Serie D pre-Easter round which, as has been the case for some years now, is played on Thursday afternoons on midweek, precisely at 3 pm. I stay in the area due to work commitments, moving just a little for an interesting match in group G in that of Cassino, also to test the situation on the spot, where I haven’t been for a few years. The other half of this choice lies in the possibility of returning to see even the Nolans after the dissolution of the Essepiennewhich has been happening for some time now.
Returning to Cassino is like stepping back in time but, in addition to a city still proudly anchored in its past, the changes are evident and many here too. Even the “Gino Salveti” stadium, named after the Cassinate sports journalist and scholar, seems to have remained intact since its construction in the 1960s. In truth, the modifications sustained over the years were various, the last with the C series conquered in the 2000s, which fortunately survived the stands of the “grass sector”. The current away section did not yet exist, while the roof was later added to the main grandstand. Inaugurated in 1967, the facility could hold as many as twenty thousand people, a luxury for a center which currently has around thirty-five thousand inhabitants and which could justify the ambitions and dreams of its football soul.
Coming to today’s match, five days from the end of a decent championship, Cassino is in contention for a place in the playoffs, i.e. among the top five of the standings, a result that cannot be despised, unlike Nola which is in the middle of the playout area after in the first part of the championship he had been bringing up the rear for several days and seemed to be a serious candidate for relegation. A series of good results have even led the Campania players to leave the playout area but for salvation there are still several points missing and today’s junction is fundamental.
The public of special occasions does not flock to the “Salveti”. The ultras part settles in the usual North side grandstand with a small group of about thirty people who take their place in the usual part of the sector, but apart from a couple of flags they have no banners or anything else to represent them, while in the upper balcony they make a fine show CASSINO 1924 and another piece.
In the meantime the game begins and the Nolans begin to show themselves outside the sector they will then enter together after about ten minutes of play, greeted by the not exactly friendly choruses of the Cassinati ultras, most of them towards the Sorani ultras, present on this ‘today by their side with the patch ULTRAS SORA 1907.
In the first half the blue-and-whites, despite their number and the current moment in which their ultras movement is experiencing, cheer very well but above all constantly, with excellent clapping that characterizes the performance, as well as the waving of a flag, while on the balcony of the CASSINO 1924 a beautiful blue smoke bomb is lit.
During the match the fans continue to enter, a sign that a working Thursday is not enough to curb the passion of the fans for their team. Thus the ultras group noticeably increases in number and consequently the clapping to accompany the choirs is more substantial and also increases their intensity. Even without anything transcendental in terms of choreography, the hosts try to do their best and in a moment they all embrace each other singing a chorus that lasts for a few minutes.
Even the people from Campania in the guest sector assert themselves and above all feel a lot. After the beautiful procession with which they enter – as mentioned – slightly late, they settle down in the middle of the sector and with the patches held in hand for the entire duration of the meeting, they are the authors of excellent cheering, enriched by numerous clapping as well as the lighting of different torches in various phases of the match. There are several banners and flags that wave continuously, at the choral level their personal lineup varies greatly, intoning choruses to answer, long choruses in perfect Neapolitan style but also dry choirs accompanied by clapping. Even a football fan sprawled out on a sofa outside the balcony of his house seems to appreciate the chants that the locals sing or so I like to think since he practically follows the whole game.
In the second part of the match, the Cassinati display a banner of solidarity for the friends of Caserta, which is hung immediately afterwards on the balcony where it will remain visible for the entire duration of the match. Choreographically speaking they raise a flag with the team’s social colors as well as waving a couple of flags at the sides of the group. However, they start cheering again with less vigor than in the first fraction, perhaps also because shortly after the fifty-fifth minute Nola takes the lead.
The second part of the Nola race opens where the first ended: patches on the front line, banners and flags in the wind, lots of chants, clapping and a good dose of pyrotechnics during the match. They cheer for practically the entire ninety minutes, non-stop and rejoice at Manfrellotti’s goal which brings them incredibly ahead. Of note are the countless chants that both factions exchange against their respective friends on the curve, the Cassinati intoning chants against Sora and the Sorani, while the Nolani against the Caserta rossoblùs.
Then when it’s fifteen minutes before the end of hostilities, anything happens. Starting with the draw signed by Cassino which explodes and colors the home sector with the lighting of another blue smoke bomb. But the emotions are certainly not over given that Nola is ahead again at the eighty-second. Beautiful and prolonged exultation for a game that now seems decided, even if it is not. In fact, three minutes later, Cassino first equalized and in full recovery Ingretolli scored the goal of the definitive and daring 3-2, which delivered the three points to Cassino for the triumph of the ultras in the stands.
At this juncture, the Juventus ultras have never stopped encouraging their favorites on the pitch, singing yes for the team but also for themselves, demonstrating that the ideal is stronger than any defeat. At the triple whistle, the whole stadium of faith blue rejoices with the team celebrating under their ultras, while on the opposite side the Nolans continue to cheer although the team is under them, silenced by so much passion.
For Cassino there are three important points that earn it fourth place in the standings, in the middle of the playoff area, immediately behind the unattainable trio made up of Casertana, Sorrento and Paganese who will probably fight for the championship until the end. Nola instead sinks to fourth from last place, in the playout area where the ranking has become dangerously short: nine teams enclosed in six points with salvation therefore still to be played. After the choirs, confrontation with the team, called upon to avoid this type of gift a few minutes before the final whistle if we want to keep the category and who knows if the players will accept this type of request.
With the field cleared of its main players, there is still time for some mutual teasing that also involves their respective twins, before the curtain finally falls on this beautiful challenge. I would never have dared to expect so much from a match on a midweek day but credit goes to the two fans for their commitment, the Cassinati net of the not very high footballing motivations in this phase of the championship, the Nolani who, collectively, gave a performance with capital P.
Marco Gasparri