attewell also returns to the Midlands to spend a week with his family, but gives me a ring to say that someone from Bournemouth has told his parents that the club want to speak to him. I tell him to let me handle with it, and soon receive a phone call from a representative from the south coast club. They offer a deal comprising of no transfer fee up front, but a 40% sell-on clause should they choose to transfer the player in the future... I thank them for wasting my holiday time and politely remind them not to approach Mr and Mrs Attewell again. Liverpool are top of the Premiership on goal difference ahead of Manchester United, both teams holding a 10 point lead over 3rd-placed Chelsea, while title holders Newcastle United are currently wallowing in midtable in 10th position. In contrast to the success of their neighbours, the blue half of Merseyside is struggling, with Everton joint bottom of the table alongside West Bromwich Albion. In Serie A last season's champions Inter Milan are top again, and the Primera Liga in Spain is hotting up with Barcelona locked in a tie for first with Real Madrid, and Real Betis are close behind in 3rd. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 10, 2003 Author Share Posted June 10, 2003 Saturday 1st January 2005 FIFA announce the winners at their annual awards ceremony: World Player of the Year - Dede (Borussia Dortmund) World Footballer of the Year - Pablo Oscar Cavallero (Celta Vigo) European Footballer of the Year - Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan) European Goalkeeper of the Year - Jose Francisco Molina (Deportivo) European Defender of the Year - Puyol (Barcelona) European Midfielder of the Year - Enzo Maresca (Real Madrid) European Striker of the Year - Ewerthon (Borussia Dortmund) Friday 7th January 2005 Going into the winter break, spirits were naturally high due to our position at the top of the table, but I suspect that some of the players may have enjoyed their break a little bit too much, or perhaps had one helping too many of Christmas pud. Whatever the reason, the first week back in training has presented physios Salvatore and Guido with a fresh list of names to add to our never-ending injury woes. Right-back Stefano Guastella faces 2 months on the treatment table, as does captain Simone Tamburro with a torn calf muscle, and Stuart Attewell could miss as much as 3 months with a torn groin muscle. As if all that wasn't bad enough, Daniel Fonseca's groin strain could mean that we are without his talent for the next 3 weeks. The transfer window activity begins with Italian club Lazio signing Liverpool's El-Hadji Diouf for £15 million. The 23 year old Senagalese forward spent 3 seasons on Merseyside and has been a big part of Liverpool's good form over the first half of their season, but clearly that sort of money was too tempting to turn down. Aston Villa midfielder Stephen Cooke, who spent 7 months on loan here at Ragusa in my first season, has gone to spend the first 3 months of the new year with English 2nd division side Barnet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 11, 2003 Author Share Posted June 11, 2003 Sunday 9th January 2005 Tricase are not enjoying the best of seasons, one place off the bottom down in 17th. Fortunately for them they find a Ragusa squad depleted by injury, missing Guastella, Pellegrino, Attewell, Tamburro, Fonseca and Cirillo, with Manolo Manoni serving a one match suspension. It's a case of grab whoever-you-can again, and this time the spare shirt is thrown at a 19 year old left back by the name of Danilo Guerra. With the absence of Tamburro, Pellegrino and Cirillo, Danilo Sabellini will captain the team for the first time, and Claudio Gallicchio will try his hand at a midfield role. Serie C2/C Ragusa v Tricase Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; (Guerra), Italia, Alderuccio, Sabellini©; Bonaffini, Caramel, Gallicchio, Chiavarini; Lupo, Baggio. The first half starts much better than expected, and only three good saves from Tricase goalkeeper Aniello Cutolo ensures that the score stays level through to half-time. 10 minutes after the break Eddy Baggio hustled and bustled to steal the ball off a defender, and when he crossed from the right, Lupo scuffed a shot that bobbled in off the post for 1-0. Tricase lost the plot and the floodgates opened, admittedly to my surprise. In the 65th minute Gallicchio won an aerial challenge in midfield for the benefit of Lupo, who slid the ball through the defence for Baggio to run on and dribble round the keeper, finishing with his left peg to put us 2-0 up. Within 5 minutes he had his second, taking over Fonseca's penalty duties after Bonaffini had been fouled in the area. The hattrick was completed with another penalty in the 83rd minute, this time after Lupo had been held back, and he found the same corner of the net. There was still time for Eddy's fourth and the team's fifth, when Lupo released him with a ball over the top and Baggio fired a low strike through the keeper's legs. Final score: Ragusa 5 - 0 Tricase Considering we were missing half of our first team, not too bad at all! Five goals all the second half, 4 for Baggio, and 3 assists for Lupo in his first start this season. Claudio Gallicchio took to midfield like a duck to water, or perhaps more accurately, he took to it just like Marco Cirillo has done. The young lad at left-back didn't do all that badly either, though he was well protected and Tricase really look like certain relegation candidates. Varese and Paterno swap places and we are top by a 2 point gap now, a great way to begin the new year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 13, 2003 Author Share Posted June 13, 2003 Sunday 16th January 2005 Injuries, injuries, injuries! A matter of days after enjoying a spectacular win in his first ever game as captain, Danilo Sabellini pulled a hamstring in training and will be sidelined for 4 weeks. Manolo Manoni returns from suspension, and starts wide in midfield with Alessandro Bonaffini dropping back to become a makeshift full back again. Veteran centre back Dario Italia adorns the arm band for this match, against fellow Sicilian club Acireale. Serie C2/C Ragusa v Acireale Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; (Guerra), Italia©, Alderuccio, Bonaffini; Manoni, Caramel, Gallicchio, Chiavarini; Lupo, Baggio. Acireale are in 7th and I have never been on the winning side against them, so this will not be as easy as last week. Fortunately our chances of changing that are improved by our customary early attack, started by our ex-Acireale player Vladimiro Caramel. His ball forward was helped on by Lupo, and the sizzling hot Eddy Baggio was able to turn on a sixpence and stroke the ball past the goalkeeper. 1-0, 9 minutes gone. Just before the half-hour mark a corner was cleared by Acireale, and we worked the ball wide left to young Guerra. He lofted the ball back into the mixer looking for Pietro Alderuccio, who had stayed up following the corner, and Pietro was sent sprawling across the grass of the penalty area following a collision with Acireale's Ventura. We applauded from the dugout as the referee blew his whistle and pointed the spot, but Ventura was not quite so appreciative and let the official know about it. The toys went out the pram and his screaming and aggressive arm waving in the face of the referee gave no option but an early bath. When all had finally calmed down, Eddy Baggio found the bottom left corner of the net with his penalty, but then he's so on fire at the moment he probably could have done that with his eyes closed. Acireale finally threatened at the end of the half, Marino's header flashing inches wide of the post, but at the break we were still in the rather nice position of being two goals up at home with the extra man. The second period progressed with less drama, and when Chiavarini linked with Baggio down the right flank in the 57th minute, his simple low cross gave backup striker Lupo an easy finish to kill the game off. Final score: Ragusa 3 - 0 Acireale In the face of adversity we carved out another brilliant result, if I do say so myself. Another 2 goals and a man-of-the-match award for Eddy Baggio, another impressive stand-in performance by Lupo, and Caramel and Gallicchio just dominated the entire midfield. Clearly Marco Cirillo isn't the only one who can make the transition from striker to midfielder, because Claudio is certainly making a good go of it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 13, 2003 Author Share Posted June 13, 2003 Monday 17th January 2005 Now that every team has played each other once, the Serie C2/C table looks like THIS. Translation from an article in La Gazzetta Dello Sport: Finally on to Serie C2/C, where, at the halfway stage, Varese, Paterno, Latina and Imolese occupy the promotion playoff spots from 2nd to 5th. However, they are all chasing the surprise package of the season, the free scoring team from the south Sicilian province of Ragusa. Following their 3-0 win over Acireale, Ragusa's chairman Giuseppe Antoci declared himself extremely pleased with the result. "Beautiful, a fabulous game. The team are making myself, and the fans, very proud. Very proud. I am delighted with the progress that the club is making, and we will endeavour to make it continue". Ragusa are exceeding expectations by being in pole position with much of the season gone, thanks to some excellent recent performances. This defies early season predictions, which had many media pundits suggesting that the club were little more than top-half makeweights. Ever the pessimist, I'm not getting carried away. We do find ourselves top of the table but we're only halfway through the season, so there is a long way to go yet. If you will allow me to drag out that footballing cliche, it really is a marathon not a sprint. It has also not passed me by that our 4 losses this season have all come from amongst the 5 teams that are closest to us in the chase, so that will have to change if we come up against them down the stretch. Having said all that, I'm thrilled to be where we are and could not have hoped for the first half of the season to have gone any better. Even with the extensive amount of injuries that we have suffered, we have still managed to fashion victories and not allowed our progress to falter. Each time we have lost a match we have shown the character needed to bounce back with a win in the very next game. Although many factors have improved for us this season, the secret to our 'success' has undoubtedly been the partnership of Daniel Fonseca and Eddy Baggio in attack. Despite a combined age approaching 65 years, they have worked together to the tune of 37 league goals in just half a season. Add to that a regular defensive four (Tamburro, Attewell, Alderuccio and Sabellini) who have now had well over 12 months experience of playing together, and a hard working midfield, and I think we can safely say that we are worth our place in the top 5 so far. Whether we can go all the way and seriously challenge for the title and the automatic promotion that goes with it... we will have to wait and see. