PESARO – In a “strange” championship like the A2 nothing is as it seems: the Pesaro-Roseto spin-off match on paper seemed like a walk in the park for the home team, but between injuries and even trivial errors, it turned into an ordeal until the 40th minute, with a victory that was truly a close call. Pesaro still without Tambone, struggling with low back pain, fields Felder in the quintet, together with Maretto, Bucarelli, Virginio and Miniotas. Liofilchem responds with Robinson, Cinciarini, Timperi, Del Chiaro and Cannon. The guests don’t want to be sacrificial victims and leave fiercely, but the quality of the people from Pesaro is superior. Maretto is on Robinson’s trail. At 4’30” it’s 12-4 (Virginio triple). At 3’15” Felder gets hurt, leaving the field and heading straight to the locker room, touching his groin. Despite the ailments, VL is ahead 22-11 at the first turning point. Roseto relies on Laquintana, Donadoni and Cannon’s muscles. At 8’13” the recovery materializes: 22-19. Pesaro gets back on top, with De Laurentiis placing two consecutive 2+1 plays (33-24 at 4’41”). Finelli deploys three big men on the pitch (Landi, Del Chiaro and Petrovic) to stem Miniotas’ excessive rebounding power. And it is the former Petrovic who signs the new rapprochement (33-30). The game progressed at an elastic pace, with VL ending the first half ahead by 5 points: 42-37. Roseto has to do without Cannon, injured, who also remained in the locker room. Leka’s team starts again with Maretto and Miniotas: 54-43 at 6’51”. Vuelle takes the lead at 59-45. Petrovic’s 4th foul doesn’t help the guests. 68-51 at 1’27”. However, Laquintana has a jolt before the end of the third quarter: 70-57. Liofilchem wants to try all the way anyway, with Robinson leading their team. 76-69 at 4’17”. However, Vuelle manages to manage the advantage by playing with time. Del Chiaro scores -4 (76-72). Then everything happens: Virginio makes a mistake on the entry and on the reversal it is a more technical foul in Pesaro. Petrovic thanks him and brings his team to -2 (76-74 at 3’16”). Del Chiaro equalized and Pesaro again overcame Miniotas. The Vitrifrigo Arena becomes bedlam. In the competition to see who makes the most mistakes, Bucarelli breaks the inertia with two free throws for the +4 at 13.9”, but Cinciarini draws the triple from the hat for the new -1 (80-79) at just 2.9”. Trucchetti purposely misses the 2nd free throw and Del Chiaro fails in the final Ave Maria. 80-79 the final with a lot of effort for Pesaro.
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