Best Players of Summer '09

After the deluge of emails around the "will we or won't we play this weekend" debate we can relax this Sunday, get to know your family again and hope we can muster up the magical 11/12 players for next weekends game. Some of us will be meeting this Monday night at Augers bar in Guilford to discuss some administration issues around the team. We need more players and better communication within the team. I'm sure we can achieve that......I'll keep you posted!

Just to cheer us up I thought I would remind you about the winners of our "best players of the summer awards"!

And the winners are??

Well done to Carlito, Gogglito and Kevinho for their first wins in the best player awards for Summer "09 and to Roniildo who picks up his second award as best midfielder!

Hope to see you all on the field again soon!

Goalkeeper of the Summer Poll!

So Gogglito just edges out Johnaldo 7 to 6 for the defender of the Summer vote.....well done Gogglito! Are you sure you want to play American Football in th Fall??

Final vote of the Summer and it's to vote for the best man between the sticks! We had 3 guys who expertly kept the attacking hordes at bay; Kevinho, El Gato and the man with many names El Gutso, The Heckelator, BOR!!

Fall season starts next Sunday and it is an away game to Southington!..... I will post all the fixtures on the next update

Defender of the Summer Votel!

After the runaway victory for Roniildo (8 votes!)  in the midfielder of the summer vote it is now  time for the big one! Yes the vote for defender of the Summer!  And we have a lot of people to vote for....i know a number of players 'helped out" in defence at times.....and thank you for that...but i have kept to the main group of players that will always describe themselves as D experts! Del Pie, Hamid The Enigma, La Boca, Gogglito, Pink, BOR, Johnaldo and El Gato!

Please go ahead and vote!!

Midfielder of the Summer Vote!

Well after a very tight race and a narrow victory for Carlos in the Striker of the Summer vote it's now time for us to vote best midfielder of the summer! Up for critical appraisal are Tom the Coach, TJ, Roniildo, Jodinho and Fribeka!

You can vote using the vote machine!

Some great performances by each of them during  the season so i'm sure this will be a close one!

Don't forget to watch Arsenal vs Celtic this afternoon in the Champions League! Kick off 2.45 pm on FSC. Celtic 2-0 down from the first leg and heading out....can they stage a miraculous comeback??

Striker of the Summer Vote!

It's time to vote for player of the Summer! And, we are going to start with our star strikers Jorge, Carlito, Enrique and Scotty! They all managed to score more than one goal this season!

All of them have perfected the art of making the unmissable missable :o)



Go ahead and vote using the magical poll machine on the top right hand corner of the page!

Summer Season Statistics

OK, the Summer season is over and it's time for some analysis! How many games did we win or lose, who scored the most goals who won the most MOM awards, how many picnics did we have?

Here are the gory details!

Our overall record was;

Played 11, Won 4, Lost 7, Drew 0, Goals For 23, Against, 26, Points 12

Our home record was;

Played 6, Won 4, Lost 2

Our away record was;

Played 5, Lost 5!

Top goal scorers;

Jorge 5
Carlos 3
TJ 3
Scott 3
Enrique 2

La Boca, Roniildo, Jodinho, Fribeka, Tom A, Ahmad, OG all got one goal!

Man of the Match Awards;


El Gutso 2
Carlito 2
Kevinho 2
Ron the Toe, Jodinho, Enrique, Fribeka and Roniildo all got one award!


Says a lot that a goalkeeper got the MOM 4 times!!


Well, those are the bare statistics but the botom line is that we will have to do better in the Fall season.


Oh, and we had 2 picnics!

