def is_recognized_match(score, threshold, second_score=None, min_confidence=0.35, margin=0.05):
    """Return True only when the match is both below threshold and clearly stronger than alternatives.

    This prevents false attendance when the best gallery embedding is only slightly better
    than the others or when the distance is still too high for a confident match.
    """
    if score is None:
        return False

    try:
        score = float(score)
        threshold = float(threshold)
    except (TypeError, ValueError):
        return False

    effective_threshold = min(threshold, min_confidence)
    if score > effective_threshold:
        return False

    if second_score is not None:
        try:
            second_score = float(second_score)
        except (TypeError, ValueError):
            return False
        if not (score + margin < second_score):
            return False

    return True