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 14, 2003 Author Share Posted June 14, 2003 Tuesday 18th January 2005 Valencia, 11th in the Spanish Primera Liga, have splashed out £9 million on highly rated Greek defender Sotiris Kyrgiakos to try and solve their defensive frailties. Our attempts at bringing players in during this transfer window are going less successfully. The left midfield position is clearly the weak spot at our club, with neither Manolo Manoni or Alessandro Bonaffini being left footed, nor really my ideal choices for a starting spot anyway. Vladimiro Caramel can cross better than most players, but he's no left winger. As a result I have been chasing two promising 18 year olds: Andrea Esposito from Lecce, and Carlo Mignani from our Serie C2/C rivals Paterno. The energetic Andrea Esposito has the added bonus that he can play left full back as comfortably as left midfield, if we need cover for Simone Tamburro, but Lecce are not budging on their valuation and are pricing the youngster out of our range. It is a similar story with Carlo Mignani, a hard working left midfielder who can also play in the centre, but Paterno clearly don't want to sell to a club in the same division. Though it is starting to look like no new faces will be arriving, one is leaving. Coach Corrado Vaccaro has been approached this week by Sora and Altemura with vacancies in their assistant manager roles that they both want him to fill. Corrado has ambitions of progressing to become a manager, and after we talked it over we both have to agree that this will be a step in the right direction for him. It will be a shame to see him go, but Corrado decides on Altemura and we will recieve £5,000 in compensation. Friday 21st January 2005 We have filled our coaching vacancy by inviting Marco Onorati to take on the role. Marco comes from Acireale on the east coast of Sicily, where he spent much of his goalkeeping career. Now 37, Marco has hung up his gloves and moved into the coaching profession, and the majority of his playing days were in the Serie C so he knows this level well. Real Betis have signed French striker Nicolas Anelka from Manchester City for £8.5 million. The 25 year old scored 51 goals in 110 appearances for the Premiership club, and will now be looking to repeat the same kind of performance to help Betis challenge for what would be their third straight Primera Liga title. Christian Panucci has returned to AC Milan from Barcelona for the price of £11.5 million. The 31 year old Italian international right-back last played for Milan in 1996-97, before moving between a whole host of top European clubs including Real Madrid, Inter and Roma. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 14, 2003 Author Share Posted June 14, 2003 Sunday 23rd January 2005 Back in September, Castelnuovo ensured that our season got off to an uncertain start by inflicting a 3-1 defeat on us in the comfort of their home stadium. This time they will need to come to the Aldo Campo Selvaggio to face a team on a 4 match winning streak, buoyed by the recovery of Daniel Fonseca from a groin injury earlier than expected. Fonseca replaces the unlucky Lupo in attack, but that is the only change as Marco Cirillo is only deemed fit enough for the bench. Local lad Danilo Guerra gets a Ragusa shirt for the third game running thanks to our lack of any other option at left back. Serie C2/C Ragusa v Castelnuovo Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; (Guerra), Italia©, Alderuccio, Bonaffini; Manoni, Caramel, Gallicchio, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Baggio. There is nothing during the early phase of the game to suggest that anything unusual is going to happen today. That all changes in the 21st minute, when out of the blue Franco Chiavarini takes a swing with his right foot from 30 yards, and is rewarded by the sight of the keeper sprawling and the net rippling. At 1-0 the Daniel Fonseca show got back on the road. He started a move in the 30th minute by spraying a pass wide to Chiavarini, who scurried to the byline and swung a cross into the six yard box for Daniel to stab in our second. Barely a minute after kick-off he was at it again, collecting a headed pass from Manoni to dribble into the box and curl a shot around goalkeeper Marco Vaiani with the inside of his left foot. 3-0. Shortly before the referee blew for half-time, Fonseca turned provider. Drifting out wide left to receive a pass from Caramel, the Uruguayan ran up the wing and crossed to find Eddy Baggio at the near post, and although Vaiani got a hand to it he could not keep Eddy's downward header out. 4-0 up at half-time, Marco Cirillo replaces Manoni on the left in an attempt to regain some match fitness. Castelnuovo have already crumbled, and in the 52nd minute Daniel Fonseca should have completed his hattrick but managed to put a penalty kick wide of the post. The away side shut up shop after that and look to make it a damage limitation exercise, so it takes until the 83rd minute to find the next break through. The most lethal strike partnership in the division combines again, Eddy Baggio bouncing a neat one-two off Daniel Fonseca to send home his 21st league goal of the season. The final whistle can't come soon enough for Castelnuovo, but the home fans don't want the game to end and there's time for one more in the dying minutes. Guerra's ball forward found the chest of Eddy Baggio, he turned and laid the ball square deep in the box, and Daniel Fonseca dispatched it past a thoroughly demoralised Marco Vaiani from a tight angle to complete a well deserved hat-trick. Final score: Ragusa 6 - 0 Castelnuovo With a hat-trick and two assists it is obvious who picked up the man of the match award, as Fonseca sent an emphatic reminder to anyone who had forgotten about him over the last two or three weeks. The 6-0 scoreline is a new record win for the club, and it maintains our 2 point gap at the top after Varese and Paterno had both picked up victories as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 14, 2003 Author Share Posted June 14, 2003 Saturday 29th January 2005 Lazio have sealed the capture of Real Sociedad's Yugoslavian forward Darko Kovacevic for £11.5 million, beating off competition from Real Betis and Liverpool for the 31 year old's signature. Meanwhile, Spanish club Deportivo have swooped twice to pick up players from English Premiership clubs. A press conference unveils both Rafael Marquez, a £7.75 million transfer from Arsenal, and Shay Given, who arrives from Newcastle United for £4.9 million. Mexican defender Marquez spent just 2 seasons with Arsenal but is highly rated throughout Europe. Republic of Ireland international goalkeeper Shay Given brings 7 years at St James's Park to an end, during which he won two Premiership titles and was named 2003 European Footballer of the Year. Rounding off the week's major transfer activity, Celtic tempt Gonzalo De los Santos to Glasgow from Valencia for £10.5 million, a 28 year old defensive midfielder capped 53 times by Uruguay. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 14, 2003 Author Share Posted June 14, 2003 Sunday 30th January 2005 The first away trip of the calendar year takes us to Frosinone on the west coast of Italy, a short distance south down one of the many roads leading to Rome. We have won 4 of our last 5 meetings with Frosinone, but last time we were here they sent us packing with a 0-2 defeat. Eddy Baggio twisted his knee in training this week, so as a precaution he will sit this one out. Claudio Gallicchio is pushed up front alongside Fonseca, and Marco Cirillo returns to the starting lineup for the first time since November to fill the gap in midfield. Serie C2/C Frosinone v Ragusa Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; (Guerra), Italia©, Alderuccio, Bonaffini; Manoni, Caramel, Cirillo, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Gallicchio. The home side make the perfect start, finding an opener through Sergio di Corcia inside 9 minutes, as his 25 yard strike sails smoothly into the top corner. We attempt to get back on level terms before half-time, but on separate occasions Frosinone keeper Andrea Cano makes three unbelievable close range stops to deny Fonseca and Bonaffini. The second half is an identical replica of the first, as Frosinone take just under ten minutes before Sabaccanti unleashes a thunderbolt from 35 yards with the same result as di Corcia's effort. I make some changes soon afterwards to try and shake things up, Gallicchio dropping to midfield as Lupo comes on at the expense of Caramel, but the two long range stunners remain the difference and we are unable to recover. Final score: Frosinone 2 - 0 Ragusa Paterno slumped to a loss in similar fashion and remain 3rd, but Varese's win means that they jump to the top and knock us down into 2nd place. Franco Chiavarini was complaining about his shin in the changing room after the game, but Salvatore says it doesn't look any more serious than bruising and he should be able to shake it off by next week. