MATCH REPORT; New Fairfield 4 Madison 2

Away day blues continue for Madison

Madison lost their second consecutive away game today against a strong New Fairfield team leaving the coach the difficult challenge of trying to find a way to raise our game and replicate our successful home form when on the road.

Perfect playing conditions at the plush New Fairfield stadium seemed to inspire Madison Celtic to a whirlwind start. Some fine passing and possession play by the visitors allowed a number of early chances to be created. Although Madison were playing with some of their star players missing, notably Carlito and Enrique, ( and Behrooz !), they were holding the ball up well providing Jorge and Scotty some reasonable opportunities to run at goal. Strong defensive play by the Celtic back line, especially Ron the Toe, clearly frustrated the opposition attackers. Ron was first to every ball, putting his head and other body parts, into the line of fire when most other players would have pulled back. However, both New Fairfield strikers were fast and skillful, and quick to get shots on target when opportunities presented themselves.

With the Sun beating down relentlessly on fans and players alike, the first twenty minutes of the game seemed to crawl by. Madison were clearly the better team, but had no goal to emphasize their dominance. However, an unusual incident afforded the Celts a chance to take the lead, when a deflected pass back to the goalkeeper was harshly adjudged by the referee to be an intentional pass. He awarded Madison an indirect free kick just inside the New Fairfield penalty box. After what seemed an age, as the referee failed miserably to measure out 10 yards for the defensive wall, the ball was gently rolled to Scotty who slammed a shot into the net for a well deserved one nil lead for Madison.
The Celts continued to play strongly after their opener although New Fairfield were clearly getting back into the game. Unfortunately for Celtic all their fine play during the first half hour of the game was undone by, what many neutral observers described as, an outrageous decision by the referee to gift New Fairfield an exact same indirect free kick inside the penalty box for a pass back to the Madison goalkeeper. Even though the opposition striker told the ref that it was not an intentional pass back he was determined to give the foul. Indirect free kicks in the penalty box are relatively rare to see during a whole season let alone seeing two in the same half of a game! Again the referee struggled to give clear directions about where the 10 yard mark was and allowed the New Fairfield players to obstruct and impede the Madison defenders with impunity. Inevitably, from only 10 yards out, New Fairfield found it very easy to score for their equalizer.
Unfortunately for Celtic, their "old" failing of managing to self destruct during a game came to the fore after this set back. The defensive line was clearly disorganized for the last 15 minutes of the half because of an argument between team mates. This sad situation handed the initiative to New Fairfield and they grasped it with both hands as they slammed in two further goals before the end of the first half. A very disappointing end to a half which Madison had bossed until the last ten minutes.


The team got their act together for the start of the second half, playing good possession football, and pressing the New Fairfield players onto the defensive. Having said that, the opposition strikers were always fast and dangerous on the break and on at least two separate occasions hit the post and bar. Stand in goalie El Gutso also made a superb save from their best striker when he was clear in on goal. Madison kept plugging away and got their just reward when Scotty was scythed down in the New Fairfield box for a clear penalty. The somewhat erratic referee did not see fit to show a deserved red card to the offending last defender but at least Jorge kept his focus to slam the ball into the net to close the gap to one goal. Madison had a few chances after that to get the equalizer but to be honest, the Fairfield team really closed the game out with some good defensive play and counter attacking tactics. And as Madison tried to stretch the game to get the equalizer they left themselves increasingly exposed at the back. After another good attack by New Fairfield, which resulted in a corner, they swung the ball in and scored a powerful headed goal to finish the scoring.
The game ran its course over the last ten minutes with only a few fleeting chances coming Madison's way. The final whistle saw New Fairfield winning by 4-2 which was a bit flattering to them but over the piece the win was well deserved.


Madison now head back to home where they have a superb unbeaten record stretching back nearly two seasons. If they can get back on track and control the internal strife which seems to strike at the most inopportune moments they can still have a solid start to the season.


Man of the Match; Ron the Toe; An awesome display by Ron marking his best game ever for Madison. He got his body in play for almost every ball that came his way and really disrupted the forward play of New Fairfield. Great play Ron!



Ron struts his stuff!

Fans, and a dog cheer on the Celts!

The fans flock to their fav Celtic players!