MATCH REPORT; Madison 1 Southington FC 0

Madison ground out a narrow 1-0 victory over Southington FC today under humid , sweltering conditions at the Town Campus field. The Celts started the game on fire with nice crisp passing and incisive forward plays. An impressive number of shots peppered the Southington goal in the opening 15 minutes, as the gulf in the respective league positions looked all too visible. Great midfield play by Jodingo!! and Halil in the middle and Fribeka out on the right stifled any chance of Southington getting on the ball. Southington did have some moments in attack when they managed to get the ball out to their fast wingers but the frugal Madison defense gobbled up every stray ball. Just as it was beginning to look like the kind of game when Madison have all the possession but can't score....they scored! A great ball by Fribeka was flicked on by Ronilldo and then slammed into the net by the ubiquitous and free scoring Jorge for a well deserved lead. The goal was Jorge's 5th goal of the season and the 4th game in a row where he has scored!

The game was set for Madison to push on and rattle in a few more goals against the team at the bottom of the league but instead Southington really became a competitive force in the match.

The visitors started to penetrate into the Madison defence with very direct balls through the middle and on one occasion a fantastic shot was tipped onto the bar by Bruce making a great save. Shortly after that another break away was only stopped by a great sliding foot save by Bruce who was having his busiest period of the game. Possession was more in Southingtons favor than the host team at this point and it would have been no surprise if they had managed to engineer an equalizer. However, Madison kept their composure and made it to the half still in the lead. The second half was more of the same as a fairly even game meandered through 30 minutes. Most of the action was in midfield but every so often there would be break aways at both ends of the field that would result in near misses. Madison had a particularly lucky break when a stray backward header by Tom A needed an outstanding save off the post by Bruce to keep the lead intact. The heat was beginning to tell on both teams as the game slowed to a walking pace. Madison kept possession reasonably well as the game came to a close and it looked unlikely that either team would round of the day with another goal. The final whistle signalled another victory for the Celts , their 4th in a row and they now remain unbeaten over the first 8 games of the season.

Man Of The Match; Bruce. For some outstanding reflex saves that kept the proud Madison defensive record intact Bruce was the clear MOM. Some great work by Fribeka, Halil and Jodingo!! are also worth a mention

NEXT GAME; Sunday 27th June, Southington FC

What a great week for the USA in the World Cup! Some really exciting games and great goals and now it's our turn to show what we can do on the field of play! We have a home game this Sunday against Southington FC at the Town Campus field. Looks like we have about 12 confirmed players so far but still to hear from a few.

This is another important game for us. While we were sitting relaxing last Sunday both of our closest rivals, Woodbridge and Bridgeport, won their games to push us into third place in the league. Woodbridge have 18 pts after 8 games, Bridgeport 18 points after 7 games and we have 17 points after 7 games. Very tight at the top! The good news is that Woodbridge and Bridgeport play each other this weekend so one or both of these teams will lose points. We are up against Southington FC. Both Southington teams are struggling a bit this year but this particular team will be out for revenge after their season opening home defeat to us. Let's take the game very seriously. No points ( or pints! ) are won until the end of the game , and the match against New Fairfield told us that being near the bottom of the league does not mean they can't hurt us!

We still need a beer volunteer for the game! Also, USA are playing against Ghana on Saturday so it would be fun to meet up and watch it together. Maybe a better bar than the last one?

European Teams in Trouble at the World Cup !

So after the first week or so of games it's safe to say that the African teams suck and pretty close to them are the Europeans! Spain, Portugal, Italy, England and France are trying their best to be sent home early and only the Dutch and maybe the Germans , if they can win another game, are holding on to European dignity. The African teams have been a huge disappointment but the South American and Central American teams have been great......and of course, let's not forget the USA battlers! Not too many really exciting games so far...although when the defences are bad it does lend itself to more attacking games. I hope you are gathering useful hints for our Madison games, like falling down as though you have been shot in the face after being nudged on the elbow!

And maybe our refs are not too bad after all?

So what do you think will happen in the second week? Vote for the team that you think will top the USA group after Wednesday's games..... it's difficult to predict!

Celtic Fiesta Time!

Thought I would remind us all of what a nice weekend we just had!

USA 1 England 1
Madison 3 New Fairfield 0

And a fantastic party!!