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 15, 2003 Author Share Posted June 15, 2003 Monday 31st January 2005 The Highbury clearout continues, as Arsenal sell midfielder Giovanni Van Bronckhorst to Real Madrid for £6.75 million. One player arriving in England is AC Milan's Martin Laursen, who costs Manchester United a whopping £20.5 million. The 27 year old Danish international will combine with £30 million Rio Ferdinand to form by far the most expensive centre back pairing in the world, but Laursen has insisted that he won't let the pressure of the price tag be a burden and is intent on proving to manager Steve Bruce that the right decision was made. Thursday 3rd February 2005 Carlo Ancellotti has been sacked by Serie A club Lazio despite spending as little as 7 months in the job. Lazio currently languish in 10th place in the division, after failing to win the Intertoto cup and suffering an early exit from the Italian cup. Pietro Alderuccio collapsed clutching his left ankle in training today, and becomes the latest in a line of Ragusa players to strain ankle ligaments. Salvatore passed on the bad news that this is likely to make Pietro unavailable for 4 weeks, giving us a headache in defence. After a quick glance over the few healthy defenders that we have, I immediately get Antonio to run right wingback Danilo Sabellini through some central defender's drills between now and Sunday. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 15, 2003 Author Share Posted June 15, 2003 Sunday 6th February 2005 Sassuolo are doing quite well in 7th position and we have only beaten them once in our last three meetings, when a Fonseca double gave us a 2-0 victory back in September. Alderuccio, Attewell, Guastella, Tamburro and Pellegrino are all missing through injury, four of whom are defenders, so it is a makeshift back-line that takes to the field today. Young defender Danilo Guerra has his temporary contract extended and is required to start at left back yet again, winger Alessandro Bonaffini fills in at right back, and Danilo Sabellini returns to the starting lineup as captain to see if he can cope with partnering 35 year old Dario Italia in the middle. Serie C2/C Ragusa v Sassuolo Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; (Guerra), Italia, Sabellini©, Bonaffini; Caramel, Cirillo, Gallicchio, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Baggio. The first half is very scrappy and not very easy on the eye, but we troop off the pitch at half time the slightly happier team. A couple of minutes before the whistle had blown, Eddy Baggio had sprinted onto Fonseca's through ball to crash a shot inside the near post. Admittedly it had been somewhat against the run of play at the time, but we had the lead. The late goal did not have the implied demoralising effect on the away side, who came out fired up for the second half. They piled on the early pressure, and then when Cinalli's lapse in concentration caused him to fumble a shot, Sassuolo's Cecconi was on hand to nip in like a flash and sweep the ball into the net. The second half became a struggle for us, and Cinalli had to make a couple of saves as Sassuolo began to stretch our patched up defence. The same goalscorer returned to haunt the Argentinian keeper when the winner came in the 83rd minute, in similar fashion to the goals witnessed at Frosinone, as Cecconi's late 30 yard effort screamed over Cinalli and dipped under the crossbar. Final score: Ragusa 1 - 2 Sassuolo The joys of January and the goal-fests of Tricase, Acireale and Castelnuovo have been ushered aside by two straight defeats, including denting our very good home record at Fortress Selvaggio. Alessandro Bonaffini picked up his fourth yellow card of the season and will face a one match suspension. Thursday 10th February 2005 Manolo Manoni, who came on as a late substitute for Marco Cirillo on Sunday, has twisted his ankle and will be out for around 2 weeks. A week after the sacking of Carlo Ancellotti, Lazio have announced that Frank Rijkaard will be installed as their new manager. Rijkaard spent a short time at Newcastle United before trying his hand at Manchester City, and has now been lured away from the Premiership by the prospect of taking the reins in Rome. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 15, 2003 Author Share Posted June 15, 2003 Sunday 13th February 2005 We are in Legnano, around the north-west outskirts of Milan, to face the team placed 13th in the division. The meeting in Sicily earlier in the season ended 5-1 in our favour, with Eddy Baggio netting four times. Unfortunately injuries have decimated our squad, leaving us with an unstable team on a two game losing streak. 19 year old Danilo Guerra continues his jaunt at left back, and we are forced to bring another local Ragusa youngster on the trip to north Italy with us. 19 year old centre back Giuseppe Sannino obtained a temporary registration and will start, with stand-in captain Danilo Sabellini reverting to his usual position of right back. Our substitutes' bench consists of just one fully healthy outfield player, and I send the starting eleven out for kick off with the advice to keep it tight, don't leave yourself or the young kids exposed by forcing the attack too much. Serie C2/C Legnano v Ragusa Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; (Guerra), Italia, (Sannino), Sabellini©; Caramel, Cirillo, Gallicchio, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Baggio. We managed to do just that in the early period of the game, despite Legnano's attempts to rile us and draw us out. In the 27th minute a fantastic ball was played down the right flank by Sabellini, Baggio raced after it to cross towards Fonseca at the near post, and the Uruguayan's deft flick past goalkeeper Enrico Malatesta gave us a 1-0 lead. Legnano were not happy with the goal and tried to increase the physical pressure, but Mirko Del Proposto took it several steps too far when he raised his hands to Gallicchio after a tough but perfectly fair challenge. Claudio is not one to back down, that is until the Legnano player chooses to shove him in the chest to send him tumbling backwards, and the referee was quickly in to flash the red card. It didn't quite douse the flames though, as the rest of the half remained a heated affair during which the official had to keep holding up play to distribute a few lectures. In an attempt to clamp down and bring things under control, he also showed yellow cards to Dario Italia and Franco Chiavarini. With little coherant football being played, we maintain our lead through to the break. The second half starts off in much less dramatic fashion, until in the 72nd minute Eddy Baggio drifted wide right with the ball. He waited for the linkup with Franco Chiavarini and slipped the pass inside, and the Argentinian midfielder darted to the byline where he dug out a chip to the far post. Daniel Fonseca was waiting all alone at the back stick, and as the ball looped over he nodded a downward header towards the goal... somehow, Malatesta threw himself low across the goal and scooped fingertips behind the ball, stopping a certain goal by diverting it along the line, and then rapidly gathering it under his arms before Fonseca could get his toe to it. Following the standing ovation for Malatesta by the Legnano fans, the home side seem encouraged by their narrow escape and start to push forward more aggressively for an equaliser. Conversely this turned out to work in our favour, as Guerra's long ball over the top enabled us to catch Legnano on the break in the 88th minute, and Eddy Baggio took his time before smoothly hitting a classy low strike in off the far post. Final score: Legnano 0 - 2 Ragusa Much to my relief, the losing 'streak' is brought to a timely end by that battling away victory. More good news comes in the form of Varese's 2-3 loss at Imolese, meaning that the 4 point lead Varese had opened above us is now back to just a single point. Catanzaro move up into 3rd place following a last gasp goal by 17 year old forward Stefano Corona, which gave them the 4-3 win in a seven goal thriller at home to Giugliano. Paterno's defeat at Castelnuovo sees them drop to 4th on goal difference. After 21 matches: Varese 46pts, Ragusa 45pts, Catanzaro 38pts, Paterno 38pts Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 16, 2003 Author Share Posted June 16, 2003 Sunday 20th February 2005 The build up to today's home fixture is made all the more interesting by the news that our opponents Brindisi have sacked their manager this very morning. Romeo Azzali was unable to stop his team from being relegated from Serie C1/B last season, and this season the slump has continued to the point that they lie deep amongst the Serie C2/C relegation places in 17th. His assistant, or rather former assistant, Amelio Puce, will be bringing their team down to Ragusa in his place. We are not without problems of our own of course. Manoni, Guastella and Pellegrino are all several days away from fitness, and Alderuccio, Attewell and Tamburro still remain on the long-term injury list. Fortunately Nicolas Cinalli is passed fit to play despite a problem with his shoulder that had been giving him trouble for most of the week, and we can also welcome back Alessandro Bonaffini from suspension. Marco Cirillo, the striker successfully turned midfielder, finds himself at centre back today! He is decent in the air and enjoys getting stuck into the tackle, so I'm hoping that he can fill that void half as well as he has settled in midfield. Strikers Vittorio Lupo and Claudio Gallicchio will start in midfield, and our bench consists of two goalkeepers and three outfield players all carrying minor injuries... Serie C2/C Ragusa v Brindisi Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Bonaffini, Italia, Cirillo, Sabellini©; Lupo, Caramel, Gallicchio, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Baggio. We do not know the full story of what went on in the Brindisi camp this morning, but it is clear that the players have not been left in the best of mind frames. We had not even reached the second minute when Caramel received the ball on the halfway line, and Brindisi's Orlandini came flying in with both feet raised in a tackle that could have sent Vladi into not-so-early retirement. Fortunately the experienced midfielder emerged unscathed after some treatment from Salvatore, but Orlandini was unable to continue due to the instant red card raised by the referee. With the man advantage we start to gain control, and force good saves by Brindisi goalkeeper Massimo Cilimbriello from efforts by Caramel and Baggio. Bitter Brindisi carry on kicking and spitting their way through the half, with defender Roberto Taurini finally seeing yellow after a string of fouls. In the 39th minute Franco Chiavarini, who had seen plenty of the ball so far, forced a corner on the right. Daniel Fonseca trotted across to take it and sent the ball swinging high into the middle of the area, where Alessandro Bonaffini leapt highest to head in the goal that we had deserved. 