MATCH REPORT; Madison Celtic 3 Newtown 2

Season kicks off with a bang....and a few punches!

Madison Celtic announced their arrival back into the top division with a raucous,volatile season opener. Two red cards, four yellows and five goals only tells half the story of a game that Madison had in the bag until a sending off sent them into a mini tail spin.

Nothing can beat a beautiful sunny day, a full squad and the green and white hoops running out onto their home field for the first game of the season. Celtic were uncertain how their strong end of season form from last year would carry through to the top division. Those justifiable concerns were soon blown away by a very confident start as they took charge of the match early on and pushed the surprised Newtown team onto the defensive. A strong attacking start to the game was rewarded at the twenty minute mark when a foul was won on the left edge of the Newtown penalty box. Enrique sent in a wicked curling ball into the box which was met by the onrushing defensive dynamo, La Boca, to score the first goal of the season and a deserved one nil lead. Celtic pressed their advantage with strong midfield tackling by new captain, Roniildo and brave defending by Ron the Toe. Madison attacked the Newtown box with wave after wave of attack from the strong running of Jorge and Enrique. But it was the skillful and tenacious play of Carlito that set up the second goal for Celtic. A poor defensive clearance by Newton allowed Carlito to steal the ball off the feet of their last defender releasing the ball to Jorge who scrambled the ball into the net. Concerns that the attack may have lost some of its fire power because of the missing top scorer of last season, Ro Ro, were beginning to ease. Even the new goalie El Gutso had a relaxed first half. The Newtown attack was so anemic that El Gutso could have spent the first half watching the game from a deckchair whilst leafing lazily through a copy of Leo Tolstoy's 'War and peace'. All that changed, however, in a florrid start to the second half when Enrique was harshly sent off for violent conduct. This event seemed to break the spell that Madison had on Newtown as they then mounted attack after attack. Some great defending and superb saves by El Gutso kept Madison Celts two goal advantage until the 7oth minute when a high looping ball bounced over our last defender, La Boca, allowing the Newtown striker to run into the box and slam a great shot past the blameless El Gutso. The goal really put fire into the belly of the Newtown team and very shortly after, they claimed an equalizer with a strongly aimed header from a corner kick. Although it was clear the Madison goalie was unfairly impeded, the goal stood. With a man down and the game ebbing away from them Madison could have crumbled but instead they thrillingly launched into attack and with less than ten minutes left on the clock a ball swung into the Newtown penalty area, more in hope than design, was edged into the net by comeback 'kid' Tom Judge. With their lead restored the Mad Celts held on to the end when an increasingly bad tempered game had its final burst of energy as a Newtown striker launched a fully body assault on La Boca. The referee red carded the Newtown player and brought an end to the game. A fine 3-2 victory for the Mad Celts as they steamed back into the first division pressure cooker. Next up Guilford Hawks!

Man of the Match; El Gutso. A string of great saves kept Madison in the game when their confidence was at it's lowest.