NEXT MATCH; Sunday June 3rd, Easton

Our next game is against Easton Rhino's this Sunday. This is an away match with a 10 am kick off at the Helen Keller School in Easton. Instructions to get to the field are here;

HELEN KELLER SCHOOL:

Route 15 (Wilbur Cross / Merritt Parkway) to Exit 46 to Easton / Route 59 North.  Take Route 59 North for about 2 miles. Helen Keller School is on the right.  Follow the school driveway to the fields.

Easton have an almost exactly similar season to us so far with 2 wins, 2 losses and 6 points. Last year Easton finished 7th overall. Based on the teams we have met so far this game will be tough but totally winnable! Let's get some clear water between us and the bottom 4 teams with a solid win this weekend. I'm sure Jodingo!! and I will meet up again at the exit 58 commuter lot at 8.30am if anyone wants to car pool.

We should have Edmilson registered by Sunday but I don't have his players card at time of writing. Also, Kris has decided to leave the team. Thanks Kris for all your efforts last year and best of luck!

No idea who the beer boys are.... i won't be able to stay long after the game so best not being me. I'll take the next home game

See you Sunday.......get there for 9.30 am so we can warm  up!

MATCH REPORT; Madison 1 Norwalk SC 2

REPORT BY RONIILDO Our 5th game of the season was against Norwalk Sports Colombia was an early 9AM KO, which predictably led to a lot of latecomers, with little warm-up time. In complete contrast, the Colombian SC players were all at the Surf Club when I arrived at 8:30AM going through a series of yoga, formation jogging and push-up interval training……now that’s what you call a connected team…pretty funny to watch, since never seen that before in this league. If it was intended to intimidate us, I think it worked, particularly on Jodingo!! J After the match was underway, it was clear that Norwalk meant business, and the majority of their players were fast and skillful, so we knew we were in for a struggle, or so it seemed. They dominated possession in the first 10 mins, and after pressing hard, they had us stuck in our own penalty box, desperately trying to clear the ball. Eventually after a number of waves of attack, we failed to get rid of the ball from 3 yards out, decided to pass to the Norwalk center forward instead, who slammed past the helpless and faultless Hulk from 2 yards to go one up. Predictably loosing the early goal, led to the bad old habits of guys yelling at one and other….got pretty ugly for a while. Needless to say the melt down didn’t help our focus or concentration, and after possession was lost in the middle from a sloppy pass, the Norwalk left winger gathered the ball, sprinted down the left side (he didn’t need to because nobody was chasing him) beat one defender lobbed in a beautiful cross into the box an onto the head of the on rushing attacker and we were 2 down. At that point you would have predicted a good hiding for the Celts, but during the half-time pep talk, there was a lot of good team building stuff, particularly from JohnB, who really summed it up in a nut shell…none of us mean to make mistakes, so crucifying each other when we make them is just unacceptable!!! We all agreed to go out and have some fun, and quit the belly aching. The Celts kicked off the 2nd half like a transformed team, and started to play like we are capable of…good one touch passing, and building from defense through the midfield, instead of playing the big long ball, and giving possession away. Our new approach and good attitude paid off in the first 10 mins, and for the first time in the match we had the yoga gurus from Norwalk on their back feet. Relentless attacks driven by great work in the middle from Ruggero and JB allowed us to pummel their goal with shot after shot, and after a powerful drive from JB was cleared odd the line Ruggerro was perfectly positioned on the top of the box to slam home an absolute cracker… we were definitely on top at that point. Minutes later, awesome link-up play between JB and Roniildo down the right side, allowed a cut back to Tano on the 6 yard line, but was just not to be as the shot slammed right between the two posts (the rugby post behind the goal J…no worries Tano, we’ve all done that many times……As much as we persevered and pressured the Norwalk boys, we were just unable to get our equalizer, and so we were just piped at the post this time. Need to give them a lot of credit too, easily the most skillful and fit team we have played so far, and 3 or 4 of their players were standouts. By a clear distance, MAN OF THE MATCH was Rugginho, not only for his superb goal, but for his intelligent link-up play with the midfield players, and his positioning when we were on the attack Well done Rugginho, and hope it is the first of many! Big thanks to all who ignored the confusing exchanges on the blog regarding the picnic, and brought a bounty of delicious dishes and beers…see y’all after Memorial Day weekend for the next match…….  

NEXT GAME; Sunday 20th May Norwalk SC

Our next game is at our  home venue ( Strong Field) against Norwalk Sports Colombia  FC with a 9am kick off. They currently sit in 8th position having lost one and tied two games so far. Those tied games were against Guilford Bell Curve and the Pumas which maybe give us a sense of how strong they are. Having said that, this is the team that finished third in the league last year missing promotion by only four points! This is bound to be another tight game and will require us to play just as well as we did against Fairfield. Another three points would give us a great start to the season and really send out a message to the rest of the league. Le's do it!

This game has been designated our first picnic game.....so start adding your dishes to the comments box below. Oh, and add your name to the roll call too!  I'm in China for the week so will miss the game. Roniildo and El Gato have all the details for the game.   HAVE FUN......AND WIN!

Oh,  and congratulations to Man City and Celtic for winning the EPL and SPL!
Roll on the Champions League!