1-0. The start of the second half was pedestrian in comparison to the first, and Brindisi seemed to have calmed down. In the 60th minute they had me worried when Santini forced the ball into our net, but our half-empty dugout breathed a collective sigh of relief when Santini was adjudged to have been offside at the time. Minutes later Chiavarini linked with Sabellini down the right flank again, as they had been doing to good effect for most of the afternoon, and won another corner. Fonseca's cross was dangerous again, and in fact panicked Brindisi defender Vincenzo Commitante so much that he inexplicably raised his arm and was penalised for handball. Daniel Fonseca sent the penalty to the keeper's left to seal the match. Final score: Ragusa 2 - 0 Brindisi In truth Brindisi made it 'easy' for us with their disorganised and badly disciplined peformance, allowing our unorthodox lineup to take advantage in a game that could otherwise have been tricky. Brindisi are a shadow of the team that won the Serie C2/C title in my first season here; the demoralising campaign up in Serie C1 has really had a serious long term effect on the club. I hope that isn't an omen for the rest of us aspiring for promotion! Young Stefano Corona emulated his late heroics of last week with another winner in the dying seconds, stealing a 2-1 away victory for 3rd placed Catanzaro. The good news for us is that their hosts were Varese, allowing us to bounce back to the top of the table with a 2 point lead. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 17, 2003 Author Share Posted June 17, 2003 Sunday 27th February 2005 Daniel Fonseca pulled up in training this week complaining about his heel, and despite our efforts to get him ready for this weekend he has not been deemed fit enough to play. Stefano Guastella and Manolo Manoni return from injury, but with most of our defence still missing I have to ask Marco Cirillo to stay at centre back. Serie C2/C Gladiator v Ragusa Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Guastella, Italia, Cirillo, Sabellini©; Bonaffini, Caramel, Gallicchio, Chiavarini; Lupo, Baggio. Gladiator currently lie 13th, but they have proven themselves to be strong at home and you never know quite what to expect from them. They gave us an early warning about their mood when Borrelli smacked a long range effort off Cinalli's left hand post in the opening minutes. The home team continued brightly, and in the 12th minute Pasquale Ottobre showed his teammate how it should be done by sending a rising shot into the roof of the net from some 25 yards. Ah, one of those days then... Midway through the first half Eddy Baggio came out of a challenge limping, and I immediately dragged him off the pitch as a precaution. Manolo Manoni went on to the left, Bonaffini moved inside, and Gallicchio pushed forward to join Lupo in attack. With even more restructuring going on in our already ramshackle side, Gladiator capitalised in the 33rd minute when Alberti pounced on a Cinalli save to stab the ball into the net. 2-0 down at half-time and without much option to change things around, we attempted to grit our teeth and see out the second half. It was going okay until the 82nd minute, when Bonaffini pulled a Gladiator player down in the area and Borrelli converted the penalty. Final score: Gladiator 3 - 0 Ragusa Everything felt wrong about that match from the start, it was really too much to ask our injury ravaged side to play away and face a Gladiator team in one of their occasional good moods. We were still capable of playing better than we did, but the second goal killed the game stone dead and there didn't look like there was any way for us to get back into it. That game is now over though, and we can concentrate on attempting to get back to winning ways when Paterno come to visit next weekend. Miraculously, Varese slump to their third straight defeat and we are lucky enough to keep our 2 point lead. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 17, 2003 Author Share Posted June 17, 2003 Monday 28th February 2005 Last week we made a tentative enquiry to Fidelis Andria about their left footed defender Stefano Fumagalli, to the tune of £1,000. That deliberately underestimated bid was rejected and returned with a £6,000 valuation, to which we have responded with a new bid of £5,000. Stefano apparently wants to leave the cash-strapped club, but he will have to take a significant pay cut if he's interested in coming to Ragusa. It would be great to have him on board, as he can play both centre back and left back and is only 23 years old. After various tests run by Salvatore today, Eddy Baggio proved that the injury sustained yesterday is not serious and he should be fit enough to train in time for the coming Sunday. Saturday 5th March 2005 My assistant Antonio and I travelled across to Andria on the heel of Italy, close to Bari, to meet with Stefano Fumagalli after Fidelis Andria accepted our £5,000 offer. Stefano is a very polite and well spoken young man and we took to him immediately, especially when it turned out that his personal demands were very reasonable! Talks progressed well and Stefano will take a few days to consider whether the move is right for him. Manolo Manoni is the latest squad member to succumb to another injury, putting himself out for 2 weeks with a calf strain. Over in England, much despised Aston Villa chairman Doug Ellis has brought an early end to the reign of another Villa manager. Dutch boss Bert van Marwijk lasted less than a year in the role, from the end of April 2004 to the beginning of March 2005, after the Midlands club had spent all season wallowing below midtable and had been knocked out by Liverpool in the League Cup semi final. Contrary to popular belief 'Deadly' Doug Ellis' nickname does not come from a reputation as a powerful and ruthless presence in football, but was given to him by Jimmy Greaves on a river bank after Doug dispatched the fish they caught with a swift blow to the head. Don't say I never teach you anything Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 17, 2003 Author Share Posted June 17, 2003 Sunday 27th March 2005 With the eventual return of Stuart Attewell, it is a blissfully injury-free entire Ragusa squad that makes the short hop along the south coast of Sicily to meet local rivals Gela. Gela are 16th in the league and have never been able to recover from the loss of their star player Francesco Erbini a year ago. Serie C2/C Gela v Ragusa Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Tamburro©, Attewell, Alderuccio, Sabellini; Caramel, Cirillo, Pellegrino, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Baggio. "Get stuck in Franco, come on!". As the first half drew to a close I was becoming increasingly frustrated by the lacklustre display of our team. Gela had already had the ball in the net when Bellomo broke through in the 32nd minute, but we had rode our luck and been saved by the linesman's flag. If we weren't careful we were in danger of pushing our luck too far, and I was only too happy to get my players into the changing room at halftime. Needing to kick some life into the team, I urge a more attacking mindset for the second period. Our best effort in the first 45 minutes had been an Eddy Baggio header charged down by the Gela defence, who were clearly more up for it than we were, and we need to start threatening more in the remainder. It had worked at Latina so I again gave the nod to Caramel, Chiavarini and Cirillo to start bombing forward more from midfield to try and unsettle the home team. In the 51st minute our defenders slapped the self destruct button again, when a routine cross from the left was handled in the area by an uncertain Stuart Attewell. Gela's Cundari gratefully stroked the spot kick in to give his side the 1-0 lead, and for all my ranting on the touchline that's how it stayed. Final score: Gela 1 - 0 Ragusa I think the coffee cup glancing off the angle of the whiteboard got their attention. Luckily it was only plastic. "What was that? What was it?" Silence. "I'll tell you what it was. A bunch of so-called first teamers thinking they own their place in the team. Think they deserve the shirt, 'their' shirt. Well as long as I'm here, you will bloody well earn this blue shirt every single time you are lucky enough to wear it". Twenty-two eyes searched the tiled floor uneasily, a floor which quickly became the recipient of the scrunched blue jersey that had been closest to hand at the time. "There are other players in this squad who have worked their backsides off for the club while some of you have been nursing a couple of cuts and bruises. If I EVER have to be embarassed by dross like that again, the only injuries you lot are getting will be splinters from the subs bench. If you think for a minute that you can swan back into the side with weak performances like that..." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 17, 2003 Author Share Posted June 17, 2003 Monday 28th March 2005 It took most of the last twenty-four hours, but I have calmed down from the aftermath of the derby game. Much of my post match 'chat' had been a result of rising anger and frustration at our second successive poor performance, but secretly part of it was pre-meditated. I'm not usually a ranter or a shouter and the players know that, which I hope will work in my favour by causing it to come as a bigger shock. I think as much of it came out in English as Italian, but I could have been speaking Japanese and they would probably have got the picture. I felt that they needed a quick shake up. February and March have brought with them our worst form of the season, losing 5 of our last 9 matches compared to 4 losses in our first 18. There are players coming back into the side lacking a bit of match fitness and perhaps feeling a bit apprehensive about the chances of recurring injuries, but now is not the time to be holding back. Right through to Christmas I had been enjoying our rise to the top of the table and treating it as an enjoyable start for once, but that progress has been sustained to an extent, and as we enter the last 6 weeks of the season it has already started to get serious. We cannot afford to start dropping points like we have done in the last fortnight. By a stroke of good fortune, other teams like Varese have also been stumbling through the last couple of months and have failed to capitalise on our capitulation. Like this weekend for example, Varese were held to a 2-2 draw at Paterno and we are still only 2 points off the leaders, though Imolese's win brings them to just 5 points behind in 3rd place. We are well on target to meet my initial goal of playoff contention, but we are also in with a damn good shot at the single automatic promotion spot that comes attached to the divisional title. To throw that away now would be a waste. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
