By Joel Morgan, Date: 8/5/13
In the splendid setting of the Monti Rossi stadium in Nicolosi, Catania on Sunday, April 28 the finals of the Coppa Italia Rugby League were held by the Federazione Italiana Rugby Football League.
In front of over a thousand enthusiastic spectators for a new formula that saw three games played in the space of a few hours.
The USAG Roma had opened the event facing Thirteen Lovers Palermo, a new franchise in the Italian Rugby League scence. The end result (30-10) put the USAG in a position to play for the Italian Cup in the second game against the Rectores Belpasso, but objectively, it had not reflected the real value shown by the Palermo team who became the protagonists of a great performance.
The attention than turned to the hosts Rectores Belpasso who fought hard to keep the trophy in the game. The match was very balanced, with the first half going in favour for the Arlecchini Gladiators (2 tries to 0). In the second half saw the comeback of the Belpasso 13, which had them recover the two tries with two wonderful set plays, than paid with further fatigue as the USAG were ready to return with attacking prowess, with half Martellucci scoring and the excellent performance by the pitch of the Lombardi, led to the final result of 16 to 10 that has crowned USAG Roma the 2013 Coppa Italia champions!
In the final for the second and third ranking the Palermo lineup, driven by Captain Danilo Lo Re, showed off a spectacular game and only at the end of the match saw the hosts Belpasso win the second place of the 2013 Coppa Italia with a score of 28-22.
The Coppa Italia Finals were covered by national TV station Sport Italia 24 with some highlights and an interview with FIRFL president (David Massitti – in Italian): https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=m55jFVqbL8I
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