Game for a few close friends at Pala Carrara that of game 1, there is anything but a playoff atmosphere. The Curva also has several empty spaces and only the first 3/4 rows above the balustrade participate in the cheering.
The away sector is, as most of the cases in this “gaunt” LegaDue, bitterly empty. There are some Piacenza fans sitting in the side grandstand, away from home, who sporadically cheer on their team.
The two teams, perhaps also thanks to an almost soporific climate, give life to a decidedly bad match. As a result, typhus does not reach the usual levels of Pala Carrara.
Of note are sporadic boos and offenses by a few individuals directed at the red and white player Lorenzo Saccaggi, guilty of having conceded a three-point basket too easily at the final siren of the second quarter.
In the second half, the canvas of the race and of the Pistoia fans is almost the same as in the first two temponi. The game ends with an unexciting but still important victory for Pistoia and with the red and white players who “shirk” the usual dance under the curve, pointing out to the fans that they will only celebrate when Pistoia wins the third game of the series, and therefore upon reaching of the semifinal.
Just two days after the first match won by the Tuscans, the second part of this first playoff round is underway.
The atmosphere and above all the participation are decidedly different from the previous one: the Mayhem in fact it offers a brilliant, charged and constant performance. The numbers and the contribution of the curve honor the quality and consistency offered by the red and white group during the course of the season.
Despite a shocking start resulting from the 0-9 partial, the Pistoia supporters certainly do not lose heart and, after having gathered the public to give their team a fair applause, do their utmost to support and help the players, who they promptly accept the invitation. It’s crazy to think about the level of support maintained today, compared to the performance in race 1 on Saturday. Angry choirs, arms well raised, use of scarves are the fundamental points that have a positive influence on today’s support. On the other hand, if we really want to find a mole in the day, the arrangement within the sector could be improved: the boys in red and white alternate days in which they compact by distributing themselves evenly (obviously without resorting to squares, rulers and protractors that some corners seem to use on their positioning) to others in which there is a clear imbalance in the number of fans on one side of the central pole compared to the other.
The progress of the match also encourages the rest of the audience, which often participates in vocal support in the most popular choirs, as well as following the curve when it resorts to clapping.
Pistoia then also brings home game 2, thus finding a match point in the next round to close the contest.
Text by Mirco Civoli and Edoardo Pacini
Photo by Andrea Del Serra
We are 1:
We are 2: