MATCH REPORT; Orange 6 Madison 2

It was a game of two halves and we lost both of them. Out thought, out played and out gunned would be the brief summary of the game on Sunday. Orange were out to destroy the Madison unbeaten record and to show them who was boss in the championship race and that is exactly what they did..... with a lot of help from a misfiring Madison defence, shapeless midfield and toothless forward line! I know, excuses, excuses but after the pre-match warnings about giving them a chance at set pieces the first gift Madison gave was exactly that. A trivial foul on the edge of the box that allowed the Orange number 4 to slam in a shot that was a replica of the goal he had scored against Madison in a previous game. After that avoidable set back Madison clawed their way into the game and managed to equalize after Jorge was upended in the box for a clear penalty. Jorge coolly slotted in the goal and for a brief moment Madison were in the game. It didn't last long as the inability of the Madison defence to stop Orange shooting at will from any distance came home to roost when a fabulous shot was palmed onto the bar by the Hulk only for a comedy of errors from Talat and Hulk allowed the attacker to sprint in and score from short range. Half time arrived and if we only knew what was coming next we would have gladly taken the 2-1 defeat. But, on rolled the second half and the most awful series of defensive mistakes and midfield blunders the Madison team has perpetrated in a very long time. A series of bad choices, mistimed tackles and very poor clearances allowed Orange to score 3 goals in relatively quick succession to make it 5-1. Staring at the abyss, the Madison team took the collective decision to jump in and give Orange a 6th goal as their star forward waltzed through the defence as though they were traffic cones on a practice field. Strangely, after this debacle, and with a good twenty minutes left in the game, Madison started to play better....they really couldn't have played any worse!.... A lot of ball was played down the wings and shots and chances came their way. But a lot of the choices in the final third were poor ones as the balls were crossed too high and way too near to the tall goal keeper who was having a very easy day. Madison's efforts in the final stages of the game were rewarded however with a consolation penalty that Roniildo scored but the whistle couldn't come fast enough for the well beaten Madison team.

Orange had a game plan that they stuck to right from the kick off. Aggressive tackles and surly behaviour at the start of the game set the tone from the get go. Some fairly meaty challenges by Orange on the Celts were dealt with very leniently by the ref, but to be fair they snuffed out the attacking threat of Flaco by double teaming him and bypassed our midfield by simply punting the ball over their heads. Unfortunately the swearing and screw you attitude by the Orange team did not set a good example of how to play the game. Nonetheless, they deserved their win and sit proudly at the top of the table. The Celts have a week off to lick their wounds and to get back into action. There are a lot of games left in the league race and we are still in the hunt!

MAN OF THE MATCH; Tough one..... no one really shone in this one. The Hulk let in 6 goals but saved so many more to stop this game from being a total massacre... but he threatened to kill me if i gave him MOM....so for all his persistent running and attempts on goal the MOM goes to Jorge!