NEXT GAME; Sunday Sept 30th Orange

Well, sounds like the game against Easton was a total debacle.  Something has clearly gone wrong with the team over the last 5 games. We have taken only one point out of the last 15 and are now facing relegation. Our last four games of the season are all very, very tough. The "easy games" are behind us and we now play Orange away, Norwalk Mariners at home, Greenwich Arsenal at home and finally run away league leaders Vasco at home.......   Easy huh?

Well I know we are a better team that our results are telling us. It is clear our tactics are wrong right now   and we are playing as eleven individuals rather than a team. We need to get this right if we want to grab any points over the next four weeks.

This has to start with a tough away game this weekend against Orange. We beat them earlier in the season and they will be out for revenge. If we play to our best and try and defend as a team and attack as a coordinated unit we may have a chance of repeating the win. But we all have to try together!

The game is an early kick off 830am at the Fred Wolfe Park in Orange. Directions are below;

FRED WOLFE PARK:

I-95 South to Exit 39B (Connecticut Post Mall Exit / Route 1). At the end of the exit ramp take Route 1 North.  Move into the left lane and at the first traffic light (near Burger King) turn left onto Cedarhurst Lane.  Go to the third stop sign and turn right onto Orange Avenue for 1 mile where it will change into Ridge Road.  Continue on Ridge Road for about ¼ mile and turn right onto Hollow Road.  Go to end of Hollow Road and you will see the entrance to the park.

Route 15 South (Wilbur Cross / Merritt Parkway) to Exit 56.  At the end of the exit ramp turn right onto Grassy Hill Road (Route 121 South).  Go 0.6 to 0.8 miles and turn left onto Meeting House Lane.  At the stop sign at the top of the hill, turn right onto Ridge Road.  Go 0.3 miles and take the third left onto Hollow Road.  The entrance to the park is at the end of Hollow Road (a cul-de-sac/dead end road).

Teams should note that NO ALCOHOL is allowed in the park!

MATCH REPORT; Madison 1 Easton 5

Hulk Hogan reports on the debacle;

Any words that can explain how today went would not properly show how today went.....as the goalie 5 goals let in would say that the Hulkster was very drunk from last night......not the case.......we played the first 10 minutes like madison celtic pro league with multiple scoring chances....with all missed apportunities then the whells on defence fell off.....1 goal from a unmarked guy from 15 ft went top left " one of the best shots i have ever seen"....2nd goal was a 2 on 1 which was easily put in......begining of 2nd half defense was still on bench leaving 2 goals in first 7 minutes with unmarked players at all times with alot of tired players.........and the 5th goal was given in the last 30 seconds when the entire team just sat and watched the guy get the ball 10 ft from the net and laughed as he shot it over my left shoulder when i went down but that was after he took a drink from his pina caloda...........1 goal on me for misplaying a corner but in general the worst overall preformance as a team we have ever had.............Tanos outstanding direct kick goal was about the only positive in a very depressing day....................even el gato would not take the pipes when asked when it was 3 - 0........that says it all 


Man of of the match ?? lol

NEXT GAME; Sunday Sept 23rd Easton Rhinos

Fall is nearly here and the Celts have another chance to get the second half of the season back on track with a home game against Easton Rhinos. They are above us in the league but are arriving after a 9-1 hammering from Norwalk Mariners. Of course, our last opponents had also just been scrubbed  by the Mariners and little good that did us. Every game is there to be won from the first whistle. The last time we played the Rhinos we lost 3-1. The match report is here ;

Easton 3 Madison 1

Doesn't that report sound familiar??

Bottom line is we need to take advantage of the meagre chances when they arrive. For whatever reason we are turning out to be a low scoring team in this league and we cannot last 90 minutes without making mistakes...... so....we lose.  We have a somewhat depleted squad for this weekend with 4 of us over in Scotland playing for the Atlantic Rovers.  Fribeka, El Gato and Tano are in charge of the team this weekend. Let's bring home three points guys!!

MATCH REPORT; Norwalk SC 3 Madison 1

The bitter taste of defeat once again hit the throats of the Madison  team as they slumped to a miserable loss to the bottom team in the league. A closely fought goalless first half,  with few chances of note from either side, gave way to a second half of misery for the Celts. Inconsistent refereeing decisions, shockingly bad passing,  badly timed tackles and a team bereft of a single effective tactic was the poor brew that resulted in a deserved defeat for the visitors. Even though the team had a number of players missing from the game there should have been enough talent on the field to take the three points. However, the Celts struggled to pull any form together. Some strong performances by Rob B and great running by Tano were notable but not enough to get the team to gel. With very few attempts on the opposition goal the Celts were always running the risk of the sucker punch in the game and so it came to pass. A strong run by one of the home team strikers allowed him to ride two wayward attempts at a tackle before the third brought him down for a penalty. The game went from bad to worse from this point as over the next 20 minutes the Norwalk team took their chances to get three up. Playing for pride now the Celts scored the best goal of the game in the last couple of minutes as Edison cracked in a scorcher of a free kick for the consolation goal. However, there was no hiding the fact that this was one of the worst displays by the Celts over the last few years and they will have to recover some form to avoid being stuck in a tough relegation battle. With only a couple or so points covering the bottom five teams the next few games will be very interesting.

Man of the Match;  Edimar covered being dropped into the goalie position at the last minute very well with some great saves. Tano did some great running and Ruggerho had some great approaches in the first half but the best overall performance for Madison was from Rob B as he tried to push the team forward.

NEXT GAME; Sunday 16th September Norwalk SC

Our next game is an away match against Norwalk Sports Colombia. It's a 10am Kick off at the Broad River Field in Norwalk. Field directions are here;

BROAD RIVER SOCCER FIELD:

I-95 to Exit 15.  Continue on the Expressway and get off at Exit 2 (New Canaan Avenue).  At the end of the exit ramp, at the traffic light, turn right.  Go to the second traffic light (a Wendy’s restaurant is facing you) and turn right onto New Canaan Avenue (Route 123).  Go to the next traffic light and turn right onto Silvermine Avenue.  Take the next left onto Harris Street.  Take the next left into the Broad River soccer field parking lot.  Walk through the tennis courts to the field entrance.

Route 15 (Wilbur Cross / Merritt Parkway) Northbound to Exit 38 (Route 123/New Canaan Avenue).  At the end of the exit ramp turn left onto Route 123 (New Canaan Ave).  Go 1.5 miles and turn left onto Bartlett Avenue and then your first right onto Harris Street.  Go 100 yards and Broad River Soccer Field parking lot is on your right.  Walk through the tennis courts to the entrance to the field.

Route 15 (Wilbur Cross / Merritt Parkway) Southbound to Exit 38 (Route 123/New Canaan Avenue).  At the end of the exit ramp turn right onto Route 123 (New Canaan Ave).  Go 1.5 miles and turn left onto Bartlett Avenue and then your first right onto Harris Street.  Go 100 yards and Broad River Soccer Field parking lot is on your right.  Walk through the tennis courts to the entrance to the field.

The last time we played them we lost 2-1 at home. The match report is here;

http://madisonceltic.blogspot.com/2012/05/match-report-madison-1-norwalk-sc-2.html

Norwalk SC have hit a run of bad form and currently sit at the bottom of the league on 9 points having won only 2 games so far. Their last two games have resulted in 7-2 and 8-1 defeats! But i repeat ...... they beat us 2-1 at home!!! This is another chance for us to get back on track and put some points between us and the bottom of the table!

A few guys have said they are available but a few are injured or unavailable.

Halil, Jodingo!!, El Gato and John B are out and Tom A is 50:50 so lets have some more names on the roll call

See you Sunday!

MATCH REPORT; Madison 2 Fairfield 2

For the first time in my life I was hoping a team was going to beat the one in green and white hoops! Yes, our Celtic cousins Fairfield GAC were in town off a great no lose streak that had seen them haul themselves off the bottom rung in the league. Madison, playing in uncustomary black shirts, got off to a great start with some really dominant play and equally robust defending. An early  breakaway in the first minute of the game could have seen Tano put the Celts in the lead but for a brilliant stop by the visiting goalie. The Celts kept the pressure up and were rewarded with a fabulous goal by Ronilldo with a lovely shot into the postage stamp corner of the net. A well deserved lead and a good sign that the Celts were ready to shake off their recent bad from. Fairfield were also showing some great attacking bursts getting behind the Madison defence and whipping in dangerous crosses. The Hulk had to tip some shots over the bar and others at full stretch round the post and just when it looked like the Madison defense might let one in Tano scored a great goal to put the Celts two up! The Argentinian striker had been threatening throughout the  match and it was great to see him get his third goal of the season to tie with Edimar on the top goalscorer chart. However, the good feeling didn't last too long as a defensive stramash allowed the visitors to get a goal against the run of play. It had looked like the Celts could have ran away with the game but that goal put the home team on the defensive for the rest of the half. The terrible field conditions were beginning to wear down both teams and the skill level in terms of passing and running started to deteriorate in the second half. Madison were relying more and more on the incredible last minute clearances of Goggs and some out right fabulous saves by Hulk. The strong forward line of Fairfield were getting more and more chances and with only ten minutes left on the clock they got the equalizer that was coming. To the credit of everyone on the Madison team they put in their best attacking play in those last ten minutes as they tried for the winner. Great runs by Edison and a close chance by Tano almost gave the dream end but it was not to be as the game ended all square.

Man Of The Match;  a tough one to pick as their were some great performances by a number of players especially the saves of Hulk, the last minute tackles by Goggs and some great breakaway runs by Edison. It was also good to see the debut performance of Robert B. But with a string of great saves the nod goes to Hulk for another great game

NEXT GAME; Sunday Sept 9th, Fairfield!

We have a home game this Sunday at 10 am against Fairfield GAC. We will be playing on the Town Campus field for this game and we may have to play in black shirts for this game as Fairfield also play in green and white hoops.

 I have a whole bunch of numbered black shirts that i got last year for this very type of event, however a number of new players have arrived and i may not have enough shirts so please come with a black shirt with your number on it.  In the comments section below i will list the shirts i have that already have a number on it already, if you see your number then you are ok.  IF YOU DO NOT SEE YOUR NUMBER then please turn up at the game with a black shirt with your number on the back!  This is very important as you will not be allowed to play unless you have the number on your back.

This is an important game for us to get back on track in the league. We have lost our last 3 games in a row after two great wins against Orange and Norwalk Mariners. The last time we played Fairfield we beat them 1-0 and for most of the first part of the season they have been bumping around the bottom of the table. However, they have hit a bit of form recently hammering Guilford, drawing against Orange, and beating Easton and Arsenal! They now sit only 1 point behind us in the league and this will prove to be a much tougher game than our first game against them!

Make no bones about it, the next couple of games will be vital to making sure we gather enough points to stop us dropping into the relegation zone!

Let's turn up on Sunday ready to compete and to play well as a team!