Division 3 Runners Up! Results and Final League Standings! (#18)

Third Division
Cheshire United	1	Madison Celtic FC	2
Stamford City	1	Newington Portuguese	1
Hamden United	2	Wallingford Morelia	1
Wilton Wolves	0	North Haven SC	0
North Branford SC	3	Eli's FC	0 THIRD DIVISION Pl W D L FW FL F A GD SNR PD Pts 1 Newington Portuguese 18 16 2 0 0 0 52 10 42 0 0 50 2 Madison Celtic FC 18 12 3 3 0 0 40 16 24 0 0 39 3 Stamford City 18 9 8 1 0 0 25 13 12 0 0 35 4 North Haven SC 18 8 4 6 0 0 34 35 -1 0 0 28 5 North Branford SC 18 8 2 8 0 0 31 27 4 0 0 26 6 Wallingford Morelia 18 8 1 9 0 0 40 35 5 1 0 25 7 Wilton Wolves 18 3 5 10 0 0 25 34 -9 2 0 14 8 Cheshire United 18 2 8 8 0 0 27 42 -15 1 0 14 9 Eli's FC 18 3 5 10 0 0 23 47 -24 0 0 14 10 Hamden United 18 1 2 15 0 0 21 59 -38 0 0 5

MATCH REPORT; Cheshire Utd 1 Madison Celtic 2

Madison Celtic won promotion to the second division with a hard fought 2 1 win against a stuffy Cheshire Utd team. The Celts went in to the game knowing they only needed 1 point to guarantee their promotion out of the third division but the game did not start with any note of caution from the visitors. In fact, just in the same fashion as last weeks game against Wilton, the Celts found themselves one nil down within 3 minutes of the game starting! Thankfully the mirroring of the Wilton game continued when Tano once again equalized for the Celts within a couple of minutes! After that  early burst of activity the game settled in to a pattern of the Celts struggling to get out of their own half. The wide dimensions of the field and the initial team layout  meant that the Celts got very stretched and a large gap appeared in the middle of the pitch allowing the home team to attack the defensive line at will. They did a great job of preventing Cheshire from scoring and when the Celts reverted to a more formal 442 formation they started to take a grip of the game. The first half finished with the teams even in scoring but the Celts clearly edging the possession.
That possession became even more obvious in there second half as the Celts chased a winner. Some great passing play by the Celtic midfield generate numerous chances for the forward line who were taking up great positions in the opposition box. But it looked like nothing was going to go in until David swept past two Cheshire players down the Celtic right wing and cut in to the box before making an inch perfect pass to James who slotted the ball in to the net. A richly deserved goal and real relief to the watching fan.
The Celts had a number of further chances to emphasize their dominance in the game but couldn't put them away. In fact, if it wasn't for some heroic goalkeeping by Dustin the home team might have snatched  a late equalizer! But the game ended with the three points and promotion in the bag as Madison Celtic finished as Division 3 runners up!

Man of the Match; great performances all round from Eduardo, Tim and Tano in the first half and David, Dimitri and James throughout most of the second. But having given no one a MOM last week I think this week it goes to the whole team!

STARTING 11 VS CHESHIRE UTD!

We have NINO, Jacques, James, La Boca and me as subs at the start of the game. Should be plenty of game time!

See you all in Cheshire.  Game kicks off at 11am!!

NEXT GAME; SUNDAY 30TH Oct vs Cheshire United (A)

Finally, our journey is at an end.....

Our last game of the season is this Sunday away to Cheshire United! It is an 11am kick off at Quinnipiac Recreation fields ( directions below ). 
Cheshire are currently sitting in 7th position on 14 points having won only 2 all season. The last time we played them we won 2 0 ( match report below );

Madison Celtic 2 Cheshire United 0

Stamford drew 1 1 with Eli's in their last game ( shocker! ) so this means if we win our last game we finish 2nd and are promoted. If we draw our game against  Cheshire then Stamford would have to beat Newington Portuguese 12 0 to finish above us!  If we lose to Cheshire they still have to beat the Newington team but 1 0 would do it for them. So let's not put this to chance, just go out an beat Cheshire and gain a well deserved championship runners up spot and promotion to the second Division!


Directions to the playing field!

QUINNIPIAC RECREATION FIELDS:
1325 Cheshire St, Cheshire, CT 06410


1-91 to Exit 15 to Route 68 West, go about 6-8 miles to 3 way traffic light intersection and take Route 70 East. Go about 2 miles, bear left at fork to Cheshire Street Fields about 1⁄2 mile on left.

Route 10 to Cheshire Center. At the three-way traffic light turn onto Route 68 / 70 East. Go through first traffic light and continue on Route 70 East. Follow above directions.

I-84 take I-691 to Exit 3 (Cheshire), end of exit ramp turn right to traffic light, turn left onto East Johnson Avenue. Go about 1-2 miles to stop sign, turn right onto Cheshire Street, go about 1-2 miles to entrance of Quinnipiac on right. 