MATCH REPORT; Madison 4 Guilford 3

Summer season ends with a victory

Although it was a friendly game to end the Summer season this was a hard fought victory for Madison against a rough and tumble Guilford team. Madison controlled the early stages of the game with some neat crisp passing keeping possession of the ball for long stretches of the game. When Guilford did get the ball they attacked fast and with menace. The Madison defence had to be alert to a number of attacks down the left and right wings. However, first blood went to Madison with a fantastic headed goal by Carlito. This was quickly followed up by an equally fantastic shot by Tom the Coach that bulged the back of the net as it screamed past the outstretched hands of the Guilford goalie. At this point in the game Madison where in full control and bossing the game. Of course, as we have seen in the past, as soon as Madison get comfortable in a game they do contrive to make things difficult for themselves. And so it proved again when a Guilford attack was not closed down early enough allowing their striker to slam the ball into the net past the onrushing El Gutso.

To their credit Madison went straight back onto the attack and were quickly back in control and restoring their two goal lead. A great move started from defence by the impressive Tom P to Fribeka then onto Carlos allowed the nippy winger to cut in and slam the ball past the goalkeeper for goal number 3 to Madison.

Unfortunately Madison could not hold onto this cushion of a lead for long when Guilford broke from a suspiciously offside position to score again and reduce the gap to one goal. But, 3-2 at the half time break and a well deserved lead for Madison.

The second half started with some strong attacks by Guilford most of which were being repelled handily by Tom P. When they did break through El Gutso was on hand to make a save. But Guilford did manage to equalize with a very special goal. Their small left winger picked up a poor pass on the Madison right just preventing it from going out. From this point he raced to the edge of the Madison box before unleashing a beautiful curling shot that soared over the outstretched arms of El Gutso. A great goal to equalize with and could have set Guilford up to push on for victory. However, Madison did not stop attacking after this set back and could have scored a hat full of goals if their finishing had not been so poor. But it was left to Tom the Coach to seal victory for Madison with a fantastic arcing shot from outside the Guilford box that gave their goalkeeper no chance. A great goal to win any game.

So the whistle blew to end the Summer season and it was great to end it on such a positive note. The Fall season will be with us before we know it!

MEN OF THE MATCH; the Tom's. Tpink and Tom the coach They both had great games to day and it was difficult to decide who had the biggest influence so, MOM awards for both of them!

NEXT GAME; Sunday 9th August, Guilford Hawks

We end our Summer season with a friendly game against Guilford Hawks this Sunday. This is a home game and hopefully we can all remember where the lines are on the field because they have all been rubbed away!

Looks like we will be having a nice picnic after the game to round of the season. I will send out a summary of the Summer season stats next week.

See you Sunday!

MATCH REPORT; Southington 3 Madison 1

Miserable run of defeats continues for Madison

We always knew this first season in the top division was going to be a tough one. The Madison team has a small squad and no real match winning "stars". You know the type of "stars" we seem to meet week in and week out with the opposition. The fast as lightning striker that slams 3 goals past us, or the midfielder with the ball stuck to his foot like a magnet or the defender that used to play for a Polish first division team back home. We don't have anyone like that in our team but, the team does have skill and for the first half hour of this game there was no doubting which team was the best; it was Madison. Some fine ball control and great passing led to a whole host of great chances for the visiting team. Southington were on the back foot and struggling to keep up with the quick passing and possession play coming from Madison. It was therefore a deserved reward when Madison were given the chance to take the lead after Ahmad was felled in the penalty box. He blasted the ball into the net from the spot only to hear the somewhat erratic referee blow for a penalty box infringement. Luckily, the second shot was no less powerful than the first and Madison had the lead. At this point in the game the midfield were linking well and going on some good runs. The defence were rarely bothered but as the half edged to a close things started to change. Madison were playing with no subs and it was beginning to tell. Some players started to flag and the steam went out of the midfield play. The runs that the Southington strikers were making were not being picked up as easily as before and inevitably just before the halftime whistle Southington struck a cruel blow against Madison. A Southington striker appeared from an offside position and had a clear run into goal for their equalizer. The referee was having nothing to do with the pleas for offside and the goal stood. A tough way to end the half as Madison had clearly been the best team throughout.