veelhousen Posted June 18, 2003 Share Posted June 18, 2003 Ahh the february lull. What a delight. Good luck mate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 18, 2003 Author Share Posted June 18, 2003 Thanks veelhousen. Don't you just love that part of the season? Saturday 2nd April 2005 The training ground carries an air of simmering determination in the midst of our 2 week break between league fixtures. This afternoon I called Claudio Gallicchio into my office and informed him that we wish to reward his dedication to the team's cause with a new contract until 2008, which he was very happy about. In fairness I have been pleased with Claudio's attitude, he's the sort of player who will always give his all and he has taken his exclusion from the starting lineup in the last 12 months without much complaint, but the new deal is largely intended as a timely incentive to the other members of the squad. Another player extending his stay here is mercurial forward Daniel Fonseca, a player with a temperamental past who I wanted to test to see if he had taken my scalding the right way. As suspected, I got exactly the response I was looking for, as Daniel signalled his intention to see out his career in Ragusa by signing a new contract until July 2007. The Uruguayan will be 36 this September so I don't necessarily expect him to continue all the way through to see his contract expire, but his 24 goals and numerous assists this season have shown that he's more than capable of carrying on at Serie C level. Lecce, currently 5th in Serie B, have announced the arrival of receivers to help deal with their financial difficulties. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 18, 2003 Author Share Posted June 18, 2003 Sunday 10th April 2005 Giugliano are just below midtable in 12th position, and arrive in Ragusa on the back of three straight defeats. We have won 4 of the previous 5 meetings between the two clubs, but that is all history and I'm more concerned about now. Claudio Gallicchio earns his start in the centre, but I resist making wholesale changes despite recent disappointments; These players need the match fitness for the final run in and if they have any sense then they will be smarting and looking to regain some lost pride. I have a few more motivational words before kick-off, but all that needed to be said had been spoken in the fortnight since we sloped off the pitch at Gela. Serie C2/C Ragusa v Giugliano Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Tamburro©, Attewell, Alderuccio, Sabellini; Caramel, Gallicchio, Pellegrino, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Baggio. The early fire shows signs that it is back, but it takes 22 minutes for the Aldo Campo Selvaggio to be raised to its feet. A long goalkick from Cinalli is flicked on by the strong Eddy Baggio, Daniel Fonseca controls, takes his time as if the defenders are nowhere near him, and fires the ball into the net off goalkeeper Spinetta's legs. In the 40th minute the responsibility belongs to his strike partner, when Eddy Baggio races onto the end of Stuart Attewell's powerful header to sweep a second goal into the corner with his less favoured left foot. At half-time we are cruising and still looking hungry, 2-0 up without having allowed our opponents so much as a glance at our goal. With that in mind and knowing that Danilo Sabellini had picked up a yellow card and a lecture from the referee, Giuseppe Lenea and Stefano Guastella come on to take over as goalkeeper and right-back respectively. In the 63rd minute Claudio Gallicchio fed the ball into Daniel Fonseca's feet, who looked sideways and found Eddy Baggio. Baggio took the ball on, drew the keeper, and swung it back across for Fonseca to finish with an easy header. The hattrick was completed just 7 minutes later through work of his own, when he stole the ball and turned his marker to race clear on goal, striking home with convinction into the far top corner. Alessandro Bonaffini appeared in the second half to give Vladimiro Caramel some rest, and there was still time for Fonseca to crown the 5-0 victory with a curling 35 yard free kick in the final minute. Final score: Ragusa 5 - 0 Giugliano Now that's the response that I was after! An emphatic win if ever there was one, administered by almost the same team that suffered my partly-staged wrath in Gela 2 weeks ago. Eddy Baggio and Daniel Fonseca were back to their shining best, a goal and 3 assists for Eddy and 4 goals for man-of-the-match Daniel, but Pellegrino and Gallicchio were simply excellent in midfield and the whole team pulled together. In Varese, an early goal from Fabio Lorieri saw the league leaders beat Meda 1-0. The gap remains 2 points with 6 fixtures to go. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 19, 2003 Author Share Posted June 19, 2003 Wednesday 13th April 2005 Contract talks continue, with Franco Chiavarini extending his deal to 2008 with a small pay cut, and Pietro Alderuccio boosting his earnings slightly with higher pay until 2008 after interest in the defender was shown by Forli, Sanremese and Astrea. With all the recent contract renewals we have now managed to succesfully duck below the wage budget that we had previously overstepped. Thursday 14th April 2005 I make no changes to the team for the trip to Imolese, and treat it exactly how we would approach a home game. No worrying about playing more defensively, no sitting back and soaking up, just go out and play like we did on Sunday. We need to start building up a momentum with a run of wins, and I'm willing to gamble on this game to try and give us that boost. Serie C2/C Imolese v Ragusa Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Tamburro©, Attewell, Alderuccio, Sabellini; Caramel, Gallicchio, Pellegrino, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Baggio. We roared out of the starting blocks, when Eddy Baggio was first to reach a headed clearance in the 5th minute and bounded around the goalkeeper to pass into the empty net. Two minutes later Claudio Gallicchio dove into a tackle in midfield, ran forwards with the ball as the shellshocked Imolese defence backed away, and let fly a shot that shaved the outside of the post. In the 10th minute our aggressive start reaped more rewards. Chiavarini shaped up and drove a high crossfield ball to seek out Vladimiro Caramel on the left wing, he got to the byline, and when his typically accurate cross reached the near post, Eddy Baggio was darting across the front of his marker to head home goal number two. After that we seemed to take our foot off the pedal and relax too much. A stylish one-two between Imolese players Cacciatori and Parma allowed the latter to finish with an accurate sidefoot shot inside the near post, giving the home side a goal back in the 13th minute. They were encouraged by this quick response and set about putting us on the back foot, and in the 27th minute Parma pounced again. Pietro Alderuccio made a glaring error by badly misjudging the flight of the ball, and the Imolese striker accepted the gift by thrashing a shot across Cinalli into the top corner. From 2-0 up we had been pegged back to 2-2! Worried about collapsing any further, I stepped out to the touchline and yelled at Franco to be less attack minded and for Gaspare to sit back a bit further and just hold in front of the defence. The tweaks seemed to work and we began to gain the upper hand in the possession stakes. After Gaspare Pellegrino had directed some keep-ball deep in midfield and exchanged a few passes with Danilo Sabellini, the midfielder turned and surprised Imolese by swinging a long ball over the top looking for Daniel Fonseca. Fonseca brought the pass down with instant control, and noncholantly chipped Imolese goalkeeper Betti to give us a 3-2 lead. The lead was seemingly going to last until half-time, but then a long ball forward from Romano evaded both Parma and his marker Alderuccio, and suddenly Cacciatori was there drifting in behind to level things back up again just before the half-time whistle. At the break I had a decision to make - do we continue to attack and go for the win? Do we go more defensive, stop this crazy end-to-end football, and just try to steal a goal if we can? Sitting back could put us in danger of Imolese gaining too much of an advantage, and I was worried about allowing the opposition to take the initiative. Eddy Baggio and Daniel Fonseca seemed in the mood and there's nobody in this division who can match them this season, so I decide to carry on attacking and see if we can simply outscore the home team. Slightly Keegan-esque and not usually my style, but at this stage in the season a draw or a loss might not be good enough. Imolese appeared to have the same idea and lined up with three in attack for the second half, so I advised Sabellini and Tamburro to stay disciplined and make sure they are there to cover for our two centre backs. The first major event of the second half does not arrive until the 65th minute, when Imolese's Cacciatori lines himself up just outside the area and powers the ball towards goal. It screamed over Cinalli and thumped off the crossbar, and although Parma got to the rebound, Alderuccio was on hand to smother any chance of a follow-up and Cinalli recovered to collect the ball. The rattling of the woodwork seemed to reverberate through our team and shocked us back into life. Barely sixty seconds afterwards, Stuart Attewell put the reducer on Imolese number seven Da Costa with a crunching tackle and played a simple ball to Eddy Baggio. Baggio turned and looked for Daniel Fonseca, and the next thing you knew, a rasping 20 yard shot had flown into the roof of the Imolese net. 4-3, we had the lead back. Falling behind yet again seemed to hit Imolese hard, and the home fans started to get agitated as their side laboured to get back into the game. In the 82nd minute Pietro Alderuccio foiled them again with a great interception, and sent a long