[Northwood_DK]

U.S.D. Novese - Season 2
The legacy of Vittorio Pozzo

JANUARY 2017, Part II


We have a tough month ahead of us. It's only four games but we will play # 3 Argentina Arma and then #2 Bra in back-to-back games on the road.

MR Massimo Lucarelli is finally back from injury.

So for the first game of the new year the starting 11 looks like this

GK - Michael Vezzani
DL - Gaetano Adamo
DC - Gaetano Adamo & Antonio Silvestri
DR - Francesco Savarise
ML - Nicolò Condorelli
MC - Pasquale D'Addio & Gianmaria Cucurnia
MR - Massimo Lucarelli
AMC - Luca Dimasi
ST - Denys Zhytarchuk

I add new signing Mario Tacchinardi as a sub as he can be used in so many different positions on the field.

@ F.C. Vado #19
The first game of the new year is a must win game against #19 F.C. Vado .
Either Denys Zhytarchuk have really enjoyed his christmas or perhaps he is just happy about his new contract because he shows up looking like a different player. He dominates the first 30 minutes and gives us the lead on a solo raid.
In the second half we take plenty of shots but fail to make them count. I don't feel safe with just a 1-0 lead.
We pull the AMC and give Mario Tacchinardi his first start as DM.
The last 15 minutes we try to control and F.C. Vado is never realy close. They don't have single shot on goal all day.
To make the day even better we are told that Bra lost on the road to Ischia Isolaverde and we are now alone on top of the table, three points clear.

I decide to go all inn.
I am not sure i can handle another year in this division and we can not ask for a better position before the second half of the season start.

I sign two more players.

We finally get a chance to address one of our weak points. Gaetano Adamo has not shown much as DL and we bring in some backup.
31 year old journeyman Andrea Pippa will join the team. He has played more than 300 games for 10 different clubs and will hopefully be an upgrade.

Arrigo Berera is another MC


@ S.S.D. Argentina Arma #2
We are considered favourites but counter attack sound like a good solution when playing the #2 team in the league on the road.
Mario Tacchinardi starts as a fifth midfielder in a flat 4-5-1 formation.
We give up a penalty after 27 minutes. Luckily for us it's a horrible taken penalty that not even hits the goal.
Still 0-0
It only last three minutes before we give up a goal from a corner.
5 minutes into the second half we loss track of the S.S.D. Argentina Arma top scorer Loreto Lo Bosco for a few seconds and we are behind 0-2.
Debutant Mario Tacchinardi scores after 83 minutes to pull one back. We push forward but are never close.
Only god news of the day is that Bra losses again and remains three points back in the standing where we are now tied with Argentina Arma


@ A.C. Bra #3
We are hard pressed in the first twenty minutes. But we are creating a few chances and take the same number of shots on goal as the home team.
In the 32 minute we get a penalty and Gianmaria Cucurnia make no mistakes from the spot and we can go into the half one goal ahead.
After 68 minutes we are outplayed and A.C. Bra gets the equalizer.
10 minutes before the final we are lucky when A.C. Bra hits the crossbar on a free kick.
And a few minutes later luck evens out when Zhytarchuk sees his shot bang off the upright.
The game ends in a 1-1 draw.

This was not the results I was hoping for agains the two other promotion contenders.
We are now 2 points behind Argentina Arma in the standing.


@ home vs. A.S.D. Oltrepò-Voghera #14
Finally back home and not against a top ten team.
We treat the home crowd of 1282 people to a goal already after 8 minutes. It's the well tested combination of a cross from Massimo Lucarelli and a header from Zhytarchuk that puts us in front.
We get a second after 22 minutes when a corner deflects off a A.S.D. Oltrepò-Voghera player for an own goal. And after just 30 minutes we score the 3rd of the day. This time Vincenzo Perna scores after a new corner. We have had two shots on goal and scored three goals.
The second half is a letdown and we looks complacent.
I take the opportunity to give playing time to some of the fringe players in the second half.
We get the sollid 3-0 win and the bonus when S.S.D. Argentina Arma losses on the road the we take back the table lead.

Massimo Lucarelli was the big player in the game and finished with a 9.0 Rat.
It was his fourth PoM awards already after half the season and his Rat is now a team high 7.51 AvR but he is still completely unwilling to talk about a new contract.