With three penalties missed in a row and three games in a row with a player dismissed for a red card, Castel Rigone was looking for their fortunes to change in week 14 vs. Aprilia.

The previous week had brought on a strong performance away vs. ACD Foggia, but a missed penalty (this time by Di Paola, who had just substituted for Tranchitella) and a red card had squashed a comeback from 2-0 for the white-and-blues from Umbria (video highlights for both matches below).

Much of the week’s papers concentrated on the maledizione, or “curse” that seemed to befall the club’s strikers from the penalty spot, a place where about 75% of penalties are normally successful (the figure drops to 69% under the pressure of an end-of-match penalty shootout and (eek) to 14% when a player has to score to keep a team alive in a shootout). Pressure matters…