NEXT GAME; Sunday May Ist, Hamden

We are back in league action this coming Sunday with a home game against Hamden. This is a potential banana skin game for us as we came very close to a terrible result the last time we played them.

Match report here http://madisonceltic.blogspot.com/2010/09/match-report-hamden-2-madison-3.html

Although I wasn't there, the great match report by Arniesto clearly describes the debacle as Madison went two goals down in rapid succession to the then bottom team in the league. The Celts did fight back to grind out a deserved 3-2 win but this game should serve as a warning call to all of us to not take teams too lightly!

Since that game Hamden have accrued an overall record of 11 games played, with one won , one drawn and nine defeats giving them the grand total of 4 points as they prop up the rest of the table. Yes, on the face of it this should be a straight forward three points but that's what we thought the last time!

Johnaldo and Roniildo are on beer duty for this weekend! Carlos is still banned for this game as is Kris

Dont forget practice tonight at Cox School, 6pm

Thursday Practice is on again@Cox

Yes, the last Celtic Rangers game of the season finished 0 0 on Sunday leaving Celtic one point behind Rangers but with a game in hand. Celtic have 5 games left to win the league and one more after that to win the Scottish cup in what would be an outstanding first season for Neil Lennon as manager of Celtic. Even if the league and cup double does not come to pass his passion and tactical acumen has turned Celtic into a truly competitive fighting force once again .

Anyway, enough about them! What about us?

6pm practice this Thursday night at Cox school.

Last week was a good workout and we needed it!

Our next full game is a home game this Sunday against Hamden. More to come on that later in the week.







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No Scheduled Game Tomorrow, But...

Happy Easter to all! As you know there is no game tomorrow morning but I want to check if there is any interest in having another practice down at Cox school around 10 am? It may be too short a notice but if you are able to make it can you leave a yes in the comments section below?

Tomorrow morning is also a big moment in the race for the Scottish premier league title as Celtic play Rangers away from home. Rangers are at the top of the table one point ahead of Celtic but Celtic have a game in hand. This game is being played against a backdrop of heated debate around bigotry and sectarianism in Scotland after bombs were sent to Celtic manager Neil Lennon and other high profile Celtic fans. Let's hope the game goes off without incident and people end up talking about the football not the insane fools that have taken their hatred of all things Celtic to new levels.

Thursday Night Practice@Cox

Guys we have a 6pm practice at Cox school in Guilford on Thursday night. We will need to get in to a regular pattern of practice nights so we can get the rustiness out of our play. Looks like we will have a reasonable turn out and hopefully the fields will be available. Someone should probably bring a ball!

I'll get there as soon as i can... on a flight that lands at 6pm in New Haven.....

Who Will Win the Champions League?

No game for us today and because of Easter we will have no game next Sunday either! Can I check to see who wants to turn up and practice next Sunday? We can find a field and practice some of our moves? Also, we should start to think about a midweek practice night...say a Thursday night? Who is up for that too? I also want to know who is willing to play our postponed match against East Haven on Mothers Day? That is a mandatory make up weekend and before I check in with East Haven I need to know if we will have a team available to play. We can make it an early kick off so you can play and get back to the familia sagrada as quickly as possible. So, because we have a break it gives us some time to think about the Champions league! We are down to the last four and I think we should poll our resident experts to see who they think will win it this year; Barcelona? Real Madrid? Schalke? Man Utd? Vote on the poll button top right. Don't forget to mention below in the comments section if you are available for next Sunday practice, Thursday night practice and a game on Mothers Day!

Game Is Cancelled!!

Guys ....the weather has won. No game tomorrow

NEXT GAME; Sunday 17th April, East Haven!

After a great win against Morelia last week the Celts have another home game this Sunday against East Haven. This is a very early kick off ( 8am! ) and we will need to do a weather check Saturday night based on the current forecast. The last time we played East Haven we won 3-0 but i remember the game being tougher than we thought it would be.

( Match report is here; http://madisonceltic.blogspot.com/2010/09/match-report-east-haven-0-madison-3.html)

Since this game East Haven have played well and are now sitting 5th in the league on 13 points having played 10, winning 4, losing 5 and drawing 1. Their away form is good having beaten teams such as the Albanian Eagles, North Branford and Morelia on the road! We will have to be on top form to get three points from this game! It's an early start so we need to be awake and ready !

Let's hope the weather plays ball. The beer boys are Jodingo!! and El Gato!