MATCH REPORT; Fairfield 0 Madison 1

The Celts bounced back into winning territory at the weekend scalping three points off their fellow hoop wearers, Fairfield. A hard fought  and competitive match saw Madison play their best soccer of the new season with a solid defensive display allied with assertive midfield tackling and inventive attacking play. Celtic had strong players all over the field with Goggs and Edimar again showing that they are beginning to gel as a potent defensive back line. Of course, the equally impressive and versatile La Boca also showed he had the chops for playing up front in major sections of the game. The midfield pairing of Roniildo and John B ( he has to get a nickname.....) was also a major feature of the overall team performance with strong pressing play and much improved passing. Up front Edison and Tano had a great game together with some good attempts at goal.
 Madison were up for the game right from the start with John B setting the tone with some early shots on goal. Some great crosses into the box were also allowing Edison and Tano to create some havoc in the opposition goal. Of course Fairfield were not just sitting there taking this and mounted some impressive attacks of their own but the defensive line of Madison proved up to the task. Even when that back line was breached the Hulk was there to make the save. He made quite a few through the game none more important than his fearless, potentially  injury inducing save in the last minutes of the game to save the three points and earn him a well deserved clean sheet. But prior to that frantic end the Celts had some work to do to earn the points. The major turning point of the game was when the Celts won a free kick at the edge of the opposition box. Edimar stepped up and sent in a beautiful arcing ball straight past the goalie and into a bulging net. A well deserved goal and a great example of the new scoring capabilities the team has. Madison swept through the first half and through significant chunks of the second as the clearly stronger team although they had to remain on guard for any defensive slip ups. As the second half wore on they did start to defend further and further back allowing the home team to edge closer and closer to an equalizer. But the Celts held on right to that epic Hulk save in the last minute! A great win and the Celts will at least be competitive in this league.

Man Of The Match; some really superb performances all through the team from a newly assertive Roniildo, a "Gattuso" style performance by John B and a giant display by Goggs at the back. But for yet another flawless defensive performance combined with a truly superb goal the MOM goes to Edimar!

 

NEXT GAME; Sunday 6th May, Fairfield GAC

Our next game in the SASL Second Division will be against fellow green and white hoopers Fairfield GAC. They have got off to a bit of a rough start with 3 losses in their opening games and will be looking to get some points on the board against us newbies. Of course, it would be  great if we could get back into winning ways against Fairfield and get a 6 point buffer between us but it won't be easy. I don't know much about Fairfield although they finished 4th in the  second division last year with 14 wins and only 7 losses, some 20 points ahead of Vasco da Gama!! So, there is no doubt this will be another tough game against a team hurting from their poor start to the league!  For all the Cinco de Mayo celebrators try and get to bed before 3am?

The Fairfield GAC / Madison Celtic game on Sunday, May, 6 will take place at South Pine Creek field in Fairfield at 10:00am.  

Here are the directions to the field;

SOUTH PINE CREEK PARK

(also known as OLD DAM ROAD):

I-95 to Exit 21.  Southbound left, Northbound right and go under I-95 and railroad underpass to traffic light (Post Road / Route 1).  Take right onto Post Road, go to next traffic light and turn left onto South Pine Creek Road, go past stop sign for about ¾ mile, and turn left onto Old Dam Road.  Field on left behind softball and football fields.

Car pooling at Exit 58 with a bunch of us leaving no later than 8.45am

No idea who the beer boys are.......

MATCH REPORT; Vasco 3 Madison 0

Even with the welcome return of old favourites Talat and Goggs to the team the Celts fell to their second defeat of the season to a well organized Vasco da Gama outfit. Although the three to nil scoreline seems harsh when one analyzes the effort the Madison squad put in over the game. However, the facts will show that the visitors only had a hand full of chances to score throughout the 90 minutes. The home team looked comfortable throughout the game and this observer would not have been surprised if he had been told that they didn't have a goalie playing. In fact at one point I'm sure i saw him off in the distance grilling a few burgers. He really wasn't that troubled on the field. Having said that the Celts did hold their own for most of the half and did not look outclassed against the league leaders. They fought hard but could not make a pass that counted and could not get a shot on goal. With John B working the hardest in the Celtic midfield he was constantly looking for  partners to link up with him for small passes. This happened painfully few times in the first half although Roniildo and Halil tried their best. Unfortunately the Celts were treating the ball like the proverbial hot potato. As soon as they got hold of it they booted it anywhere. With this type of game developing it was maybe surprising that Vasco did not have the wherewithal to take advantage. To be honest, although they were passing well their final through ball was often poor and they rarely got a clear shot on the Celts goal. Nonetheless they were building wave after wave of attacks and eventually they made a break through with an opening goal that on the balance of  play was a  fair outcome. The halftime break had lots of talk about how the midfield could link up with the front line but the second half started the same way the first ended with Madison on the back foot. John B, Edjmar and Hulk were the spine of the team that was holding the team together. But even they couldn't account for some really slack play over on the Madison right side of defence when a Vasco player was given all the time in the World to waltz into the penalty box and mosey on out again before laying the ball off to another striker to blast an unstoppable ball past the Hulk. At two nil down the Celts did start to lose some heart although the drive of John B and the solidity of Edjmar and Goggs at the back gave them hope that one goal would get them back in the game. But it became obvious that only set pieces were allowing the Celts to get any dangerous balls into the opposition box. As the game started to fizzle out the home team scored a third even though two of their players were in strikingly obvious offside positions. When you have no luck in a game you really have no luck.
This is going to be a tough league and to survive the Celts will have to learn to pass better and get more shots on goal. They have learned to do this in the past and I'm sure they will again.

Man Of The Match; Great return by Goggs and another great performance by Edjmar but the MOM goes to fantastic energetic performance by John B!