Dorchester Town Story: December 2013

Hello folks and welcome to another chapter of the Dorchester Town FM 2010 story! Life in the Championship surely wasn’t easy for us until December, we had some moments of good form but also poor runs that were making me wonder if we could survive in the league. November was pretty good though, we got two wins and three draws and were sitting 13th at the end of the month.We were on a five match unbeaten run and I was hoping to keep it going for as long as possible, even with some more draws instead of wins.

The first game of December was at home with 3rd placed Southampton. They were the better side and they surely proved that during the first half, the were all over us but somehow we managed to survive until half time. We got out of the dressing room with a better attitude and the game was looking a bit different after the break. We were trying to push forward but just when it seemed that our game was getting even better Southampton struck on a counter attack. I admit I wasn’t hoping for too much at that point but Omar Koroma didn’t give up and he gifted us the point with a sublime curling shot from 20 yards out, straight into the top corner.

Next up, another very tough game as we were visiting league leaders Newcastle. The first half was rather boring and I was happy with that, we managed to control the game in midfield and didn’t allow Newcastle to create any chances. Things seemed to get even better just before the break when Alan Smith got sent off after receiving his second yellow card (he should have seen at least six yellows during the first half if you ask me). I was hoping for a much better second half but I had to witness a real onslaught, Newcastle were totally outplaying us despite the one man disadvantage. They would have deserved to win the game but our young goalie Davide La Rocca was absolutely stunning, he pulled off several magnificent saves to stretch our unbeaten run to seven games.

Back at home for the next game, 17th placed Nottingham Forest were coming to pay us a visit. Davide La Rocca continued his show from St. James’ Park as he pulled off yet another great save only 30 seconds into the game but then we took control of the game and Forest‘s defense was under more and more pressure. On-loan striker Liam Parker missed a sitter 15 minutes into the game but then he finally banged in his first goal of the club on 25 minutes. We could have scored at least two more until half time but we wasted several chances. We could have been punished for that in the second half as Forest were trying to push forward but our defense coped with the pressure and we got the overdue win!

The next game was away at fellow newly-promoted side Millwall, they were sitting 15th. We got off to a good start this time and young centre back Francesco Tosto gave us the lead on 18 minutes with a fine corner kick header, his first ever goal for the club. Then things got a bit complicated since Fabricio Coloccini got injured, I had to replace him with Stefan O’Brien but the Irish youngster appeared to be in good shape. Mohammed Tchite eased the pressure eight minutes before half time when he rounded off a flowing team move, we were leading 2-0 at the break. The second half saw us being forced to defend but we did that very well, Milwall had no other options than to shoot from distance and they never managed to hit the target. Fabricio Coloccini was going to be out for a month and with Ryan Shotton still trying to recover from his injury I had to rely on the young centre backs that I had in the squad.

We had another tricky game coming up, away at promotion contenders West Brom. We had a bit of luck early on as they hit the crossbar five minutes into the game but we hit back very well and took the lead on 13 minutes when Jonathan Dos Santos played a superb pass behind the defense for Liam Parker who rounded the keeper and tucked it in. Then we found ourselves under some pressure and WBA managed to get the equalizer before half time, it was totally deserved. Things got more interesting after the interval because West Brom switched to a highly attacking 4-2-4 setup, we were being pushed back by their tremendous attacking strength. Our defense was standing firm though and we could have scored the fatal blow through Omar Koroma, he was clean through on a counter attack but didn’t manage to send the ball past the keeper. I was hoping to hold on to that draw but it all ended 13 minutes from time when Nacho Gonzalez found a great shot from 20 yards out that went past our brave keeper. Our unbeaten run was over after nine games. Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

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

I was hoping to bounce back from that defeat straight away but we had a very difficult game coming up, at home with one of the best teams in the league, 2nd placed Bristol City. Even worse, the game was going to be played only two days after the exhausting match at West Brom, I wasn’t hoping for a win to be honest. The players proved me wrong tough as we took the lead on 13 minutes when Liam Parker rounded off a flowing team move. We continued to attack and hit the post five minutes later, the boys were flamboyant out there! We were dominating the game and the crowd went wild on 24 minutes when Liam Parker bent in a cross that Peter Singh headed in. Our joy had to end quite quickly though, our opponents reacted furiously and I really don’t know how we managed to survive until half time as they missed a couple of huge chances. They continued to attack after the break but we were defending a bit better. Davide La Rocca still had to pull off a couple of miracles though and our perfect afternoon was wrapped up by Liam Parker 13 minutes from time when he headed in a good cross from Al Bangura. It was a very efficient performance from our lads and I was very proud of them.

The last game of the year was away at 19th placed Sheffield United, our players were quite confident and I had to be too :) Liam Parker was in great shape and he proved that straight away as he skipped past an opponent and placed the ball into the back of the net only four minutes into the game. We put on a solid display during the first half and Mohammed Tchite found a moment to show off his skills 10 minutes before the break as he scored with a solo effort. We were under a bit of pressure in the second half but nothing special, my defenders were looking quite comfortable out there.

We got four wins out of the seven games in December and that pushed us a bit up the table right below the play-off spots! The table is incredibly tight though, apart from Newcastle and Bristol City which seem to be a class above the rest.

We have to thank on player in particular for that 7th place at the end of the year, it’s young goalkeeper Davide La Rocca. He was absolutely outstanding, our guardian angel that kept us alive in several games with his stunning saves. The stats don’t show too much relevant data for a goalkeeper, maybe just the fact that he never made a mistake that led to a goal!

January seems fairly quiet, only four games… But we’ll start at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup! I hope that we’ll manage to give Chelsea a good run for their money and maybe score a goal without conceding more than five :) I will be looking to offload a couple of players during January, most probably Jacob Lensky and trouble maker Mark Simmons will leave the club if we’ll receive good offers for them. Maybe Al Bangura will leave too, I have to balance the wage budget.

That’s how our action-packed December was my friends, thanks for reading this new episode. I have to say that I was very pleased with the team this month, we seem to be playing a lot better and that surely reflects in our new league position. I don’t know if we can keep it up but I surely wish we can…