Weekends Results and League Standings! ( #17 )

Third Division
Cheshire United	3	Wallingford Morelia	3
Stamford City	1	Eli's FC	1
Madison Celtic FC	2	Wilton Wolves	1
North Haven SC	8	Hamden United	2
Newington Portuguese	2	North Branford SC	0 THIRD DIVISION Pl W D L FW FL F A GD SNR PD Pts 1 Newington Portuguese 17 16 1 0 0 0 51 9 42 0 0 49 2 Madison Celtic FC 17 11 3 3 0 0 38 15 23 0 0 36 3 Stamford City 17 9 7 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 34 4 North Haven SC 17 8 3 6 0 0 34 35 -1 0 0 27 5 Wallingford Morelia 17 8 1 8 0 0 39 33 6 1 0 25 6 North Branford SC 17 7 2 8 0 0 28 27 1 0 0 23 7 Cheshire United 17 2 8 7 0 0 26 40 -14 1 0 14 8 Eli's FC 17 3 5 9 0 0 23 44 -21 0 0 14 9 Wilton Wolves 17 3 4 10 0 0 25 34 -9 2 0 13 10 Hamden United 17 0 2 15 0 0 19 58 -39 0 0 2

MATCH REPORT; Madison Celtic 2 Wilton Wolves 1

The Celts reached their penultimate game of the season with a home match against Wilton Wolves. Played in  sunny but very blustery conditions it was the visitors that adapted the quickest by taking advantage of  a defensive slip in the first few minutes of the game to take the lead. The Celts replied quickly when Tano equalized within a couple of minutes to make it 1 1 with only 5 minutes gone! The game then settled down to a fairly ugly game with poor passing and mistimed tackles from both teams. The Celts always looked to have the edge in the first half and that was confirmed when Michael slotted in a second for the Celts from a corner kick in the 20th minute.
After an uplifting halftime team talk the Celts started the second half in a very defensive posture and found themselves under attack on a regular basis. It looked likely that the visitors would equalize but the defensive back 4 and Dustin stood up well to the attacks and gradually the game evened out. A few more chances came the Celts way to finish the game off but  they had to do with holding on to the 1 goal lead right up to the final whistle. Another 3 points in the bag from a tough, unappealing game that sets the Celts up for a promotion game in the last match of the season against Cheshire.

Man of the Match; Hard to tell

STARTING 11 VS WILTON WOLVES

We have 8 subs today, so we have plenty of movement in and out to keep the team fresh!

NEXT GAME; Sunday 23rd Oct vs Wilton Wolves

Our second to last game of the season will be this Sunday at home to Wilton Wolves. The kick off time is at 10am and I'm hoping we have just as good a squad turn out as last Sunday!

The Wolves are currently sitting in 7th position in the league with 13 points after winning 3 and drawing 4 games. When we last played them the result was a 2 1 victory to the Celts!  Match report below.

Wilton Wolves 1 Madison Celtic 2

So, same again guys!

Weekends Results and League Standings ( #16 )

Third Division
Madison Celtic FC	7	Eli's FC	1
Cheshire United	0	Newington Portuguese	3
North Haven SC	1	North Branford SC	0
Hamden United	1	Wilton Wolves	2
Stamford City	2	Wallingford Morelia	0 THIRD DIVISION Pl W D L FW FL F A GD SNR PD Pts 1 Newington Portuguese 16 15 1 0 0 0 49 9 40 0 0 46 2 Madison Celtic FC 16 10 3 3 0 0 36 14 22 0 0 33 3 Stamford City 16 9 6 1 0 0 23 11 12 0 0 33 4 Wallingford Morelia 16 8 0 8 0 0 36 30 6 1 0 24 5 North Haven SC 16 7 3 6 0 0 26 33 -7 0 0 24 6 North Branford SC 16 7 2 7 0 0 28 25 3 0 0 23 7 Wilton Wolves 16 3 4 9 0 0 24 32 -8 2 0 13 8 Cheshire United 16 2 7 7 0 0 23 37 -14 1 0 13 9 Eli's FC 16 3 4 9 0 0 22 43 -21 0 0 13 10 Hamden United 16 0 2 14 0 0 17 50 -33 0 0 2

MATCH REPORT; Madison Celtic 7 Eli's 1

This was a stunning 7 1 victory over Eli's that really showed the class of the Madison Celtic team when they are firing on all cylinders. A huge squad of 19 players turned up on a beautiful Fall day ready for business. Right from the get go the Madison midfield were challenging for the ball and releasing it quickly to the forwards. Possession was high and the passing accurate which meant the visitors had little time to react to the waves of attack coming at them. From the amount of shouting and arguing they knew they were in trouble and after holding out for just under 10 minutes the deluge began. A breaking ball allowed Tano to run into the box where he bundled the ball in to the net for the opener. Then Michael,  just subbed in to the forward line, showed his class with two quick goals both starting down the opposition right flank. Bursting past the Eli's defenders and slamming the ball into the net for his first and with a similar flash of speed doing it again to the same hapless defender but this time firing in from a more acute angle. With only 20 minutes on the clock and 3 0 up it seemed somewhat cruel when a 4th was crashed in to the  net by none other than Jacques ( or Fribeka to his friends )! Half time was reached with the home team cruising and everyone fearing what would happen to the opposition in the next 45. As it turned out, pretty much the same as the first 45!  Tano started the second half scoring with an absolute peach of a goal as he rushed into the box and gently lobbed the ball over the goalie and into the net for his 2nd and the Celts 5th of the match. The next one came when Rob fired in from the opposition left side and although it took a slight deflection it still went in the net. The Celts rounded up their scoring with a 7th when La Boca, playing against his old team, fired in a superb goal.
With the dauntless Jim off the field, Eli's scored a consolation goal to wrap up the days scoring and put a small positive on to their horrible day.

MAN OF THE MATCH; Very difficult to pick a man of the match after such great performances from everyone in the team. Tano and Micheal up front were superb notching 4 goals between them, and the midfield and defense were always in control. So it's Men of the Match on this one and a shout out to the superb subbing talents of yours truly!

Many thanks to Jenn for the great squad photo and for all the supporters that turned up to cheer us on!