FRIENDLY; Madison 3 Guilford 0

Madison Celtic got the chance to take a break from the points chasing today with a friendly game against old rivals Guilford Hawks. The Celts took the opportunity to welcome back long term injury veterans like Pink, about to be old enough players like Bambi, Altigan and Sess (?) as well as blooding the new signings David and Roberto. With all the new players in the squad it was great to see how well the team gelled right from the kick off pushing the CARSL Div A team onto the defensive for a goodly chunk of the first half. Several chances came to Madison early on but the opposition goalie was in great form tipping balls over the bar or around the post, most notably after a scorching shot by Roniildo. Roberto was playing well in his first game but that came to a shuddering halt when the Hulk accidentally hit him like an express train when coming out for the ball. Roberto was clipped and spun in the air before crashing to the ground and after a few worrying moments was able to get back on his feet but that was his day done. The Hulk put the extra protection of his red "Hulk No 1" shirt on right after the incident and seemed none the worse for it. In fact, as the half was coming to a 0 -0 end he had to pull out a couple of fantastic saves to ensure parity at the interval. The second half saw the Celts take more and more control of the game and they emphasized this with a great go ahead goal by Tano. Turning on a dime in the box, the ace striker cleverly slotted the ball past the goalie at the near post. Tano was playing really well just inside the opposition box and he wasn't finished with his scoring. Within 15 minutes of his opening goal he had the ball in the back of the net again after a great move down the Madison right. A penalty goal by Roniildo rounded off a great performance by the Celts against a good Guilford team. Great performances by the new players David, Altigan and Sess rounding off a great friendly game and kept the Celts ticking over for their next SASL game this Sunday coming

MEN OF THE MATCH; Tano and The Hulk for the goals , the saves and the great cooking after the game!