Dorchester Town Story — August 2011

Hello dear friends, the first matches as a professional team for my Dorchester were ready to begin! I managed to bring in 13 players during pre-season but I didn’t know what to expect as I didn’t have too much knowledge about the actual level of play in League Two. You can imagine how curious I was to see my team in action, I hope you’re curious to see how our first month went too.

The media predicted that we would finish last, as usual :) Our first game was away at Bury, a team that was predicted to finish 19th. The first minutes of the game were quite painful to watch for me, Bury were dominating and eventually took the lead with a fine shot into the top corner from just inside the penalty area. We were not playing very well and under such circumstances you have to make the most out of the chances you might have. We did have a huge one ten minutes before half time but it was wasted. I made all three substitutions at half time and the team started to play much better but the finishing was still quite poor. Bury doubled the lead following a throw in, my defenders seemed to be thinking about their holidays, wives, girlfriends, anything other than marking their opponents. Striker Omar Koroma managed to claw one back for us 14 minutes from time, he displayed some good footwork to skip past his marker and then powered it in from inside the area. We pushed forward to get the equalizer but the ball just wouldn’t go in, so our first game in League Two ended with a defeat. Captain Ryan Carolan got injured and was going to be out for three weeks, a perfect start…

We had a more difficult game coming up in the Carling Cup, away at League One side Coventry. This time we got off to a great start and Polish striker Kazmierowski gave us the lead 13 minutes into the game with a perfect shot from just inside the area to round off a flowing team move. Our joy was short lived though, Coventry equalized with a fabulous shot from 30 yards out and then, a few minutes later, took the lead with a fine header. Our reaction was weak and the game was as good as over at half time. We didn’t wake up after the break either and Coventry managed to seal the game thanks to a bizarre penalty kick, the ball wasn’t anywhere near the penalty area when the referee blew his whistle. Beating Coventry was an unlikely possibility anyway so I wasn’t too harsh on the lads.

Back to League Two, our next game was at home with promotion contenders Northampton, a team that was predicted to finish 3rd. It was our first home game of the season and I was pleased to see that more than 2000 fans came to watch the game and encourage the lads. My players took control of the game right from the start, we were pushing forward and the opponents were making some very rough tackles to stop our attacking moves. I was expecting to see a red card sooner or later and it finally came in the 31st minute, we had a man advantage but we still had to get something on the scoreboard. That finally came true three minutes before half time, striker Omar Koroma banged one in from inside the penalty area. Four minutes after the break another good flowing team move gave Kazmierowski the opportunity to score from inside the box and he didn’t miss. We were totally in control of the game and should have scored a few more to please our fans. Instead of scoring we conceded one due to a huge error in defense but we never looked like losing it.

We had our first win of the season and a lot more confidence to take into the next game, away at Port Vale, another promotion contender that was predicted to finish 6th. The team looked fairly solid during the first 10 minutes, we were dominating the game and were rewarded for that in the 11th minute when Bulgarian winger Mladenov rounded off a team move with a splendid volley from inside the penalty area. Our first half display was quite pleasing, Port Vale didn’t manage to get any shots at all, on or off target! We kept things under control after the interval too and we could have doubled the lead but the finishing was rather poor. Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

Back at the Avenue Stadium for the next game, Yeovil were coming to visit. They were predicted to finish 8th so I was expecting a tough game. The first half was quite spectacular, both teams were looking to attack and both sides were denied by the woodwork. It was all square at half time but we could have broke the deadlock just after the break. Unfortunately we hit the crossbar once again right after the interval. We continued to push forward but some good goalkeeping deprived us of a well deserved goal. We finally managed to get one in 12 minutes from time, left winger Rosalia powered one in from inside the penalty area. We were in control and the last minute of the game brought us another goal, right winger Jason Mycoe made a good run and crossed the ball into the box, striker Koroma cushioned it with his chest and fired in a superb half volley.

We were enjoying the three consecutive wins and looking to get the fourth in the last game of the month, away at mid-table Accrington. We started the game pretty well but we were not incisive enough. I was quite sure that we would go to the dressing room with a 0-0 score line but my goalkeeper had other plans, he fumbled a cross right into the path of Accrignton‘s striker and we were one goal down. Things could have gotten even worse but a wild 35 yard shot hit the crossbar above my keeper’s head just before half time. The team came out with a great attitude in the second half, we were piling on the pressure and striker Kazmierowski finally scored the equalizer 13 minutes from time. My lads wanted to win though, they kept on pouring forward and the reward came during the last minute of the game, a fine team move was finished off by right winger Aleksandar Mladenov.

I was quite pleased that the players managed to recover from the two initial defeats and earn four straight wins, we were lying in 2nd place!

The player that I would like to single out is left winger Revy Rosalia, snapped up on a free transfer last July. He is an international player for Netherlands Antilles but he can be considered a Dutch player since he only played in Holland until now. His career started at Den Haag in the Eredivisie but then went on to play for smaller clubs in the lower leagues. He did quite well for us until now, scored an important goal against Yeovil and always looked solid on the left flank.

We’ll have only five games to play next month so I hope to recover some of the injured players and maybe continue the winning streak for a few more games.

That’s how it was folks, I was hoping to get 9 points out of the fist five league games, we got 12 and I’m quite happy about that. The team is very confident and the level of play seems to get better with every game. It’s still early to make predictions though, we’ll have to confirm the good run next month and then see where we might stand. Thanks for reading and I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts.