MATCH REPORT; Eagles 1 Madison 2

The Celts produced their best form of the season to claim all three points against a stubborn Albanian Eagles team. It was a strong looking Madison team that started the game. New player Dan  was installed in the back line with Tim and Edmilson, and new striker Kevin and Tano were leading the front line. The midfield, shorn of Johnny B and Rob Bz, still looked capable enough with Roniildo, Jodingo!!, Fribeka and Alex, who was given a more attacking role away from his normal defensive duties.
The Celts started the game well with good possession and some early probing of the Albanian defense. Fribeka and Alex took charge of the midfield battles with their counterparts, and Dan and Tim were closing out any attacks before they got anywhere near the Hulk. That's what happened in the first five minutes! After that the game evened out to a good give and take clash with Madison always having that little bit more in the tank than the Eagles. Having said that, when they attacked they did so with speed that sometimes caught out not only the defence but also the linesman. The Hulk had to pull off a string of dead certain goal attempts with superb, body crunching saves. Just when it looked like this might be one of those frustrating games where the Celts get a lot of possession with no payoff Kevin and Tano burst into life.  A great shot by Kevin was fumbled by the opposition goalie and Tano was there to whip the ball into the net for the go ahead goal.  The Celts had a few more attempts at goal including another rare headed attempt by Johnaldo that went narrowly wide of the mark. All during the first half Fribeka was playing out of his skin and Alex was linking up with whoever was beside him in the midfield and making great bursting runs into the box. On one of those forays he beat the offside trap, raced into the box and slotted it past the goalie only to see the goal chopped off for an offside call on one of his team mates. Still a very strong first half. The second 45 was a very similar performance with most of the possession going the way of Madison and every so often a break away attack from the Albanians. The next goal was going to be crucial and when it came it was a superb first goal for new boy Kevin as he blasted a shot past the despairing dive of the Eagles goalie. Of course that should have been game over but as ever the Celts try to make everything a bit uncomfortable and on one of those rare Eagles attacks they managed to get the ball past the superb Hulk. After that, the Celts really closed the game down and some excellent play by the midfield and defence blunted any further attacks by the Albanians. The game ended with a nice three points in the bag for the Celts

Man of the Match;  Some superb performances by Alex, Dan and Kevin were of note but the stand out was Hulk and also the 'best in career" performance of Fribeka. So two man of the match awards go out to Jacques and Bruce!