I was hoping to get the first of those two wins right away, 3rd placed Ebbsfleet were coming at the Avenue Stadium. The crowd got to see an action packed first half with no less than three goals! Unfortunately two of those goals were scored by our opponents, the first with a fabulous shot from distance and the second as a gift from my generous defense. We played pretty well in the second half but wasted quite a few good chances so we had to postpone the title celebrations.
The next game was at home too but only three days later and most of my players were very tired. We produced a good display though and right winger Jason Mycoe gave us the lead 21 minutes into the game. 12th placed Stevenage got back on level terms a few minutes later, a nice 25 yard drive went past my keeper. We got back in the lead five minutes before half time when striker Alexandru Almani rounded off a nice team move with a powerful shot from inside the box. We continued to play well after half time but a mistake made the score level again. We gave the ball away in midfield and Stevenage punished us with a quick counter attack. It was a bit frustrating because we hit the woodwork no less than three times until that moment but we managed to clinch the win eight minutes from time when Mycoe made a good run and squared the ball for Almani‘s clinical finish.
The great news came after the final whistle, York lost 2-1 at Mansfield and we were champions! The fans were quite happy and as you can see they are considering dedicating a statue to me outside the stadium! Well I’m not too excited at the thought of pigeons crapping on top of my head but as long as it makes the fans happy… :)
We had a bitter pill to swallow after all that champagne though, centre back Bosko Visatovici suffered a terrible injury in training and he will be sidelined for between 10 and 12 months, that made everybody at the club very sad. The next day another piece of bad news from the physio, centre back O’Brien was going to be out for 7 weeks! I had only two fit centre backs for the remaining games of the season but the bad news kept pouring in: left winger Gheba will be out for 6 months, striker Jivan for 6 weeks! Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Callum
7 июля, 2010 at 09:29
Great season Johnny. Carolan was awesome I agree. I am a bit disappointed with Stefan he should have done better. I am curious to find out how your keeper got 2 assists :L Anyway good luck with league two :)
Johnny Karp
7 июля, 2010 at 09:47
Thanks Callum. I was expecting more from O’Brien too but I guess he will do better next season. My keeper sends out pretty long kicks, that’s how he got two assists. I remember one of them, a long kick headed past the keeper by Biagini from the edge of the area. :)
Jolicobbler
7 июля, 2010 at 10:10
Well done, Jonhny — another great season. I hadn’t played in a while but picked up my Eastleigh game and got them in L2 through the playoffs.
I made very few changes to my squad and I’m in the mix at the top of the table after the first few months. Judging by some of your players I think you’ll do fine next season too!
Kevin Mayo
7 июля, 2010 at 10:47
Hello Johnny
Congratulations on promotion to League Two. A truely fabulous season for you and in the nd you ran away with the title. Nice win over York at Wembley too!
Majk
7 июля, 2010 at 13:39
Great work! You managed what I couldn’t at my first attempt.
But you were truly cruising for promotion all the way and I can see you challenging the top contenders in league 1 with only a few good signings.
Vinners
7 июля, 2010 at 13:50
I just hope that you can find a parent club as they can be very helpful! Well done for this season and I hope you enjoy success in League two
ravenie
7 июля, 2010 at 13:58
I’m not surprised to be honest. I think you have a good chance of the play-offs next year Johnny. I had a similar injury crisis at Birmingham which made me start a center half up front.
Lye
7 июля, 2010 at 15:14
Another fantastic achievement mate. Congratulations on the great job at Dorchester and i have no doubts that next season will be equally successful with few quality signings in.
Sears
7 июля, 2010 at 15:37
@Johnny, fantastic achievement! Congratulations on promotion to League Two. With a few more quality players you can challenge for a play-off spot next season in League 2. Goodluck!
Laxeyman
7 июля, 2010 at 19:54
What a perfect season Johnny, well done! The FA Trophy is the icing on the cake, and your league form was excellent, particularly Carolan, what a signing! Good luck for next season, I hope you get a decent transfer budget.
Johnny Karp
8 июля, 2010 at 08:45
Thanks a lot for all your kind words folks! I’m not at home and unfortunately I don’t have the time to reply to each of your nice comments individually, I hope you’ll forgive me. It has been a fantastic season and I hope that we’ll be able to strengthen the squad during pre season. Thanks again for all your good wishes.
Andries
10 июля, 2010 at 01:34
Hey Johnny,
Congrats!! A wonderfull achievement ofcourse with a club like Dorchester Town. I read all the Dorchester episodes and i’m very curious how the story continues. I do have a question. Did you ever try a different tactics (a non-straight up) 4-4-2? I did try a 451 for crewe and also a diamond 4-4-2, i tried different options on those tactics but nothing worked! Can you tell me something, from your experience?
good luck with the signings! Andries
Johnny Karp
11 июля, 2010 at 18:36
@Andries
Thanks a lot for following the story and for the good wishes. As for the tactic, I almost never change the 4-4-2 set up and when I do it’s mostly because I am forced by injuries or other mishaps. I did experiment with other types of formations in the past but I’m a fan of the 4-4-2 :)
Calum
14 июля, 2010 at 13:15
A great season Johnny, congratulations. Good luck in League 2!!