The second half was very tough for Madison. The energy and zip that had been the hall mark of the first thirty minutes of the game had more or less been depleted and what was left was a backs to the wall defensive strategy. The constant subbing of players by the Southington team starkly contrasted with the huffing and puffing of the Madison 11 that had to stay on the field for the full 90. Madison still had a number of chances to score but all were squandered and when a midfield/defensive fumble occurred just outside the Madison box Southington were quick to pounce to take the lead. Even at this point the team was still trying to compete. Some strong running by Roniildo and good tracking back gave some hope of an equalizer. But, those hopes were dashed when Southington slammed in a third to effectively finish the game as a contest. The full time whistle went and an exhausted Madison team trooped off the field. Some strong defending and great saves by El Gutso had kept the score down in the second half but Madison had no real threat up front. Gogglito and Hamid put in a great shift in central defence and had left it all out there on the field but it looked like some of our players never brought any in the first place!

The last game of the Summer season will be at home against the tough New Britain Polish team. If Madison get a full squad of players out then I'm sure they will try and finish this first season in the first Division with a flourish

MAN OF THE MATCH; Roniildo. Strong running and constant tracking back to help the defense makes this a stand out performance by the captain

NEXT GAME; Sunday 2nd August, Southington!

Ok guys , we are on the road again after two tough defeats at home. Now is our chance to break our bad away record by winning a game. I think we have a real chance against Southington. They are a good team but not as difficult as other teams in the league. Let's see if we can win this one and the last game of the Summer season to at least finish with a 50/50 win loss record.

We will be playing away at Southington Recreation Park which is off of exit 4 of 691W

See you all there!~

MATCH REPORT; Madison 2 New Fairfield 5

Madison stumble to heavy defeat


After a hard fought and even first half, Madison crumbled in the heat today crashing to one of their heaviest defeats of the season. Four superb unstoppable shots by the New Fairfield no19 ruined any chance Madison were going to have of making a game of it.
The first half had started well for Madison with some great movement and some real scoring chances. However, first blood went to the visitors when their no 19 latched on to a loose back header controlled the ball and whipped a vicious shot past the flailing arms of El Gato. The goal was against the run of play and it shocked the Madison team back on to the attack and they were rewarded when a scrambled shot across the goal was squeezed into the net by Jorge with some close help by Carlos. At this point in the game the Madison midfield had being playing well, especially Fribeka who was shuttling back from attack to defence to good effect. Madison went close to taking the lead with a number of headers and shots hitting the New Fairfield post. However, Madison could not hold and before the end of the half a fast break away by New Fairfield resulted in another great goal by the no 19. Madison were still strongly in the game at the start of the second half but were soon crushed by two fantastic goals by New Fairfield. Both shots from outside of the box arced over a fully outstretched El Gato. At 4-1 down Madison's form deteriorated rapidly and it was no surprise when a fifth goal was knocked in on the goal line. At this point, probably out of sheer embarrassment, Madison actually started to play their best football and Jorge scored a consolation goal before the end of the game.

This was a tough loss to take after the closeness of the first half but New Fairfield were the faster and fitter team in the second half.

Only two games to go before the end of the Summer season and hopefully we can put the last two games well behind us.

MAN OF THE MATCH; FRIBEKA Some great running and passing in the first half was enough for Fribeka to claim the MOM award

NEXT GAME; Sunday 26th July New Fairfield

So what do you think about the new Celtic away shirt as modelled by Celtic's new striker Marc Antoine Fortune? It's a re-do of a Celtic shirt from the nineties affectionately called the bumble bee shirt....will be a big seller!

Anyway, back to Madison business....after a lot of huffing and puffing it looks like we have a game on for this Sunday. It's a home game against New Fairfield. As you know they are a good team and we have some great games against them in the past. Our home record against them has been good but we will have to play a lot better than we did last week if we want to start another unbeaten home record!

We are playing on the Strong Field again....so see you there

Any beers boys?

