A Return To Form

I know, I know - I haven't posted for a while. This is mainly down to laziness, but also due to the fact that I think there's only about three of you that read this! However, given the position Venezia find themselves in, I feel I must return to my blogging ways...

So since I last wrote, Venezia went through a very up and down period. A horrible run at the start of April where we picked up only 3 points from four games saw us plummet from second to fifth, and any hopes of winning the championship outright were gone. More worringly, it looked like the playoffs were going to elude us as well. The last four games of the season were Grosseto (1st place) away, Sassuolo (2nd) at home, Lucchese (7th) away and Pisa (3rd) at home. Add the fact that one of our main competitors for a playoff spot, Monza, had a better head to head record against us, and it meant our hopes were hanging by a very thin thread.

But in the face of adversity, there's hope - and somehow we threw aside our miserable form to go on a great run. A gutsy 0-0 draw away to Grosseto was followed by a convincing 2-0 home victory over Sassuolo. Another 0-0 away to Lucchese (you didn't expect us to win away?!) meant we had to beat Pisa at home to stand any chance of making the playoffs. But it wasn't that simple. We also needed either Cremonese to hold Cittadella to a draw, or for Pizzighettone (17th) to get an unlikely away victory at Monza. The latter, of course, was never going to happen, but the former? We could but hope...

I actually managed to find out the game was being shown on an obscure channel that dad had n his satellite, so we settled down to watch it - Venezia-Pisa, the culmination of a season in 90 minutes. Pisa needed a win, you see, to try and win the league outright. It was a predictably tight affair with few chances. I kept checking the internet for the Cremonese-Cittadella score. 30 mins - 0-0. HT 0-0. 60 mins 0-0. Please boys, get us a goal...

Unfortunately, it just looked like one of those days it was never going to happen. It was a tight cagey affair (unsurprising given Pisa are the league masters of the 0-0 - they are the true old-school Italian team). 85 mins - I check the score in the Cittadella game. Still 0-0. If only we could score, the playoffs would be ours! But it just didn't look likely. We were pressuring Pisa more, the news of Grosseto winning meaning that they had no chance of winning the league, but we weren't really creating anything. 90 mins. I check the Cittadella score again - still 0-0. If only we could have scored. Me and Dad start saying how it was a good season anyway, but that it may be tough for the team to lift themselves for the challenge next season. It's not an easy league to get out of and they had set themselves up to push for it this season. It was a shame it had to end this way.

Then the 95th minute - Rebecca gets the ball in the left hand corner of the pitch. He looks up and plays a pass across the edge of the box to Romondini, who manages to hit a fairly weak shot...I'm already almost cursing when the net bulges!! GOL!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOL GOL GOL!!!!! YES!!! They did it, they did it! How they did it, I don't know - the shot was crap, but it was right in the corner and the Pisa keeper seemed to see it late and by the time he dived he only succeeded in helping it into the net. Cue myself and dad jumping around like madmen - I look back at the TV. It's over - Romondini scored with literally the last kick of the game!

I checked the internet quickly and awaited the final score from Cremonese - 0-0! We were there, and by the narrowest of margins. Venezia, Monza and Cittadella finished on the same points, but in the little league table involving only games between us, we also all had the same points (5)! However, we had a +1 goal difference, Monza had 0 and Cittadella had -1. Talk about a close call! Monza and ourselves in the playoffs, Cittadella miss out by a goal.

So, here we are. Saturday is the first leg of our playoff semi-final, where incredibly we meet Pisa again. We're at home in the first leg, and given our away form this season, we need a win or we're done for I think. It will be very very tough, but I think the boys have rediscovered their belief after losing it only 5 or 6 weeks ago. Next week is the Pisa leg - a match I hope to go to, if I can get tickets in the away end (and it's worth going to - ie. we don't lose 2-0 at home or something). Exciting times in the Laguna...here's hoping for even more excitement over the next few weeks!

FORZA VENEZIA!