The highlight of the 4th round in Serie A1 was an Italian water polo classic. Brescia and Pro Recco faced off in the Mompiano pool in Brescia.
Pro Recco won the first big derby in the season – 7:4. The crucial factors for Recco’s win were good defensive play and outstanding Aaron Younger. The Australian scored four goals – as all Brescia’s players together.
The other derby of the day was a clash between Savona and Trieste. Savona, the visiting team in this game, recorded a 12:10 victory.
2022/23 Italian League, Day 4
Brescia – Pro Recco 4:7 (1:1, 0:2, 2:2, 1:2)
Brescia: E.Di Somma 2, Renzuto 1, Kharkov 1.
Pro Recco: Younger 4, Fondelli 1, Velotto 1, Aicardi 1.
Trieste – Savona 10:12 (2:2, 3:5, 2:2,3:3)
Trieste: Petronio 5, Mladossich 2, Podgornik 1, Bego 1, Bini 1.
Savona: Djurdjic 5, Rocchi 2, Campopiano 2, Rizzo 2, Bruni 1
Quinto – Ortigia 8:11 (0:4, 1:3, 3:3, 4:1)
Iren Genova Quinto: A.Di Somma 2, Molina 2, Ravina 2, Nora 2.
Ortigia: F.Condemi 4, Gorria 2, Di Luciano 1, Ferrero 1, Vidovic 1, Napolitano 1, Cassia 1.
Telimar – Bogliasco 18:13 (4:3, 3:3, 6:2, 5:5)
Telimar Palermo: Irving 6, Giorgetti 5, Hooper 4, Occhione 2, Del Basso 1.
Bogliasco: Radojevic 4, Guidaldi 3, Brambilla Di Civesio 2, Blanchard 1, Gavazzi 1, Puccio 1, Canepa 1.
De Akker – Posillipo 11:8(4:0 3:3, 3:2, 1:3)
De Akker: Milakovic 3, Manzi 2,Baldinelli 2, Kadar 1, Guerrato 1, Cocchi 1, Deserti 1.
Posillipo: Abramson 3, Stevenson 2, Briganti 1, J.Lanfranco 1, Milicic 1.
Catania – Anzio 8:11 (1:2, 3:3, 3:3,1:3)
Catania: Camilleri 3, La Rosa 2, Torrisi 1, Guimaraes 1, Privitera 1.
Anzio Waterpolis: Koprcina 4, Goreta 3, Cuccovillo 1, Bajic 1, Pelicaric 1, Susak 1.
Salerno – Roma 10:6 (1:1, 3:2, 3:2, 3:1)
Salerno: Tomasic 3, Gallo 2, Barroso 2, Esposito 1, Parilli 1, Bertoli 1.
Roma: Viskovic 2, F.Faraglia 1, Mirarchi 1, Lucci 1, Spione 1.
Both defenses were up to the task in the opening minutes of the derby in Brescia; there were no goals for a while. Recco’s Aicardi broke the deadlock by converting a man-up in the 6th minute. Immediately after, Renzuto Iodice leveled, also from an extra.
Aaron Younger scored the only two goals in the second period to give Recco a 3:1 lead at halftime. In the 20th minute, Younger added his third goal. He converted a penalty for 4:1. It was the third penalty for Recco in the game. Brescia’s goalie Petar Tesanovic saved shots from Zalanki and Cannella, but the Australian’s shot was unstoppable.
Brescia’s goalless phase lasted for 15:51 minutes. Di Somma broke the hosts’ silence in the 23rd minute. Fondelli gave Recco a 5:2 lead in the next attack. Still, Di Somma closed the third quarter, so everything was still possible before the final eight minutes. Brescia trailed 3:5.
All three goals in the fourth period were scored within 48 seconds. Alessandro Velotto opened the series with an action goal. Konstantin Kharkov netted from a 6 on 5 to give Brescia some hope (4:6), but Aaron Younger replied with a long-distance shot to make it 7:4. All that happened in the 27th minute.
There were no goals in the remaining five minutes and Recco celebrated a 3-goal win in the overture before the big clash with Olympiacos in the first round of the Champions League on Tuesday. Brescia will have a demanding task at the start of the Champions Legue, as well as Recco. Brescia will play against Jug in Dubrovnik on Wednesday.
Savona’s 4:0 rush at the finish of the first and the beginning of the second quarter put the visitors on the right track in the match in Trieste. The hosts led 2:1 in the 7th minute. After that, the visitors, led by Bogdan Djurdjic, netted four goals in four minutes and turned around the 1-goal deficit to a 5:2 lead. Trieste cut the deficit to one (5:6), but the visitors had a 7:5 advantage at the middle break. After a balanced third period, Savona opened the third period with a goal for 10:7. Trieste came close once again (9:10). Still, Savona went to 12:9, while Trieste scored a consolation goal in the dying seconds.
Telimar and Bogliasco took care more of the attack than on defense, so their encounter produced 31 goals. Telimar had a 4:3 advantage at the first break. In the second period, Boglasco made a turn and went ahead (5:4, 6:5). Then, Telimar netted five goals in a row and jumped to 10:6, which was vital for their win. Three players led Telimar’s attack: two Americans, Max Irving (6) and Johnny Hooper (4), and Alex Giorgetti (5 goals). Filip Radojevic netted four for Bogliasco.
Ortigia continued its winning streak with an 11:8 victory over Iren Quinto in Genoa. The Sicilians led 7:1 after the first half. Ortigia went to 8:2 at the beginning of the third quarter and there was no way back for Quinto.
De Akker recorded its first win in the season, beating Posillipo 11:8. The Bologna-based team stunned the visitors from Naples with a 5:0 lead. Posillipo couldn’t recover from that shock. De Akker had a 6-goal lead in the middle of the last period (11:5). Posillipo’s Abramson netted the last three goals in the match and halved the gap.
Salerno beat Roma for the first points in the season.
Postponed match of Day 3
Bogliasco – Brescia 4:15 (0:4, 0:5, 2:5, 2:1)
Bogliasco: Radojevic 3, F. Brambilla 1.
Brescia: Alesiani 4, S. Luongo 4, C. Presciutti 2, Kharkov 2, E. Di Somma 2, Vapenski 1.
1.Pro Recco 4 – 12
2. Ortigia 4 – 12
3. Savona 4 – 12
4. Brescia 4 – 9
5. Telimar 4 – 9
6. Anzio Waterpolis 4 – 7
7. Trieste 4 – 4
8. De Akker 4 – 4
9. Roma 4 – 3
10. Qunito 4 – 3
11. Posillipo 4 – 3
12. Salerno 4 – 3
13. Catania 4 – 0
14. Bogliasco 4 – 0