MATCH REPORT; Madison 0 Prospect 1

Home record goes in lame defeat

Records are made to be beaten; the four minute mile, the 10 sec 100 metres, the most hot dogs eaten in 5 minutes. Someone sets the record then, eventually, they fall. Well Madison's record of not suffering defeat at home for over 2 years finally fell today. And it fell with a whimper not a roar. A very poor first half performance by Madison against an under strength Prospect team set the tone for an abject display overall. Madison found themselves under attack as soon as the whistle went and more or less spent the entire first half defending their goal line. Some superb saves by Kevinho and clearances by the Madison defence saved the blushes of the team but their was no hiding from the superior play of the visitors. Their fast passing and movement was in stark contrast to the static one dimensional play from Madison. Their inability to make or receive a pass cleanly or even mount a cohesive attack was an early sign that this game was going to be a real test of that proud home record. The first half ended with Prospect in total control of the midfield and relaxed in defence. Madison did play somewhat better in the second half and a few chances came their way, most notably a header by Jorge and a few shots that went high or wide. The attacking line of Prospect was fast and strong but to their credit the back four of Madison held their own. With 15 minutes to go it looked like Madison might salvage a 0 0 draw out of this poor performance but alas it was not to be. Another fast attack by the Prospect number 7 ended with him being tripped in the Madison box for a clear penalty. The spot kick was dispatched with ease as Prospect took a well deserved one nil lead. With little time in the game left Madison did respond with a number of attacks but with no potency or direction.

The whistle came to end a poor game for Madison and an end to that proud unbeaten run at home.

MAN OF THE MATCH; Kevinho. Great saves by Kevinho kept the score from being embarrassing

NEXT GAME; Sunday 19th July, Prospect!

We have a home game against Prospect Grampas this weekend. I have no idea how they have been doing this season because our " league" administrators haven't bothered to post results or table positions since end of last year. Quality....

From looking at their results last season it looks like they will be a tough team.....but they are no Brazil! See you guys Sunday.... i think we have a full team but I'm sure Tom will confirm.

The big question that remains...... who is bringing the beer??

MATCH REPORT; Brazil 6 Madison 1

Brazil youngsters hand out soccer lesson to Madison veterans

Once in a while it's OK to get a soccer lesson, just to remind all of us of how to pass, move and score and today we were back in the class room. Of course, this was a friendly and most of the guys we were playing against were under 30 but it was still good to see how well we could cope with that type of continual attack. Now the score sounds bad, but we had quite a few chances in both halves to score goals and we didn't take them. There was to be no great comeback like last year and they dominated the game from start to finish. Their goals were very good, not your scuffed shot from one foot off the goal line but superb 25 yard curlers into the top corner of the net. Real Brazilian style football! The highlights for me were the constant running of our midfield, especially Roniildo and Jodinho and the outstanding defensive play by Tim Jensaldo Gogglito to give him his full Brazilian name. I know we lost 6-1 but some of his clearances and last minute tackles prevented the score from being a lot higher. Same too for Kevinho...some great saves and catches to keep the Brazil team in check.

Overall a good workout, and a realization that we do not play teams of this caliber in our league. We should feel confident that we can win every game in our league!

We will be back to league action next weekend with a game against Prospect...Tom will find out if it is home or away.

MEN OF THE MATCH; Gogglito and Jodinho get the double man of the match award for the non stop tackling and running...great game guys!

And one final thing....today is the One Year Birthday Of The MADISON CELTIC Blog!

Thanks for interacting with it. I know a few of you have now learned how to leave comments on the blog and it adds to the fun of doing the blog if we do use it! So instead of e-mailing back a comment why don't you try posting it on the blog in the comments section! And for you nostalgic people out there here is the first ever Madison post !

http://madisonceltic.blogspot.com/2008/07/our-team.html

NEXT GAME; Sunday 12 July, "BRAZIL"

We have a friendly match this weekend against a Brazilian select. This is the team we played last summer that gave us such a great game. That day the final result was 5-5 ( match report is here; http://madisonceltic.blogspot.com/2008/08/match-report-brazil-5-madison-5.html ) and was highlighted by a great comeback by Madison from 5-1 down to snatch a draw!