Thanks to everyone for all their help setting up the after match fun..... we will have to do it again! And let's plan for another World Cup game in the bar.

Remember there is no league game this weekend! Waiting to hear from Tom about a friendly game on Sunday morning, although it doesn't look likely. Will track that outcome in the comments section below. Have a great Fathers Day at the weekend!

MATCH REPORT; Madison 3 New Fairfield 0

It was probably tempting fate by pointing out New Fairfield's losing league record before we played them. No game is easy and no win is ever just handed to you on a plate. And it took the whole 90 minutes for the league leaders Madison to subdue a feisty and combative New Fairfield team. For the first half hour of the game Madison looked like they were the visitors to the Exchange field. Re-acquainting ourselves to our cabbage patch of a pitch clearly took some time as the Celts were disjointed, out of sorts and lucky not to lose a goal in those opening minutes.

If it were not for the strong tackling and disruptive play by Halil in those opening minutes then the game may have taken a very different direction. For some reason Madison could not emulate the flowing fast passing style of play that they used to destroy Milford in their last match. As the first half progressed Madison were increasingly random in their ball distribution and lacked a cutting edge. Although Bruce was being kept on his toes ( no tapestry this week! ) during most of the half very few incisive chances were being made by New Fairfield either.
Midway through the first half Madison started to calm down and the introduction of Carlos and Jorge really started to change things to the positive. More possession and better passing started to become evident.

With only five minutes left in the half Madison finally got the breakthrough they had being trying so hard to achieve. A ball into the New Fairfield box was worked over twice by Tano and Carlos before Jorge latched on to a loose ball to slam it into the net. A wave of relief swept through the team which took them through to the half time break and a good discussion on positions and subbing!


The second half was a much better performance by Madison although never easy. Many more chances came to Carlos, Tano and Safet but nothing would hit the back of the net. Then a great move by Madison really put them into the driving seat for the rest of the game.

A fabulous ball was swept over from the Madison right field by Carlos right into the box were it was met full on by the in rushing Jorge who crashed the ball into the net with a beautiful header. Two goals for him and a second for Madison. To their credit, New Fairfield never gave up and pushed hard in a way that belied their lowly league status. Their effective use of the offside trap was immensely frustrating for the Madison forwards and it looked like this was going to end up being a two goal game until Carlos burst onto the scene again.

In fact the third goal for Madison was all Carlos. After latching onto a loose ball he swept into the opposition box, tricked the goalie once then twice before slamming the ball into the net for an anxiety easing third for Madison. Several chances came and went for Madison after this including a 'sitter' of a miss by The Judge. Tano also had several golden opportunities to score through the game but was unlucky, especially in the very last minute of the game when he was on a break that would surely have given Madison their fourth only for the ref to blow the final whistle! A tough game but Madison ground out the victory in the end and remain top of the pile.


MAN OF THE MATCH; Halil. Although their were some great performances today by Carlos and of course, Jorge the MOM goes to Halil for his constant work rate and probing. An industrious style of play that helped Madison regain the ball when they most needed it

COOK OF THE MATCH; Ilhan! Some great fun in the post match BarB Q! Superb food and great company. Let's do it again soon!

Action photos by Jodingo!!

GAME IS ON!

El Gato just did a field inspection and he says there is no standing water and no announcements about the field being closed so we should be good to go! See you at the field!

NEXT GAME; Sunday June 13th, New Fairfield "B"

I can't believe it, can you?! 6 games in, we are top of the league!, we are undefeated!, we have the best defensive record around! and we get to have our first home game!! Yes it's time to break out the hot dogs and Bubba burgers as we head to the Madison town beach for our first home game of the season against New Fairfield "B". They are a new team to the league and although we have played their "A" team many times this will be our first go at them. So, let's consolidate our place at the top of the table with a resounding win! Then we can head off to the beach for a nice post match celebration.

The list of menu activities will be in the comments section below as will the current role call. Please keep adding to both!

Also, Friday is the start of the World Cup! Arniestio supplied a nice graphic tracker for you to follow.... i will put this on a special Pages section above;

http://www.marca.com/deporte/futbol/mundial/sudafrica-2010/calendario-english.html

Some of us will also be out at a bar on Saturday to watch the USA play England....come along and join us. I think it's either the Moorings in Guilford or Eli's in Branford.....we can settle on which in the comments section below....... see you all soon!

