Napoli Primavera needed an 89th minute own goal to secure all three points in Saturday’s match against Monopoli U19. The victory marked the Azzurrini’s fifth win in their last six matches.
The run of form coincides with the return of two youth players in late January. Trequartista Alessandro Spavone and striker Antonio Pesce were both loaned to Pro Vercelli in July, following in the footsteps of former Primavera teammates Antonio Vergara and Coli Saco. Neither made much of an impact at the Serie C club. Spavone made 8 appearances (7 starts) through 23 rounds, while Pesce featured only once in the Coppa Italia Serie C.
Upon returning to Napoli, the pair immediately made their presence felt, combining to score a 92nd-minute match winner against Ternana U19. Playing with ten men after Alfonzo De Luca’s straight red card, Spavone played a backheel pass to Pesce in the area and the striker made no mistake with the finish. The goal marked the first goal contribution for either player in any competition this season.
Prior to the Matchday 17 victory, Napoli were 7th in the Primavera 2B table (tied with Ternana and Cosenza on 22 points), four points behind Perugia in the final promotion playoff spot. The Azzurrini have since risen to fourth in the table. With nine matches remaining and a slender two-point advantage over Perugia, who are now in sixth position, Napoli have plenty of work to do. Nevertheless, the they are far more optimistic about qualifying for the promotion playoff than they were a month ago.
Primavera 2 Promotion Playoff
Primavera 2, the Serie B of youth football in Italy, consists of 32 clubs spread across two divisions: Primavera 2A and 2B. The top team in each division (currently Cremonese U19 and Cesena U19 on 54 and 52 points, respectively) will earn automatic promotion to the Serie A of youth football, Primavera 1. The clubs ranked 2nd through 5th in each division (eight teams in total) will compete in the promotion playoff. The playoff consists of Quarterfinals, Semifinals and a Final, each of which are a single-leg elimination match. The clubs with the highest ranking at the end of the regular season will play at home and the Quarterfinal matches will be played as follows:
- Q1 – 2nd in Primavera 2A vs 5th in Primavera 2B
- Q2 – 3rd in Primavera 2A vs 4th in Primavera 2B
- Q3 – 2nd in Primavera 2B vs 5th in Primavera 2A
- Q4 – 3rd in Primavera 2B vs 4th in Primavera 2A