MATCH REPORT; Madison 2 Morelia 0

They say that revenge is a dish that is best served cold and although yesterday was only a bit chilly, the revenge was there in full measure! Having endured the 4-4 debacle last season at the Wallingford home ground the Madison Celts were fired up for their first home game of the new Spring season. Madison started the game with a few key players missing from the line up, most notably David, Fribeka, Halil and Flaco. The potential new players had not been registered in time so the team had only two sub positions to rely on. The game got off to a brisk start with some good running but fairly poor passing. In fact the abject passing would prove to be a feature of the entire game as the Celts reacquainted themselves with the mysteries of controlling a rolling ball. It looked like the Morelia team had no such difficulties as they moved the ball to each other with ease supplying their pacy strong midfielders and attackers. However, after 20 minutes or so Madison started to get the upper hand and create a few good scoring chances. And, in one great sweeping attack, the break through came. A move down the Madison right was started when Roniildo floated past the Morelia midfield and crossed the ball to Jorge just outside the penalty box who took a touch before passing it to Safet who lofted the ball with his left boot over the head of the Morelia goalkeeper. A great goal which spurred the Celts onto further attacks. A shot by Roniildo slammed against the bar and various other attempts went whizzing past the post from Tano, Jorge and Safet. Morelia were not just sitting there taking this without a reply and they also had a number of attacks that were blocked out by the great defensive combo of La boca and Goggs. Both defenders had an excellent match especially in the second half. Madison ended this first half in the lead and feeling in control of the game. The second half saw the Morelia team take more and more control of the game as they effectively snuffed out the Madison midfield and cut off any supply to the forward line. Attack after attack had to be repelled by the Madison defensive line with some desperate goalmouth scrambles. For some reason the defence could not clear their lines and the ball kept being handed to the Morelia attackers on a plate. With no let up of the pressure on the Celts defence it looked inevitable that Morelia would equalize. Every so often Celtic managed to get the ball out to Jorge or Tano who would take the ball for a run but eventually the ball was back in the face of the Madison defence. Just as it looked like the impressive defensive wall may be about to crumble, with only two minutes left in the game, the impressive Jorge got hold of the ball then passed it to Tano who fired in the sweetest of shots past the despairing dive of the Morelia goalkeeper to put the Celts up 2-0. The game ended shortly after to great relief for the Celts as a hard fought game had delivered all 3 points to the Madison. With Orange and Guilford drawing 0-0 the results put Madison Celtic right back in the mix for promotion and championship titles. Next up is East Haven at home with an 8AM kick off!!

Man Of The Match; This is a tough one because Tano and Jorge ran superbly well throughout the game. Jorge had two assists and Tano a great goal. But on reflection, the performance of Goggs at the back was simply superb. So first MOM for the Spring season goes to Gogglito!

We also managed to give championship winning medals from last season to Talat, Ilhan and Jorge as well as Jorge's goalscorere of the season award! Also great beer and food after the game guys....thanks to Hulk, Tano and Ilhan!

Also.....THANKS TO RUGGERINHO FOR THE GREAT PHOTOS!

NEXT GAME; Sunday 10th April, Morelia!

The first game of the Spring season is upon us! We will playing Wallingford Morelia at home with a 10am kick off!

As a reminder we are sitting third in the league after 9 games having won 3, drawn 6 and lost none. The two teams ahead of us are Guilford Bell curve and Orange both 5 points ahead of us! The challenge is clear we have to start winning games! Morelia sit in 4th place only 2 points behind us so we can put some space between the two teams with a home win!

The last time we played Morelia we threw away a certain 3 points with some ludicrous last minute defending allowing a 3 -1 lead slip away to a silly 4 4 draw.

Match Report here;

http://madisonceltic.blogspot.com/2010/08/match-report-wallingford-4-madison-4.html

Let's get some justice by getting 3 points with minimum fuss! Hulk says he and TANO are on beer duty for the weekend!

As a reminder, no talking back to the referee!! Flaco has been banned for the first 3 games of this season because of his red card against the Albanians.

The last game of indoor happened last night and it sounded like another defeat snatched from the jaws of victory......

REPORT FROM BOR;

Dave gave us two goals in the first half that I, all by own-self, immediately gave back within seconds of the second half kickoff due my piss-poor defending. Tano put us ahead 3-2 midway through the second half, then Bruce did his best Robert Green impersonation to tie the game again. Then one minute from time, we got chipped from midfield to lose. Plenty of chances for Flacco, Tano and debutant Fribeka all went begging. Bruce did well with many key saves until his bad moment, but the blame falls squarely on my shoulders for the loss.

Last Indoor Game of the Season!

Guys, as we gear up for the start of the new Spring season we have the little task of rounding off the 2011 indoor season with an 8pm game against Blackpool. It hasn't been one of our best sessions of indoor ( actually it's our worst ! ) but at least we are starting to show some form late in the session!

Don't know if El Flaco and Jorge will be at this game but if they do turn up then we might have a really nice result to finish of the indoor season.

I won't be able to make the Thursday night game so I will need one of my support reporters to send me the match report!

The next update will be on Friday

Hail! Hail! The Celts Are Here!

It felt like the old days as the Mad Celts swept to a very impressive 10 4 victory over North Branford! This was the Celts biggest indoor victory since last year and it was no surprise that it was all sparked by the exciting news that El Flaco and goal King Jorge were back in the side. What a difference they made to the team with rapid movement, great passing and fabulous goals. Of course, it wasn't all about them as Tano was in sparkling form and we saw great play from David and Roniildo. You also know things are really going well when Johnaldo and Kris get on the score sheet! North Branford didn't know what hit them and they were never really in the game as Madison kept a healthy margin of goals throughout the game. Only one more game left in indoor before the start of the season! More to the build up to the Spring season in the coming days!