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