They are a good team and have some young players so it will be a good challenge. I guess if Enrique is playing he will be playing for them.

The game is in Westbrook and starts at 9.30 AM. The driving instructions are in the comments section below.

See you there!

MATCH REPORT; Madison 2 Bridgeport 0

Access Denied For The Champions As They Fall To Madison Magic

The champions came to town this weekend and left with their tails between their legs. A resounding victory for the Madison Celts provided a welcome three points and added to their remarkable unbeaten home record now stretching back over two years. Whatever magic the Madison home field is conjuring up worked again as Bridgeport fell under the spell. This was as complete a performance as you could hope for from Madison. Impregnable at the back, forceful in midfield, skillful upfront and overall way too much for Bridgeport to handle.

Playing in the lush paddy field that doubles for a soccer pitch at Madison, both teams got off to a bruising no holds barred start. Tough tackles and tough talk seemed to be the flavor of the day as the referee had his work cut out trying to keep the lid from coming off this highly pressured pot of a game. Several chances fell to both teams in an absorbing first half. Kevinho, in fine form, made a number of finger tip saves to deny Bridgeport while at the other end Madison's shots were just narrowly missing the target. The home teams defense were strong and unyielding giving the potent Bridgeport attack only a few crumbs to eat from. The combination of Tim and La Boca along with the defensive backs held the line so well that the Bridgeport strike force would be tired of hearing La Boca shout "Access Denied!" long before the end of the game. The Bridgeport defense was also having a torrid time dealing with the re-invigorated Carlito, back from his injury absence. He was in the mood to provide a soccer master class and his long, mazy dribbling runs combined with his gravity defying twists and turns had the Bridgeport defense in disarray.
However, after a tough first half the honors were even and the game nicely balanced for a tough second half.

As the second half matured it was clear that Madison were taking the ascendancy in the game. Carlito's runs were continuously piercing the Bridgeport defense and their only answer to his skilful running was to dump him on his backside. It was after one of these fouls that Madison grabbed the lead. Carlito had made it to the edge of the Bridgeport penalty box before the obligatory foul occurred. As he slowly got up Scotty placed the ball on the edge of the box and shaped to rocket the ball as hard as he could but instead rolled the ball gently to Carlito who was standing unmarked outside the box. He didn’t take a second look before he blasted the ball high into the Bridgeport net. One nil to Madison and at this point in the game a very well deserved lead. After this Bridgeport came at Madison with all guns blazing but the home team's defense was in full lockdown mode as ball after ball was cleared and tough tackles halted every approach. No matter what they tried the Madison net was being protected. Great back up support from the midfield, especially Jodinho and Roniildo, really helped as they got into the act by doing some great goal mouth clearances. A clearly disheartened Bridgeport team were then further weakened when another great run by Carlito was finished off with a great pass across the 8 yard box where it was happily met with the flying boot of Fribeka as he slammed the ball into the net for a 2 goal lead. After this Bridgeport were a broken team and any chance of them coming back into the game was ended when one of their more hot headed players was sent off for a second bookable offence. Madison played out the last ten minutes of the game stroking their ball around at an almost leisurely pace. A great victory for Madison as they see off a sorry looking Bridgeport team who will have to improve greatly if they want to retain their title. All Madison have to do now is to win at least one point away from the magic of their home field to break the nasty hex on their away form.

MAN OF THE MATCH; CARLITO An outstanding performance by the " skinny one" as he tormented the Bridgeport defense all day. One goal and one assist and a lot of fun watching him play makes him the clear man of the match. A few players also came close with La Boca and Tim in great form. A special mention to Scotty for bravely opening his home and showing great hospitality and cooking skills for the team. I do love those Bubba burgers!