ball forward towards Eddy Baggio on the break. Baggio slipped the ball on to Fonseca as our strikers linked on the counter attack, not for the first time, and on this occasion the Uruguayan dribbled around goalkeeper Betti to complete his hattrick. It was Daniel's 4th hattrick of the season and his 7th goal in 2 matches, and it finally killed off a lively game. I withdrew Caramel to rest him and sent Alessandro Bonaffini on with instructions to make the midfield more defensive, there was no way back for Imolese this time. Final score: Imolese 3 - 5 Ragusa Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 19, 2003 Author Share Posted June 19, 2003 Friday 15th April 2005 What a game! - I don't think I could cope with rollercoasters like that every week. Each time we stepped in front in the first half, Imolese dragged us back level, and it was such an open game that for most of it you had no idea who was going to strike next. Fortunately our quality told in the second half. Daniel Fonseca was man-of-the-match with another three goals, Eddy Baggio claimed two assists, and although Pietro Alderuccio was poor in the first half, he really stepped up in the second. Pellegrino and Gallicchio were strong throughout in the centre of midfield again. There's hardly time to catch our breath before we are really thrown into the fire on Sunday. We have today and tomorrow to prepare for what could be a title decider, or certainly a turning point in the race for the championship. Varese, who won 2-0 at Giugliano yesterday to maintain their 2 point lead over us at the top, will be in Ragusa in 48 hours. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark247 Posted June 19, 2003 Share Posted June 19, 2003 out of all the places to end!!! A true cliff hanger. Great story mate. Its kept me up into the wee hours. Ever thought of writing a comedy football autbiography?? it would be better than most! You better keep it goin..im hooked Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 21, 2003 Author Share Posted June 21, 2003 Many thanks Mark, very glad that you're enjoying it. Apologies for depriving you of some sleep Sunday 17th April 2005 Varese arrive in town as Serie C2/C leaders and therefore, with five matches remaining, as the team looking most likely to get between us and the title. They had a comparitively quiet first half to the season, remaining on the fringes of the leading teams, until they popped up to second and then first during the month of January. Since then, aside from a blip in late February, Varese have emerged as a strong contender with some confident and consistent performances. Our homework on Varese has revealed a mixture of good and bad news. The good news is that Dawid Duchnowski, an excellent Polish defender on loan from Atalanta who has played a big part in their impressive season, is suspended for this match. Less encouraging is that Srdjan Novkovic is expected to return to the side, a talented Yugoslavia midfielder who has enjoyed being a thorn in our side during the recent meetings between the two clubs. We will also need to keep a close eye on 29 year old forward Fabio Lorieri, a target man with 18 goals to his name this season. Finally, Varese have won 5 and drawn 1 of their last 6 league matches. It is an easy decision for me to name the same team that has won the last two games, scoring 10 goals in the process. If anyone is feeling any fatigue from taking part in a rare midweek fixture then they are doing their best to hide it. Nobody wants to miss out on this one, it could even prove to be somewhat of a title decider between the two teams that are now most favoured to win it. Serie C2/C Ragusa v Varese Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Tamburro©, Attewell, Alderuccio, Sabellini; Caramel, Gallicchio, Pellegrino, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Baggio. The tension is palpable in the full Aldo Campo Selvaggio as the referee blows his whistle and the game gets underway. The opening period sees the teams evenly matched, with Fabio Lorieri testing his luck from long range a couple of times without success. In the 38th minute, Argentinian midfielder Franco Chiavarini burst down the right and clipped a cross into the box. Eddy Baggio helped it on, Daniel Fonseca closed in... but was denied by a stunning save along the line from Varese goalkeeper Michele Tardioli. At half-time the Fonseca chance had been our only real effort on goal, but we had at least come closer to scoring than Varese had managed. The second half began in much the same vein, with neither team able to get on top. In the 76th minute that partnership combined again, Eddy Baggio rising to flick the ball onto Fonseca, and when Fonseca sent the ball back across, Baggio was able to control, dribble around the keeper and score! We went crazy in the dugout, delighted to take the lead in such a crucial game, only for the sight of a fluttering flag to crush our dreams at the last moment. Eddy Baggio led the inquest, and unhappy reports filtered across to the sideline that Fonseca was thought to have been offside from the original flick on. The game threatened to spring to life in the 84th minute. We looked on in horror as Brognoli played Lorieri in on goal, only for Nicolas Cinalli to come up big and save bravely at the striker's feet. We immediately went on the attack at the other end, Gaspare Pellegrino linking with Eddy Baggio, but Baggio uncharacteristically dragged his shot wide across the goal. Final score: Ragusa 0 - 0 Varese Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 21, 2003 Author Share Posted June 21, 2003 Monday 18th April 2005 What had previously seemed to be an important event in the race for the divisional title, turned out to be the biggest anti-climax possible. Varese kept it tight and did a good job of suppressing any progress we tried to make down the flanks, and, bizarrely, gave us our first draw of the entire season. I suspect Varese will be very pleased with a point, but I'm not too unhappy with a draw - it would have been a complete disaster to lose and go 5 points adrift. By the same token we also missed an opportunity to regain the lead, and we had edged a close game in terms of chances. Stuart Attewell collected the man-of-the-match award for a really solid performance, one of the reasons why Varese had so few attempts of their own. With just 4 league fixtures remaining in the season, the Serie C2/C table looks like THIS. Following the anti-climax of yesterday's result, it's a case of as-you-were at the top with Varese's 2 point advantage. Catanzaro, Paterno and Frosinone are mathematically still in with a chance of the title, but really you have to think that this is a two horse race now between us and Varese. The remaining fixtures for the main two title contenders are as follows: Ragusa: Catanzaro(A), Igea Virtus(H), Tricase(A), Acireale(A). Varese: Igea Virtus(H), Acireale(A), Frosinone(H), Legnano(A). It's very difficult to say who has the easier run in with regards to opponents, but we do have three away fixtures to Varese's two. I also have to say that I don't fancy having to go to Acireale on the final day! Tuesday 19th April 2005 A tricky run-in just got harder. In training this afternoon, centrocampista Gaspare Pellegrino gave me a sinking feeling when he limped gingerly out a 5-a-side session. Salvatore's report proved that I was right to be worried, as Gaspare was diagnosed with a groin strain that will need 3 weeks to heal. He should make it back in time for the final match, but we will be without him for most of the sprint and who knows if by then it will be too late? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 21, 2003 Author Share Posted June 21, 2003 Monday 18th April 2005 What had previously seemed to be an important event in the race for the divisional title, turned out to be the biggest anti-climax possible. Varese kept it tight and did a good job of suppressing any progress we tried to make down the flanks, and, bizarrely, gave us our first draw of the entire season. I suspect Varese will be very pleased with a point, but I'm not too unhappy with a draw - it would have been a complete disaster to lose and go 5 points adrift. By the same token we also missed an opportunity to regain the lead, and we had edged a close game in terms of chances. Stuart Attewell collected the man-of-the-match award for a really solid performance, one of the reasons why Varese had so few attempts of their own. With just 4 league fixtures remaining in the season, the Serie C2/C table looks like THIS. Following the anti-climax of yesterday's result, it's a case of as-you-were at the top with Varese's 2 point advantage. Catanzaro, Paterno and Frosinone are mathematically still in with a chance of the title, but really you have to think that this is a two horse race now between us and Varese. The remaining fixtures for the main two title contenders are as follows: Ragusa: Catanzaro(A), Igea Virtus(H), Tricase(A), Acireale(A). Varese: Igea Virtus(H), Acireale(A), Frosinone(H), Legnano(A). It's very difficult to say who has the easier run in with regards to opponents, but we do have three away fixtures to Varese's two. I also have to say that I don't fancy having to go to Acireale on the final day! Tuesday 19th April 2005 A tricky run-in just got harder. In training this afternoon, centrocampista Gaspare Pellegrino gave me a sinking feeling when he limped gingerly out a 5-a-side session. Salvatore's report proved that I was right to be worried, as Gaspare was diagnosed with a groin strain that will need 3 weeks to heal. He should make it back in time for the final match, but we will be without him for most of the sprint and who knows if by then it will be too late? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 21, 2003 Author Share Posted June 21, 2003 Sunday 24th April 2005 And so the final flourish begins... and begins with arguably our toughest test of the four. We travel the relatively short distance across to the Golfo di Squillace on the south coast of mainland Italy, where Catanzaro stand in third position and can already claim a win over Varese this season. In our previous meeting back in December, goals from Fonseca and Pellegrino gave us a 2-0 home victory. We decide to show Catanzaro a touch more respect on their home turf than we did with Imolese, so I encourage the full backs and wide midfielders to not play as attacking as they usually would. Marco Cirillo will join fellow 'striker' Claudio Gallicchio to fill in at centre midfield for the injured Pellegrino. Serie C2/C Fixture #31 Catanzaro v Ragusa Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Tamburro©, Attewell, Alderuccio, Sabellini; Caramel, Gallicchio, Cirillo, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Baggio. 