MATCH REPORT; Milford 1 Madison 4

MAGICAL MADISON BLOW MILFORD AWAY

Madison went top of the league today with a scintillating display of controlled, assertive possession and superb clinical finishing. Milford Magic were easily blown off their perch at the top of the table with a season best performance from the Celts. Madison started the game on fire and held over 90% of the possession for most of the first 30 minutes of the game. The undefeated league leaders Milford did not know what had hit them and looked devastated as the ball became a total stranger to them. This was easily the best performance of the season so far from Madison. Almost every player on the field was up for the game and playing to their best form. La Boca started in an advanced midfield position allowing a slightly injured El Flaco to play at the back. A new player called Safet also had his debut today and what a game he had! Celtic dominated the opening skirmishes of the game with some great interplay between midfield and the strike force. Halil and Roniildo held possession well, as did La Boca, feeding the ball to Tano and Safet. Jorge playing in a slightly deeper forward role was also playing some great one touch passing and overall Milford Magic could do nothing in the opening half hour to get the ball out of their half. The unoccupied Madison goalie, Bruce, was so bored he was seen in the distance finishing a detailed tapestry depicting the last Red Sox World series win! But, Madison have been in this position before dominating possession and losing a sucker goal and failing to take their own chances. Not this time, not this game. The first goal for Madison came from the golden boot of Jorge after he found himself in a position outside the Milford box. It did not look like there was any chance for him to do what he did which was to curl the ball over and past the despairing dive of the Milford goalie to nestle the ball in the corner of the net. A well deserved opener for the Celts, and as they kept pressing a second was not to be denied them. This time a great ball out to Bambi on the right side of the field allowed him to sweep the ball into the box where Tano was their to crunch the ball into the net for the Celts second of the match. At this point in the game Madison could have scored 4 or 5 more but maybe were trying a bit too hard and were leaving some gaps at the back. Against the run of play the lone Milford striker went on a fast break trailing Carlos and Roniildo in his wake. When he got to the Celtic penalty box he did not hesitate to slot the ball past Bruce to cut the Celts lead in half. The goal clearly shook the Madison team out of their slight lethargy and set up a swift response with a fantastic move that swept the ball up the right side of the field this time to La Boca who sent a sweet, inch perfect ball into the box that was met by Safet who tucked it into the net for his debut goal and Madison's third of the game. The half finished with Madison in total control of the game and some superb first half performances by almost all of the team.

The second half started with Madison still exerting significant possession and showing some really creative play. Not surprisingly Milford where getting more of the ball this half as the Celts tired but whenever they got a shot on target Bruce was there to meet the challenge. However, the game was effectively finished as a contest when debut bhoy Safet scored his second and Madison's 4th of the game after only ten minutes of the second half. The rest of the half was a much more even game compared to the first half but the Celts were never in any real danger of losing another goal and eventually ran out well deserved winners and new league leaders.

Man of the Match; There were many contenders today as most of the midfield and strike force played so well but it would be churlish not to give the MOM to debut player Safet for his two great goals!

NEXT GAME; Sunday 6th June, Milford!

Our next game will be a top of the league match against Milford Magic. Milford sit proudly at the top of the CARLS League after 5 games having won 4 and drawn 1. Madison Celtic are only 2 points behind the leaders in third place. The stats show that Madison have the best defence in the league losing only 3 goals so far. Milford are not far behind with a loss of only 5 goals which implies the game could be won in a low scoring 1-0 or 2-1 type of game. But maybe the historic stats tell us something different? We have played the Magic many times of the last few years and they have always been good competitive games. Since the Fall 2007 season our record against them has been the following;

Played 6, Won 3, Lost 2, Drawn 1, Scored 17, Against 13

These stats would imply that we should win this game 3-2!!

Here is another interesting stat to consider; if you take the last two games of the Fall 2009 season and the first 5 games of this season we now have gone 7 games undefeated! 5 wins and 2 draws.....no pressure guys!

A top of the league clash, with an undefeated run on the line!

We may need some beers after this one.....who is doing that?

Roll call will continue in the comments section below.