The freezing temperatures that hit the area and the results certainly not congruous with the two teams’ early season objectives, are the prelude to a race which, according to my previous experiences, will see very few present. If we add to this the final, almost simultaneously, of the Italian handball cup between Fasano and Bressanone (later won by the latter), the result is that today only the most in love with the local football team are present at the “Vito Curlo”.
In the south curve, with the LOOSE FASANO 1988 who have recognized each other behind the banner since the beginning of the season FORWARD ULTRASthe ultras of Locorotondo are present, twinned with the home fans, while the guests, present in about 30 units, in line with the initial preamble, identify themselves behind the patch RESPECT FOR THE MOLFETTA; both groups will ignore each other for the duration of the race.
At the start of the match, the home curve, which makes a good display of very colorful flags with ideological symbols and mottos, shows a banner towards Sante Fanigliulo, a former Fasano footballer, who, in the 2016 derby, gave victory to his fellow citizens in the “Franco Fanuzzi” derby in Brindisi, and today he is facing a much more important match against a bad opponent: the whole stadium gives him the right applause by forcefully chanting his name.
The two teams come from a troubled week with the home defeat against Nardò del Molfetta and on the Gladiator field that of Fasano, which is why exasperated tactics reign supreme. Even their respective fans feel the game in a particular way and, paradoxically, even if the draw does not help either of them, with the penultimate guests and the hosts outside the playoff grid, neither of them is dangerous, except for a crossbar blue-and-white playmaker Vincenzo Corvino.
The home fans try to push the team towards a victory that would mean points, morale and classification, always very short and led by Cavese, chased by six formations from Puglia, while the guests cheer in fits and starts, intent more than anything else on following the match and not even remotely repeating the excellent cheering performance of last season.
Of note are two other banners from the Fasanese side to greet a friend who died during the week and in solidarity with the Empolese fans, twinned with them, affected by the umpteenth repressive measures, which is why choirs of the same content are also sung for this purpose.
The first half ended goalless, amid moans, to tell the truth exclusively from the grandstand: unfortunately the times are long gone when coach Tisci’s band offered a show and many asked for his head.
The second half begins with two substitutions made by the coach from Genoa, but from breaking latest news by adoption, who evidently is not satisfied with the performance of his players but, after a few minutes, a defensive ingenuity allows Longo, on a penalty kick, to give coach Bartoli’s boys the advantage amidst the raptures of the following supporters, who are looking forward to a victory after a long fast.
As often happens after a disadvantage and an initial slip, the home formation takes courage pushed by its fans. A pole strangles the screams of those present in the throat, in the end there will be three, also testifying to the bad luck that accompanies the local blue-and-whites.
Fasano implements a forcing that squeezes the opponents in their own area, and a naivety of the host defender Lobianidze, sent off for having hit a home player, allows them to play the last ten minutes in numerical superiority. The Georgian footballer himself will be energetically reprimanded upon leaving by his own fans, who present the capitulation, which arrives shortly after thanks to Divittorio born in 2003 with the complicity of the very young guest goalkeeper born in 2004 Diame, amidst the jubilation of the home crowd who by now had lost all hope.
The last minutes are an attack with the white weapon and, with the entry of two other attackers and without the defensive phase, Fasano creates two more clear chances, not turning them into the net and thus ending up closing the match for 1- 1.
At the triple whistle, the disappointment on the twenty-two on the pitch and in the stands is palpable, and both fans face their players with a hard face asking for the maximum effort in honoring the jersey of their city.