6500 fans are crammed into the Nicola Ceravolo stadium in Catanzaro, to cheer on their team towards their aim of securing a playoff spot. The first half gives them little to shout about though, as the two teams settle into a fairly quiet game. This is shattered in the 33rd minute. Stuart Attewell gained the upper hand in the battle of youth as he hit 17 year old striker Stefano Corona with a strong tackle, and, after Tamburro and Cirillo had exchanged passes, Tamburro sent a searching ball swirling across the Catanzaro defence towards Eddy Baggio cutting in from the right. The striker collected the pass, chipped a cross into the box, and Daniel Fonseca's run was timed to perfection to arrive and sweep the ball into the net. 1-0. At half-time Alessandro Bonaffini replaced an ineffectual Vladimiro Caramel on the left. The second half progressed with utmost similarity to the first, to the extent that Daniel Fonseca repeated his trick in the 78th minute. Eddy Baggio laid the ball wide to Chiavarini on the halfway line and went for the return, and although the ball back was sloppy, Baggio had the determination to win his tussle with both Raoul Zanutto and Mario Ausoni. In a two-on-one situation against Giuseppe Morrone, Baggio chipped the young defender and the rest was pure Fonseca. Meeting the ball in the D on the edge of the area, the Uruguayan maestro made the first-time left foot volley look like the easiest thing in the world. The top corner of Gentili's net bulged, and we had the comfort of a two goal lead. Catanzaro were unable to come back in the last 10 minutes, managing a few hopeful long range efforts around decent chances for Corona and Baggio that were saved by the respective goalkeepers. Final score: Catanzaro 0 - 2 Ragusa Two more goals for Fronseca and an efficient victory confirms our guaranteed place in the playoffs, but an 80th minute penalty by Duchnowski sealed a 1-0 win for Varese over Igea Virtus, maintaining the 2 point lead with 3 matches remaining. We are also now 9 points ahead of third placed Paterno, so what looked like a two team race is now mathematically so (thanks to our insurmountable advantage in the goal difference column). Elsewhere, Monza were confirmed as the early champions of Serie C2/A and secured their promotion to Serie C1 for next season. In the report of their 3-1 win over Pavia today, I was interested to read that the increasingly frustrated Giancarlo Ferrara was sent off in the first half. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 22, 2003 Author Share Posted June 22, 2003 Wednesday 27th April 2005 Defender Pietro Alderuccio joins Gaspare Pellegrino on the treatment table with a groin strain of his own, so they will share the next two weeks on the sideline and should both return for the last day of the season. I managed to get away from injuries and promotion chasing for a couple of hours tonight, by settling down in front of the television with snacks and a nastro azzuro for one of the biggest matches of the season. It is the Champions League Quarter Final 2nd Leg, and a sea of over 85,000 people is overflowing in the San Siro for the Milan derby. Inter had a 3-1 lead from the first leg, but in a stunning second leg the red half of Milan explode with an emphatic 6-1 destruction of their rivals, Ukranian forward Andriy Shevchenko netting a hat-trick in the process. Inter can point to the missed presences of Vieri, Recoba and Crespo who were all unavailable, and gain slight consolation from the fact that they still have a 1 point edge over their opponents as the same two teams fight it out at the top of Serie A. At Old Trafford, a brace from Ruud van Nistelrooy gives Manchester United a 2-1 win and helps them sneak through their tie by the narrowest of margins, eliminating fellow 1999 finallists Bayern Munich 4-4 on aggregate thanks to the away goals rule. Spanish sides Barcelona and Deportivo also progress to the semis, at the expense of PSV and Leverkusen respectively. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 22, 2003 Author Share Posted June 22, 2003 Sunday 1st May 2005 Igea Virtus are down in 13th place and not having the best of times, losing 6 of their last 7 matches. While we attempt to make that 7 in 8, Varese are over on the east coast of Sicily to see how they fare at Acireale. Serie C2/C Fixture #32 Ragusa v Igea Virtus Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Tamburro©, Attewell, Italia, Sabellini; Caramel, Gallicchio, Cirillo, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Baggio. The first half is not exactly all one way traffic, but we do manage to end the period with our noses in front. In the 36th minute it was Vladimiro Caramel's incisive low crossfield pass that found Eddy Baggio wide open on the edge of the area, and Eddy drew the keeper before firing into the net with the confidence of someone who had already done that 33 times this season. We started to gain more control over the match as the second half progressed, and on the hour Daniel Fonseca made it 2-0. Marco Cirillo played a pass to Gallicchio, Gallicchio sent Baggio through, and his square ball allowed Fonseca to sweep home our second goal. This seemed to kill the unhappy visitors off and it was plain sailing from then on. I brought Giuseppe Lenea on in place of Cinalli, just to get him some playing time again. In the 84th minute Eddy Baggio made it 35 for the season from Fonseca's curling cross, finishing clinically off the inside of the far post to complete what had turned out to be a comfortable victory. Final score: Ragusa 3 - 0 Igea Virtus We had done our job and the reward was two-fold, as news arrived minutes after the final whistle that Acireale had held Varese to a 2-2 draw! I announced the good news in the changing room, much to the delight of the players, that we had gone back to the top of the table on the basis of goal difference. With just two matches left, this could be the breakthrough we were hoping for! The events of the day have left the Serie C2/C table looking like THIS. Over in England, Manchester United were confirmed as Premiership champions today. They completed the job with a 3-0 win over previous holders Newcastle, who lag behind in 6th place. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 Hey Nerf,I'm finally back.I was at vacation so coudn't follow but now I picked in again,just read the 3 last posts... Now win those 2 remaining matches and let's hope Varese won't do the same! Forza Ragusa! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 24, 2003 Author Share Posted June 24, 2003 Nice to hear from you again Juventinogdt, I hope you had a nice vacation Sunday 8th May 2005 The journey across to Tricase is a nervous one, every member of the squad well aware that this really is crunch time. The title is going to go down to the last day anyway, but today's results will have a massive impact on the way the final matches take shape. We cannot afford to slip up now and let Varese take a commanding step into the driving seat. There is also the added bonus that if we win and Varese do the unlikely by failing to get any points against Frosinone at home, then our lead in the goals column could make us all-but champions today. Our hosts are rock bottom of the division, and it is as good as impossible for them to avoid finishing the season there. Tricase need to win both of their last two matches and claw back a large gap in goal difference if they want to save themselves, so it's a fair bet that they know they might as well be relegated already. That said, they might want to finish up with some pride in front of their home fans and no away game is ever easy. Alderuccio and Pellegrino are still not fully recovered, Lupo returns to the bench after his injury, and the starting eleven is unchanged from the one that cruised past Igea Virtus last week. Serie C2/C Fixture #33 Tricase v Ragusa Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Tamburro©, Attewell, Italia, Sabellini; Caramel, Gallicchio, Cirillo, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Baggio. I'm on edge as I walk to my position in the dugout, praying that we can get off to a good start and settle down quickly. Someone up there was obviously listening, as in the 11th minute two Tricase defenders got in a comical mixup and Eddy Baggio pounced to capitalise, lobbing the keeper for 1-0. The early goal does our tense team the world of good, and when Franco Chiavarini latched onto Sabellini's throw-in down the right wing in the 25th minute, his cross was met by the diving form of Daniel Fonseca for the second. The half threatened to end on a less pleasing note however. Tricase have a young English striker by the name of Alex Knowles, a Sheffield Wednesday youth product, and when he collected the ball outside our area, Cinalli could only spectate as a cleanly struck shot flew over him into the net. It would be 2-1 at half-time then, an entirely different prospect, and no doubt the home side would be encouraged by pulling one back. I was already running through in my head what I was going to say during the break, when we immediately sprang on the attack from the restart. Simone Tamburro got down the left, volleyed a hard cross into the area, and Eddy Baggio went one better with a crunching volley that almost ripped the net. That's a relief. Alessandro Bonaffini replaced Caramel at half-time to add some fresh legs, and also save Vladi for our trip to his former club next week. We killed the game off early in the second half with a goal that pretty much summed up our season in a nutshell, Eddy Baggio playing a simple cross into Fonseca's path for his partner to finish. The remaining 35 minutes was a stroll in the park, Tricase already knew they were relegated and the home fans were in sombre mood. For the last 10 minutes I rested Daniel Fonseca and the tiring Dario Italia to give Lupo and Guastella a quick run out, and although Tricase lifted themselves briefly to attempt a final flourish, they never really threatened Cinalli and we got the three points that we needed. The final whistle confirmed Tricase's fate as a Serie D team next season, but we couldn't care less. Time to nervously await the result from Varese. Final score: Tricase 1 - 4 Ragusa The result filters through before we board the coach home... Varese 1... Frosinone 0. A single Stefano Brognoli goal on 62 minutes had been enough for Varese to collect three points of their own, and as predicted we face a week on tenterhooks before the final Sunday arrives. Claudio Gallicchio is the unfortunate one, because the yellow card he picked up today means that he will be suspended for the trip to Acireale. So the title race will indeed go down to the last fixture. The table is set up like THIS. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 24, 2003 Author Share Posted June 24, 2003 Friday 13th May 2005 It might be unlucky for some, but Friday the 13th brings good news as both Pietro Alderuccio and Gaspare Pellegrino came through a full day's scrutiny yesterday and were passed as fully fit this morning by Salvatore. Understandably the training ground has hung heavy with tension all this week, but the players have actually spent more time here in the past 4 days than in any previous week. Rather than shy away and try to escape the frayed nerves, the vast majority of the squad have preferred to stay most of the day and do various low intensity exercises or just hang around. Stuart, Gaspare and Franco have often been seen relaxing with some casual head-tennis in the shade of our unkempt old tennis court, and Claudio, Danilo, Nicolas and Alessandro have spent most of their free time mixing with various other members of the squad in the lounge area. The mood is good though the nerves are there, but you'd think it odd if they weren't. There is also an undercurrent of determination, a quiet buzz of excitement, and team spirit is genuinely sky high. On Sunday they could be trophy winners, and next season they could be playing in Serie C1. The possibility that that might not transpire, well, best not to think about it too much. "...chi sa... si, spero cosi... il cuore, si, si... grazie... ciao, vedali presto. Ciao, ciao." Clutching a package, I pass Simone Tamburro talking on his cellphone in the car park as I return to the training ground ahead of the afternoon session. My package is dropped off in the 'video room' - a spare room with an old television and a few rickety chairs - ready for tomorrow morning, when we would be going over those tapes of our previous meeting with Acireale in January. Shortly afterwards my own phone rings; it is Corrado Vaccarro, now assistant manager at Altemura, sending his well wishes for the coming weekend. By the time the call ends, Antonio is already outside preparing the equipment for the week's penultimate training session. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
veelhousen Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 COME ON BOYS Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gino Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 C'mon Ragusa! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninjafish Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 stop it! put us outta our misery!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 25, 2003 Author Share Posted June 25, 2003 You don't get let off that easily Ninjafish Thanks for the support guys, hope you enjoy the game... Sunday 15th May 2005 Sunday morning finally arrived and we were on the coach making the short drive across to Acireale on the east coast of the island. This is it, our cup final. It isn't quite win-or-bust, as whichever team is disappointed today would still have a second chance at promotion in the playoffs, but I knew Varese would be coveting that automatic promotion spot as much as we were. 9 months of toil and conquest, and a couple of months of hope, is too much to risk on the lottery of the playoffs now. We undoubtedly had the trickier task ahead of us. Acireale in 7th position have won 1, drawn 2 and lost 2 of their last 6 matches, including a draw with our challengers for the title. We have also only beaten them once in my almost-three years at the club. Varese meanwhile are staying up in north Italy to visit Legnano, the team down in 17th place who have lost 5 of their last 6. Our away record over the season is slightly better than Varese's, but on paper you could say they have the easier fixture. The beacon of light for us is our goal difference, an advantage of some 20 goals that Varese simply won't be able to overcome, so we know that as long as we match whatever they achieve in Legnano, we will win the division. I can think of much more reassuring positions to be in, but I suppose I'd rather have that than not have it. The fact remains that really we are going to have to come and win. I impart my final instructions to the nervous players as kick-off approaches. I want Gaspare to hold deep and make sure the middle of the pitch isn't left uncontested, and for the fullbacks to stay defensive and keep the back line solid. The worst thing that could happen would be to concede an early goal. Captain Simone Tamburro stalked around the visitor's changing room dispersing encouragement and then led the eleven out onto the pitch. Serie C2/C Fixture #34 Acireale v Ragusa Ragusa lineup - Cinalli; Tamburro©, Attewell, Alderuccio, Sabellini; Caramel, Cirillo, Pellegrino, Chiavarini; Fonseca, Baggio. The Tupparello is bouncing; Acireale have some of the most passionate fans in Serie C2, especially for a Sicily derby. Pink and orange flares billow gaudy smoke around the edges of the running track encircling the pitch, and the biancazzura away fans are giving their best behind the goal. Acireale make all the early pressure, forcing Nicolas Cinalli into making a couple of saves. I don't know if it is nerves or the competence of the home side, perhaps both, but we struggle to get any sort of rhythm going at all in the first period. In fact, we aren't even able to manage a single shot on goal in 45 minutes and we haven't looked like changing the 0-0 scoreline. The news from Legnano at half-time is that Varese are also being held 0-0, so as things stand, with 45 minutes of the regular season to go, we still have our slender grasp on the title. I try to get some motivation into the players during the break, urging Franco Chiavarini and Vladimiro Caramel to start getting involved on the ball down the wings, and reminding Gaspare Pellegrino and Marco Cirillo to keep it tight in the middle. Minutes after the restart, coach Leo Pellegrino gives me a tap on the shoulder as I shift nervously in the technical area. It was a phonecall from Massimo Fiorillo, our scout in Legnano, with news that Varese have started the second half with a bang; Stefano Brognoli has repeated his heroics of last week with a goal right from the off, and Varese lead 1-0 at Legnano. "Ciò non è buona", understates Leo. Varese have one hand on the trophy, it is being lifted out of our reach... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
American Football Fan Posted June 25, 2003 Share Posted June 25, 2003 Oh come on, you're going to stop there! Keep it coming! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gino Posted June 25, 2003 Share Posted June 25, 2003 C'mon Ragusa! (again & louder!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gino Posted June 25, 2003 Share Posted June 25, 2003 C'mon Ragusa! (again & louder!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerf Posted June 25, 2003 Author Share Posted June 25, 2003 I flag Vladi down as he passes the dugout, and the news is quickly distributed amongst the team. It's a sharp shock to the system, and shouts of determined encouragement start emanating from Tamburro, Sabellini and Cirillo. In the 57th minute, a ball up the pitch by Simone Tamburro is nodded down by Daniel Fonseca, looking for Eddy Baggio. Baggio tussles with Acireale's Lo Monaco, a fight that his strength wins, and our entire dugout is up off the bench as the striker forces his way into the right side of the penalty area. Somehow he manages to dig out a cross despite the attentions of the defender, sending the ball skipping back across the penalty spot, and suddenly Daniel Fonseca is arriving, centrally, 15 yards out. The elegant shape is perfection, the stance natural, the left foot swinging smoothly around... an immaculate, glorious volley, and the ball crashes into the back of the net! Acireale keeper Nicola Pavarini is sprawling, Daniel Fonseca is wheeling towards Eddy Baggio in celebration, and all our subs and staff are leaping along the touchline like crazy people. When the officials have restored order to our wayward substitutes and the game is preparing to resume, it sinks in that we are 1-0 up and back on top of the table via goal difference. All we need to do is keep it tight and keep things as they are, and nothing that happens up in northern Italy will matter. In the 72nd minute I send Alessandro Bonaffini on to replace Marco Cirillo, who has been struggling to show his usual form, to get some fresh legs in midfield. The game is being reduced to a midfield battle, with little in terms of attacking or goalmouth action, but that suits us down to the ground. When the long, long minutes finally tick round past the number 80, I withdraw Caramel and send on experienced defender Dario Italia, mainly due to Vladi's tiring legs, but also to sit Dario in the holding role in midfield and just try and shut up shop with an impenetrable barrier of him and Pellegrino in front of the defence. Bonaffini takes over on the left for the last ten minutes. With three minutes remaining of the ninety, Acireale number 8, Bevo, picks the ball up deep in midfield and chips it into the feet of Mastrolilli, at the corner of our penalty area. The target man holds it up and lays it back to Bevo following up, who throws a dummy and deftly slips a pass sideways into the path of Cardinale, centralised, little over 25 yards from goal. I hold my breath as the Acireale player alters his approach on the rolling ball, preparing to plant his left foot. Gaspare Pellegrino, scrambling, lunging desperately to block, will not get there in time. The connection of the right boot with its target was a loud thump. The sound of the ball scraping harshly, down the back of the net, reverberated down my spine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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