Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
Handball Aretusa lost 28-26 away to Pallamano Romagna but pushed the stronger home side to the limit after the hosts, leading by eight early in the second half, seemed to have wrapped up an easy win. Yet Santoro and his teammates never gave up, clawing back one goal after another until they were 27-26 up with 90 seconds left, and Vila Vila had the ball in his hands for a last-gasp equaliser with under a minute on the clock. Nothing, however, can be blamed on the Spaniard, who was named player of the match for Vilageliu’s side: beyond his six goals, he kept the Syracuse team afloat alongside Wermbter’s saves and a collective effort that repeatedly unsettled the Romagna defence, both at the start and in the closing stages.
A test of maturity passed, then, for an Aretusa side that stayed in the game throughout the first half, with Romagna unable to pull away (their biggest lead was just three, 11-8 at the 26th minute) because Di Martino, Vila Vila himself and Della Bina were highly effective in attack. The Italian-Argentine goalkeeper also played his part, as did substitute Salvo Attivelli, who at the 12-minute mark saved a penalty with the score at 5-3 to the hosts.
The opening of the second half was tougher, with Aretusa appearing to drift out of the match (Burgio’s one-on-one miss at the 10-minute mark, with the score 20-15, seemed the classic sign of surrender). But captain Santoro sparked the comeback with a couple of raids that brought Syracuse back to within one, reopening the contest. The hosts’ final goal, right on the buzzer, certainly does not tell the whole story: Romagna’s celebrations masked how much they had been made to tremble by the young but determined Aretusa.
“We started a bit timidly,” coach Sergio Vilageliu commented, “then we loosened up and stayed in it for the whole first half. We were less good at the start of the second, but a few tactical adjustments let us get back into the game. Unfortunately we paid for our lack of experience in matches like this, but I’m just as pleased that we held our own against a very strong side like Romagna. This is definitely the right path for us to grow.”
Pallamano Romagna – Pallamano Aretusa 28-26 (13-11)
Pallamano Romagna: Martini, Mengoli 2, Lega 1, Magnani, Pirazzoli 3, Rotaru 1, Montanari 3, Mazzini, Zavagli 3, Baldini, Ramondini 6, Ceroni 1, Folli, Rinaldo 2, Rontini 3, Bellini 3. Coach: Di Matteo.
Pallamano Aretusa: Santoro L. 2, Blanco 1, Palestro 1, Attivelli, Panicola, Di Martino 4, Vila Vila 6, Reale 1, Della Bina 6, Drechev 3, Calvo, Burgio 2, Wermbter, Vernuccio. Coach: Vilageliu.
Referees: Gramantieri and Nosco.
