Winter winners in San Marino

With two games to go until the winter break in San Marino, SP Libertas and SP Tre Penne are continuing to lead the way.

Rare defeat
Group A leaders Tre Penne suffered a rare defeat in their first game of the month when they lost 1-0 at home to GS Dogana, before wins against S.S. San Giovanni and S.S. Montevito steadied the ship. They are four points ahead of second-placed S.S. Murata, who are another point clear of third-placed SP Tre Fiori, who missed the chance to take top spot with defeats in their last two games.

Libertas rampant
Their most recent reverse was at home against Group B leaders Libertas. That 2-1 win saw Libertas maintain their six point lead over second placed Dogano. Libertas sustained their impressive start to the season with narrow wins against S.S. Pennarossa and Murata in November before their weekend triumph against Tre Fiori.

Fierce competition
Having beaten the first and third-placed clubs in Group A, Tre Penne and Tre Fiori, Dogana completed an excellent month's work with a 3-0 win against SP Cosmos at the weekend. However the battle for the all important second and third slots in Group B is fierce with SC Faetano, SP Domagnano and S.S. Virtus all within three points of Dogano.

League format
The Sammarinese championship comprises 15 sides divided into two groups - one of seven and one of eight. For the first six matches of the season, teams play the other sides in their section, but from the seventh and eighth rounds onwards, the competition becomes mixed with inter-group games.

Play-off process
After all the sides have played all the teams in their group twice, home and away, and all the sides in the parallel group once, the top three sides in each group compete for the title in a final championship play-off, leading to a winner-takes-all final. Pennarossa are the reigning champions and are currently mid-table in Group B.