Good Coppa, Bad Coppa

No program, but found this poster

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Sunday 2 August at Stadio Romeo Menti, Castellammare di Stabia
Result	Juve Stabia 2 Melfi 0
Competition	Coppa Italia, First Round
Hopping	Ground 571, my second in Italy.  This is just under an hour from Sorrento where I have spent the last few days eating mozzarella cheese and tomatoes in a variety of forms.
Pre-match preparation
Both teams play in one of the three equivalent Italian third-tier leagues.  Last year’s league positions suggest the home side start as favourites. The hotel receptionist raised a concerned eyebrow (or two) for my safety when she learned that I was making the short drive independently.  I am happy to report that there was no difficulty whatsoever other than finding out where to buy a ticket, which was in the Dolce Momenti (Sweet Moments) bar just down the road.  (Noticed later that all the details were on the poster!) Tickets from this bar for those ITK I needed my passport as ID (which I had expected) so my name was printed directly on the ticket.  The passport was checked again on entry to the ground.  I chose a seat in the stands (tribunes) rather than the benches of the cheaper Curva Sud among the “ultras”.  Cost just over £11.  Here’s a couple of pre-match scene-setter clips as the crowd are warming up.  The edge of Vesuvio is just visible on the far left and Monte Faito is opposite.
This match in one sentence
A workmanlike win in high temperatures with a goal in each half to keep the home supporters singing and jumping.
So what?
Juve Stabia will be heading for an away tie at Virtus Lanciano of Serie B in the Round of 64.
The drama unfolds
It was almost 30oC at kickoff despite the late 2045 start.  I took an early match clip, with Juve Stabia in un-wasplike grey and Melfi in green … … and switched off a minute too soon as Juve Stabia striker Alessandro Gatto sent a curling shot on to the bar and down on to the goal-line.  No goal given but it must have been close.  (I later learned that it should have been given ... see below.)  The home side continued to dominate as much as the heat allowed.  Frankly the choreographed noise and posturing of the Curva Sud was more interesting to watch at times than the game itself.  My next clip, on the half-hour mark, rather summed it up – patient build-up leading to a corner, which was then wasted. Once again I had stopped filming a few seconds too soon as Francesco Nicastro set up Gatto, but Federico Gagliardini saved with his feet.  Here’s the resulting corner … I completed my hat-trick of premature clip endings as Juve Stabia took the lead.  Nicastro controlled the ball well on his chest with back to goal, then turned and shot powerfully into the roof of the net.  1-0 after 40 min and at half-time The second half started in the same pattern until, just after the hour, Juve Stabia sealed the win.  From a move down the right, the ball eventually came to Gatto in plenty of space.  He scored comfortably.  2-0 after 61 min Melfi had their best chance so far after 67 minutes.  A great ball released sub Dario Giacomarro but there was a great defensive block.  When home keeper Stefano Russo made a decent safe shortly afterwards, Melfi seemed rather to accept their fate. The rest of the game played out largely without incident.  Nothing had happened to reveal the existence of any visiting fans at all, and the home fans played some good-natured “bundling” games on the curva as the waning moon rose above Monte Faito.  Pietro Arcidiacono almost added a third goal – he had worked hard all evening on the left flank and probably deserved one.  As I got back to the car, the thermometer was still showing a temperature of 27 oC.  To sum up, love the ground, slightly disappointed with the game itself.  The home faithful don't care - they have the W.  Final score 2-0
Ground Pix
Stadio Romeo Menti has Vesuvio and Monte Faito on opposite horizons and is overlooked by the balconies of two apartment blocks.  It has an artificial surface.  For anyone visiting in the future, the nearest Circumvesuviana railway station is Via Nocera (500m) rather than Castellammare itself.
Match Pix
Something You Don’t Get in the Premier League
The lower slopes of Vesuvio
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
A win and a clean sheet for RED and a loss for ORANGE.  I am keeping this top-tracking going for another season at least in the interests of statistical validity.  This result sends RED top of the table albeit from a small number of games. The story so far: 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, -1pt for a goal conceded and +5pts for a clean sheet.  The odd half-match caused when a sub keeper wore a different colour!  Listed in order of points-per-game. P W D L GC CS Pts PPG Red 6.0 3.0 0.0 3.0 6.0 2.0 13.0 2.17 Green 32.0 16.0 4.0 12.0 42.0 11.0 65.0 2.03 Blue 15.0 6.0 3.0 6.0 22.0 5.0 24.0 1.60 Purple 7.0 4.0 2.0 1.0 13.0 2.0 11.0 1.57 Maroon 4.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 6.0 1.0 6.0 1.50 Grey 27.5 11.0 7.0 9.5 41.5 7.0 33.5 1.22 Orange 9.5 2.0 3.0 4.5 12.5 3.0 11.5 1.21 Yellow 14.0 3.0 5.0 6.0 25.0 3.0 4.0 0.29 Black 3.0 1.0 2.0 0.0 7.0 0.0 -2.0 -0.67 Radioactive Bile 6.0 2.0 0.0 4.0 12.0 0.0 -6.0 -1.00 Pink 8.0 1.0 3.0 4.0 18.0 0.0 -12.0 -1.50
Learn Italian Through Football
Fila – row Posto – seat (place) Arbitro – referee Assistenti – assistants Ammoniti – cautions (yellow cards) Spettatori paganti – paying spectators Recuperi – stoppage time Prezzo – price Primo / Secondo Tempo - first / second half Some quotes taken from the match report on the StabiaChannel website.  Acknowledgement to Mrs Y for help with translation!  L'arbitro fischia l'inizio delle ostilita - the referee blew (the whistle) for the start of hostilities Una splendida giocata - a splendid move La prima frazione è un monologo gialloblù - the first period is a yellow-and-blue monologue Gatto fa partire un bolide da trenta metri e si stampa sulla traversa - Gatto let fly a cannonball (shot) from thirty metres and it smacked on to the crossbar L'arbitro ritiene che la sfera non abbia varcata la striscia bianca tra le proteste (giustificate dai replay) del pubblico del Menti - the referee considered that the ball had not crossed the white line amid the protests (justified by replay) of the Menti crowd Nicastro riceve palla in area da Arcidiacono, si gira sul sinistro e fa partire un tiro implacabile che non lascia scampo a Gagliardini - Nicastro received the ball in the area from Arcidiacono, turned to his left and fired an unstoppable shot which gave no chance to Gagliardini Cancellotti semina il panioc sulla fascia destra e crossa al centro - Cancellotti spread panic on the right wing and crossed into the centre Un pallone vagante nell'area piccola - a loose ball in the small area (six-yard box) And finally ... Il mio aeroscivolante è pieno di anguille – my hovercraft is full of eels (running gag, blame Monty Python, see other international hops)
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!  I dare say I will take in a game somewhere tomorrow and I am particularly looking forward to the start of the FA Cup with the Extra Preliminary Round over the following weekend.