The haunting sounds of the Scottish bagpipes greeted both teams at the beginning of the game. A nice touch by Tano to recognize the advancing years of yours truly! Many thanks!
The Celts claimed a well deserved win in their first State Cup outing against Trumbull Amici. A slow start by the Madison team gave way to a confident display that meant the result was never in doubt. The first half was highlighted by some strong, no nonsense defending aided by the Hulk who cleaned up anything and anyone that got through to him. The most surprising moment in the opening minutes was the rapid substitution by Jodingo!! who suddenly remembered he had forgotten to make a deposit in the blue bank. With a huge load off his mind he returned to a midfield in full motion. The middies were in great form with Johnny B and Fribeka working well together linking the defence and the attack. Some great chances came the way for the Celts over the first twenty minutes or so. Flaco did one of his signature runs rounded off with a shot that cracked of the bar. Kevin and Leo had some great chances to take the lead but nothing really fell their way. Just as it looked like Madison would not take advantage of the huge possession a great move down the left saw a neat ball played across the box by Tano allowing Johnny B to slam it in the net for the go ahead goal. The Celts really moved up a gear after this and another fantastic defense splitting pass by Fribeka saw Leo running down in the left in acres of space. It only took a simple ball across the box for Johnny B to slot in his second of the game. The Celts could have wrapped up the game before the end of the first half with some open goal opportunities that were missed. However, the decisive goal came in the second half after birthday boy Johnaldo climbed off the bench and found himself at the edge of the box just after Flaco had sprinted past several defenders. The diminutive genius took the merest second to look up and place a superbly weighted ball right into the path of Johnaldo who gleefully side footed the ball, with some venom, past the hapless goalkeeper. Three nil up and cruising, the rest of the game could have seen several more goals go in if it wasn't for a spate of missed easy chances from the wasteful strike force. But it would be unfair to be negative on a day when the performance was such a well rounded one. A great win that sets the Celts up well for qualification to the next rounds of the cup!
MAN OF THE MATCH; Some great performances throughout the team but on balance the great combative and creative play of
Johnny B and
Fribeka stood out and gives them a share of the MOM spoils
Over-40 'Intermediate' Group A
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New Britain Falcons FC
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5
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Naugatuck River Rats
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0
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Madison Celtic FC
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3
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Trumbull Amici
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0
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Trumbull Amici
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v
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New Britain Falcons FC
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Naugatuck River Rats
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v
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Madison Celtic FC
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New Britain Falcons FC
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v
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Madison Celtic FC
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Trumbull Amici
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v
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Naugatuck River Rats
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Over-40 'Intermediate'
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New Britain Falcons FC
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Madison Celtic FC
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Trumbull Amici
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Naugatuck River Rats
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Over-48 Group A
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Glastonbury Celtic FC
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4
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Greenwich United
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0
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Darien Blue Wave
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1
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Polonia Falcon Stars FC
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1
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Polonia Falcon Stars FC
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v
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Glastonbury Celtic FC
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Greenwich United
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v
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Darien Blue Wave
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Glastonbury Celtic FC
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v
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Darien Blue Wave
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Polonia Falcon Stars FC
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v
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Greenwich United
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Over-48
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Glastonbury Celtic FC
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Darien Blue Wave
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Polonia Falcon Stars FC
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Greenwich United (combined SASL teams)
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