CUP RESULT; Naugatuck River Rats 1 Madison 2

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The Celts made sure of a slot in the cup semi finals with a dominant performance against the Naugatuck River Rats. Although at times, mainly the first half, they made it more difficult than it should have been. The Celts certainly dominated  possession over the first twenty minutes of the game with the defence and midfield holding the ball and passing well. Up front Leo, Kevin and Tano were running hard at the opposition defence and the out ball to Carlos on the left wing was working superbly well. Carlos went on several great runs blowing past player after player but the end ball didn't quite connect with the strike force. Lots of chances were coming and going and it took the new shooting boots of Leo to get the Celts into the lead. Gathering the ball on the Madison left wing Leo cut down to the edge of the bye line and as he shaped to cross the ball he decided to take an audacious shot instead, slamming the ball into the net from an acute angle. A deserved lead for the Celts, but just when it looked like the visitors would start to overrun the opposition they actually lost shape and dropped out of the game. The River Rats started to get much more of the ball and caught the Celts in possession time after time. The Hulk was called into action a number of times and the attacking formation the Celts had taken at the beginning of the game just seemed to dissipate. Carlos and Ruggero on the wings were getting starved of the ball and the strikers were running into space with no likelihood the ball would be there when they arrived. Maybe not surprisingly the Naugatack team managed to squeeze out a deserved equalizer before the end of the first half when they marched though the middle of the defence and dinked the ball over the onrushing Hulk. The half ended with the teams tied but Madison clearly knew what was ailing them. Passing or booting the ball straight down the middle of the park was not working out and a much needed return to using the wings had to be the answer. The second half started with Madison more or less forgetting the half time talk but gradually they turned the screw and brought Carlos and Ruggero, as well as the rest of the front line back into the game. At times the possession must have been nearly 100% as the Celts kept the Rats penned in their half for huge amounts of time. Lots of great chances appeared but were passed up but then another great move by Tano down the left finished with a simple pass to Leo who slammed in his second of the match. Roniildo was the main driving force in the midfield tackling and breaking up any possession that Naugatuck team tried to build. Although another goal did not come their way the Celts played out the rest of the game fairly comfortably and when the whistle went they had another three points in the bag and had qualified for the semi finals of the cup with a game to spare.

MAN OF THE MATCH; Some solid performances throughout the game from a number of players. Leo's first two goals for the team were notable but the the great attacking play by Carlos and the strong midfield performance by Roniildo makes them the MOMs of the match!

Note: Except where noted (league name in parentheses), all teams are from the Shoreline Adult Soccer League. See SASL for their League Website.
Over-40 'Intermediate' Group A 3-Nov-2013 New Britain Falcons FC 5 Naugatuck River Rats 0 3-Nov-2013 Madison Celtic FC 3 Trumbull Amici 0 10-Nov-2013 Trumbull Amici 1 New Britain Falcons FC 6 10-Nov-2013 Naugatuck River Rats 1 Madison Celtic FC 2 17-Nov-2013 New Britain Falcons FC v Madison Celtic FC 17-Nov-2013 Trumbull Amici v Naugatuck River Rats	Over-40 'Intermediate' Pl W D L F A GD Pts 1 New Britain Falcons FC 2 2 0 0 11 1 10 6 2 Madison Celtic FC 2 2 0 0 5 1 4 6 3 Naugatuck River Rats 2 0 0 2 1 7 -6 0 4 Trumbull Amici 2 0 0 2 1 9 -8 0
Over-48 Group A 3-Nov-2013 Glastonbury Celtic FC 4 Greenwich United 0 3-Nov-2013 Darien Blue Wave 1 Polonia Falcon Stars FC 1 10-Nov-2013 Polonia Falcon Stars FC 3 Glastonbury Celtic FC 5 10-Nov-2013 Greenwich United 4 Darien Blue Wave 1 17-Nov-2013 Glastonbury Celtic FC v Darien Blue Wave 17-Nov-2013 Polonia Falcon Stars FC v Greenwich United	Over-48 Pl W D L F A GD Pts 1 Glastonbury Celtic FC 2 2 0 0 9 3 6 6 2 Darien Blue Wave 2 1 1 0 5 2 3 4 3 Polonia Falcon Stars FC 2 0 1 1 4 6 -2 1 4 Greenwich United (combined SASL teams) 2 0 0 2 1 8 -7 0