NEXT GAME; Sunday 26th April vs Albanian Eagles

The Celts have a chance to get their season back on track when they take on old rivals the Albanian Eagles. The Celts have had some great games against them over the years and its difficult to predict which way this one will go!  It's a 10am Kick off at Cox School fields

Get there early for warm up!

Thanks to Jim's daughter for the great pic!

MATCH REPORT; Madison 0 Waterbury Albanians 2

The Celts fell to their second straight defeat of the season with a 2 nil loss to the Waterbury Albanians. Two defensive blunders in each half did the Celts in and although there were plenty of chances for both teams during the game the two goals remained the difference by the full time whistle. The Celts will have to improve their team work and work rate if they don't want this to turn out be a long long season.

Man Of The Match;  Some good defending by Tim gives him the nod

NEXT GAME; Sunday 19th April Vs Waterbury Albanians

We have our first home game of the season at Cox School tomorrow morning. It's a 10 am kick off so try and get there 30 minutes before the starts so we can warm up!  The game is against the Waterbury Albanians who lost their first game 3 zip last week

See you tomorrow!

MATCH REPORT; Stamford City 2 Madison 1

Notes from Ronnie at the Stamford Match:

Was nice to see that most of the guys showed up in plenty of time for

warm-up

Guys liked the early week line-up approach, as it alleviated confusion 

about who was playing where 

just before KO!

We actually had a huddle just before KO, and all the guys got their

hands in the middle as one to a cry of 

Let's go Celtic!!

We started the game really well, and made at least 5 or 6 good scoring 

opportunities early on,

and it was against the run of play that Stamford opened the scoring. 

It was a big punt from their D that went over the top of our Defense. 

The ball fell perfectly for their CF to nod the ball over the oncoming 

hulk into the empty net.

Although we did create a bunch of good scoring chances, we also 

gave the ball away far too much. 

Despite talking about build up from the back-i.e., D to midfielders, 

who would then attack and try to find Tano and Kevin upfront, 

Mike and Tim (who played great from a clearance perspective!)

would mostly by pass midfield and play the long ball which led to

many losses of possession

Johnny-B did not touch the ball for 10 mins at a time because of this

particular issue.

Dan Miller played out from the back superbly well.

Fortunately, Stamford were no great shakes themselves, so we saw

the first half out only one down to the freakish early goal.

We came out pressing hard for the equalizer in the second half with the 

wind now at our backs.

Similar story to  first half, with a mix of decent scoring opportunities but 

with too many turn 

overs for no reason other than poor passing skills.

After a good build up, John-B was bundled over just outside their box

for a free kick. Kudos to  Tano, who told JB to hit it before Stamford

were ready, and sure enough, 

the ball sailed into the net for what should have been a great goal.

Unfortunately the ref screwed us, said the ball was not in the correct spot 

for the free-kick so he 

disallowed the goal and ordered a redo, which JB struck well only to be saved.

The irony was that JB placed the ball in the same exact spot as the first time!!

We continued to battle away in the 2^nd half, but just didn’t get a lucky break.

Team camaraderie was superb, with the game being played mostly quietly

apart from one incident.

Shortly after this incident Stamford broke out after another Celtic turn over. 

Luckily they delayed and delayed their final through ball to the open striker 

until he was

5-10 yards offside, but unbelievably the linesman didn’t call the offside!

They tapped past hulk for a 2-0 lead.

In the last 2 mins, we pressed hard and one 2 corners in a row, both taken

superbly by Tano.

Big Mike got his head on the second one to make it 2-1, but we only had 

1 minute left!,

But we ran out of time.

MOM candidates or strong performances in particular were Dan Miller,

Tano and Kevin

(for his relentless running)!

NEXT GAME; Sunday 12th April Vs Stamford City

Believe it or not but our opening game of the new outdoor season is THIS SUNDAY with an away game against Stamford City FC. It is a 10 am kick off so you will need to be there at least 30 minutes before kick off to warm up and get ready for the game. Last season was tough for us but I have a feeling we will have a much better time this year. We have some new players and those of us that played indoor over the Winter months  will still remember what a soccer ball looks like!

Stamford City finished 7th  in the 3rd Div last year and should be an early gauge as to how our season  will fare...... we should win this one guys

	THIRD DIVISION	Pl	W	D	L	FW	FL	F	A	GD	SNR	PD	Pts
1	Derby Quitus	18	13	3	2	0	0	62	23	39	0	0	42
2	North Haven SC	18	13	2	3	0	0	57	35	22	0	0	41
3	Newington Portuguese	18	12	1	5	1	0	42	30	12	0	0	37
4	Delaney's FC	18	10	3	5	0	0	30	23	7	0	0	33
5	Albanian Eagles	18	10	0	8	0	0	34	23	11	2	0	30
6	Hamden United	18	6	3	9	0	0	34	49	-15	0	0	21
7	Stamford City	18	5	4	9	0	0	19	21	-2	1	0	19
8	North Branford SC	18	4	2	12	0	0	30	38	-8	0	0	14
9	Wallingford Morelia	18	4	3	11	0	0	19	41	-22	3	-1	14
10	Wilton Wolves	18	2	1	15	0	1	18	62	-44	0	0	7

I know Ronnie has asked who is in for Sunday and who is out, but let's get some quick responses in guys.

Stamford have a Nike turf field so the game will be on!

Directions to the field are below;

WEST BEACH PARK:

800 Shippan Avenue, Stamford, CT 64902
(Nike® Artificial Turf field approved for SASL games)

I-95 South to Exit 8 (Elm Street). At the end of the exit ramp turn left onto Elm Street. At the third traffic light (0.3 miles) bear right onto Shippan Avenue. Proceed to the second traffic light (0.4 miles) and turn left (you are still on Shippan Avenue). The first road on the left is the entrance to West Beach Park. The soccer field is located next to the parking lot on the right side.