Well Worth The Visit!

Venezia 5-0 Pro Patria

Well, that was worth the price of flights and hotel alone. The Lagunari put on a tremendous show last week for my visit to the Penzo, thrashing Pro Patria and playing some nice football while they were at it.

When Moro scored the first after five minutes, you knew it was going to be a good day. Collauto, our captain and the best player on the park, broke down the right wing and crossed the ball to the far post for Moro to head in. There was a slight scare a few minutes later when a Venezia old boy, Fabian Valtolina, hit the bar with a 30 yard volley, but we soon got our second - another Moro header, this time from a cross from the left wing after good work by Pradolin. Moro had a couple of chances to grab a first half hattrick, most notably after Pradolin slalomed past four players and laid it on a plate for him, but he chipped tamely into the goalkeeper's arms.

The performance was so dominant that the only question after halftime was whether we woud continue to press for more goals. In fact, we did change style slightly, allowing Pro Patria to attack (without creating anything) and then hitting them on the break. Gennari got our third - Pradolin again going down the left and crossing, Gennari chipping the ball over the keeper then following it up to head into the net. Moro then came off for the legendary Paolo Poggi, who added the last two - the first a beautiful chip after he broke the offside trap, and the second a late penalty in injury time.

It really was great to be there when that happened - definitely makes me want to see them play more (though I wonder if I would have been saying that if we lost...of course I would!) Standout players are the aformentioned Collauto, Moro and Pradolin, but the whole team look pretty good for that level and we play a nice passing game. Definitely gives hope for the rest of the season - even with their subsequent result, which I'll post about in a minute...!