NEXT GAME; Sunday 23rd June VS Ridgefield

It's almost time for the Summer mid season break! Time to get to the beach have  a glass of wine and relax a bit but, before that we have to endure the last game of the Spring season!  And it's the toughest one. A home game against the runaway league leaders Ridgefield. There is probably no point in me saying the obvious, but I will. We have to be at our best to even have a hope of getting anything out of this game. But,  I know we can play very well and there is no reason we can't get something from  this game.
It is  a10am kick off at our normal exchange field field. The beach club have changed their rules now and we need car passes. I sent them to you in a previous email. If you don't print this off, or can't, then you will have to park at the Route 1 entrance. I will print off a few extras but tell me if you need one

We will try and have an end of season bar bq after the game. Who is up for that? Food and booze volunteers?

MATCH REPORT; Guilford 2 Madison 1

Another tough result for Madison Celtic as they fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat to local rivals Guilford. The Celts got off to a bad start in the this pre-dawn game as only ten players turned up for the kick off. By the time TomP slowly trundled to the field, ten minutes after the whistle, the Celts were 2  0 down. A great strike by Guilford for the opener and then a defensive blunder for the second set up a potential hiding for the Celts. But maybe it was Tom or maybe it was the team attitude but after those ten minutes this became a very tough and close game. Roniildo, Johnny B and Rob Bz played very well in midfield with Ruggero moving easily up and down the wings. The defense, after the opening blip, were solid as Tim got back to his best form of the season. Alex was powerful and Jodingo!! and Tom P were great on the defensive back positions. When Guilford did get through the back line Hulk was there to block. The only issue we had was the fairly insipid attack. There was only a couple of attempts on goal in the first half by the Celts. One was a fantastic whipped in cross that was met by Johnaldo's head but went wide of the goal, the other a fairly tame shot on goal. The second half was much the same as the second as Madison increasingly got more of the ball and pushed Guilford further and further back. Unfortunately there was not enough consistent pressure on the Guilfrod goal. But just as the game was edging to an end the rampaging forward runs by Johnny B and Alex were rewarded  with a goal by Alex. With only a few minutes left on the clock it was too little too late although Guilford ended the game the more anxious team

MAN OF THE MATCH; Some great performances by the midfield and defense but in my humble opinion Tim won out the MOM

NEXT GAME; Sunday 16th June, Guilford Bell Curve

The Celts have an early start on Fathers Day with an 8am kick off against Guilford Bell Curve at the Guilford high school. Directions to the field are below;  THIS IS A TURF FIELD!!

GUILFORD HIGH SCHOOL:

605 New England Road, Guilford, CT 06437

(Nike® Artificial Turf field approved for SASL games)

I-95 North to Exit 57 (Route 1 / Boston Post Road). Turn left at the end of the exit ramp onto Route 1. Go 0.8 mile and take a right on to Flag Marsh Road. Go 0.2 mile and turn left on to Schoolside Lane. Go 0.8 mile and turn right on to New England Boundary Road. The High School is 0.2 mile on the right hand side.

I-95 South to Exit 57 (Route 1 / Boston Post Road). Turn right at the end of the exit ramp onto Route 1. Go 0.6 mile and take a right on to Flag Marsh Road. Go 0.2 mile and turn left on to Schoolside Lane. Go 0.8 mile and turn right on to New England Boundary Road. The High School is 0.2 mile on the right hand side.

This is getting near to the end of the Summer season and the Celts are anchored to the bottom of the table. A morale lifting victory over our old rivals Guilford is clearly what's needed.  You up for it?

MATCH REPORT; Madison 1 Greenwich Arsenal 5

Another tough game for Madison as they crashed to a heavy 5-1 defeat. The least said about the first half the better, as almost nothing went right for the home side. The most positive outcome at the end of the 45 minutes was the fact that the Celts were only 2-0 down. The second half brought a more aggressive attacking stance from the Celts as they threw three players up front and for the first 20 minutes of the second half that tactic clearly was working. A great move involving Johnny B released the galloping Ruggerho into the box and ended with a great finish by the Italian stallion. At this point in the game it almost looked like another goal would rescue a point for the Celt but an appalling decision by the linesman allowed at least three opposition players to move the ball forward from clearly offside positions. With the Madison defence static as statues waiting for the whistle it was the easiest task in the world for the attacker to slot the ball past the exposed Hulk. To make matters worse Edmilson took his vocal challenge of the linesman inaction a bit too far and was shown a straight red. 3-1 down, and now with only 10 men, made the task of salvaging a point almost impossible and when the Arsenal team slotted in another two goals the inevitable became reality. It's proving to be a tough season for the Celts. Only two more games of the Summer section of the season left to claim some points

Man Of The Match;  Some great save and tackles by Hulk and Danny kept the team in the game but once again Alex proved to be the main man at the back with some great tackles and break up play. So the MOM goes to him

NEXT GAME; Sunday June 9th vs Greenwich Arsenal

We have a home game this weekend against Greenwich Arsenal with a 10 am kick off. We played the twice last year losing one and drawing one. It should be a close game but we need to up our work rate and shots on goal if we want to capture the three points.

We have 5 on the roll call so far so let me know if you are playing or not!

Anyone want to be on beer duty for this weekend?

MATCH REPORT; Fairfield 2 Madison 0

Yet another bitter defeat for the Celts this weekend. This time the loss was to their fellow hooped rivals Fairfield GAC. On a hot and increasingly humid day the Madison team just wilted and to be fair Fairfield were up for the game and by far the better team. They attacked the Celts right from the beginning and if it wasn't for the heroics of Alex in goal and La Boca and Jodingo!! at the back we could have been onto a hiding. Though most of the opening twenty minutes of the game the Celts could not get hold of the ball and when they did they gave it away cheaply. In contrast, the home team were fast and could move the ball around their team with ease. They had a few simple but very effective tactics that basically involved lobbing the ball down the left or right wing and letting their fast strikers out run the Madison backs. Unfortunately that tactic was all that was needed for them to score their first goal. A distracted Celtic team, arguing for a foul with the ref, allowed the Fairfield team to hit the ball straight down the middle of the field to their fastest forward. He outstripped the last defender and coolly slotted the ball into the net. The most frustrating part of the game for Celtic in this first half was their inability to read the offside trap. At one point almost every forward pass was adjudged to have found a Celtic player in an offside position. Unfortunately, to this observer at least, the linesman got it right about 90% of the time. It's something that has to be fixed and a really basic problem for a forward line to have.
The second half was marginally better as the Celts got more of the ball and threatened the opposition goal a bit more but Fairfield still looked the most likely to get the next goal. And that they did, with the same tactic of lobbing the ball over the back line and allowing a player to burst through on goal giving Alex no chance. After going two nil down the Celts played their best football, hitting the post and coming close a few times. But way too many times they had to rely on a last minute tackle by La Boca or a great save by Alex to save further humiliation. The last five minutes or so got a bit rough as both teams started to put in some meaty challenges. Fairfield saw the game out and got a well deserved three points. The Celts really need to come up with some smarter tactics than they are currently deploying if they want to gather any more points in this league.

Man of the Match; great play by Jodingo!! and Alex throughout the game really had them as potential MOM's but the award goes to La Boca for his many last minute tackles and break up play