MATCH REPORT; Guilford 1 Madison 0

No Father's Day gifts for Madison


On an overcast, gloomy morning Madison Celtic tried to raise the mood by attempting to win at least one point away from home. From the scoreline above you can see the effort failed but not for the want of trying. This was a much better effort by Madison compared to last week with strong battling performances by the midfielders and good, although at times scary, backs to the wall defending. The game was a bit pedestrian in the first half with most of the scarce chances going the way of the home side. Madison were playing with a new defensive line up because of absences and injury. El Gutso pulled up before the game started and so did Carlos which greatly reduced the subbing options for Madison. However, none of these enforced changes can be used as the excuse for the poor goal that Madison gave up for Guilford to take the lead. A throw in down the Madison left side, a simple bounce over the defender and an easy lob shot over the goalie by the Guilford number 10 was enough for the opening goal of the game. The rest of the first half was notable for the remarkably low number of shots on goal by both teams but particularly Madison's. Over the full 45 minutes of the first half Madison managed to muster no more than 2 or 3 shots on goal none of which were on target. An obvious hand ball in the penalty box by a Guilford defender was overlooked by the referee to round off a thoroughly miserable first half.

Things changed for the better in the second half for Madison as they started to play more effective possession football. The chances being created and the shots on goal started to increase significantly. Enrique was the most effective player up front at this point taking numerous chances to have a dig at the opposition goal. Some were high and wide but some were very close to going in. He was clearly a threat and had the Guilford team worried. At the other end Guilford were relying on the break away attack but the Madison defence held strong aided by a number of great saves by Kevinho which kept the score down to the single goal lead. As the half progressed it seemed impossible that Madison would not equalize as chance after chance went begging in front of the Guilford goal. But Madison knew their luck was up when Jorge took a shot that squirmed over the Guilford line before one of their defenders cleared it. The referee, conveniently positioned on the half way line, controversially chalked off this clear goal to Madison. At that point they knew they were going to get nothing from this game and sure enough ten minutes later the whistle blew to end the game and Madison's chances of ending its horrendous away game form.

I know a number of games this year have had a similar theme. Chopped off goals, clear penalties not given and bizarre calls during the game that threw the team for a loop. To this observer, Madison need to hope that the breaks will even out during the season and they should focus on trying to help themselves by scoring more goals than they've been doing over the last few games. Easier said than done, but increasing the rate of shots on goal would be a start!

Man of the Match; Enrique. He took as many chances as he could especially in the second half to get Madison on even terms. In other games he would have scored a hat trick but not today. But for his overall goal threat Enrique wins MOM. And Brazil beat Italy 3-0!