RDP – CANDY MAKES YOU DANDY

It took Le Bombon Rose all of five seconds post opening whistle to remind FC Mangia Cakes that their championship dreams were about to sour.

The lanky Younes Lachgar and his hair-commercial posse jumped to an early 4-1 lead, locking down the field like a Russian chessboard and simply waiting for their opponents to slip up. FC Mangia Cakes did pry their way back into the game by taking advantage of two near-identical free kicks in deep. But a pair of insurance goals in the second half allowed Le Bombon Rose to bring home their first championship before a frantic crowd.

To be clear, none of the RDP finals were short on drama.

In C4 action, fourth-seed Artemide FC had managed to build a 4-2 lead against FC Curva well into second half, when what looked like a harmless own-goal deflection off defender Joseph Muro would eventually come back to haunt them. With literally only seconds on the clock, FC Curva’s Danny Mucciacciaro would tap home the game-tying goal to force overtime. However, a pair of selfless Giuseppe-Poprawa feeds for teammate Juliano Cobuzzi (who finished with three on the night) would bury FC Curva’s comeback hopes, as Artemide held on for the 8-6 win.

It must also be mentioned that Cafe Victoria’s, who came into the C1 Division final after undressing heavy favourites Rip City in the semis, would claw back from a harrowing 5-2 deficit against a stacked Penne Arrabiate side to pull off a near-miraculous 7-6 championship victory in overtime.

And last but not least, striker Massimo Guido would strike on five separate occasions as Average Joe’s held on for one heck of a 7-6 rollercoaster ride against Italtech, proving – at least this time – that the playoff panel still recognizes a winner when they see one.

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