Anyway, we managed to get through the last five league games with a considerably reduced squad, we recorded three wins and two draws.
We ended the season with a good total of 109 points, I guess the League Two teams shouldn’t underestimate us ;)
The most important game of the season was coming up, we were going to Wembley for the FA Trophy final. The interesting fact was that we never managed to beat York in the previous games, we recorded a 1-1 draw at home in September and got beaten 2-1 away in February. We had to change that poor record and we had a slight advantage as York were still involved in the promotion play-offs so we had a few more days of rest compared to them. The game finally began and I had a bit of a shock when I saw the pitch, perfect like a snooker table! I hadn’t seen such a pitch in a while, most of the Blue Square Premier stadiums are quite… muddy. We started the game with a positive approach, we were trying to attack but York‘s defense was solid as a rock. We got lucky though, a through ball into their box was cleared by a defender but the ball hit another defender in the back and went straight past the surprised keeper! York reacted very well and we had some defending to do until half time. We didn’t defend too well though, York had two clear cut chances to score the equalizer but they missed them. The second half showed a much better attitude from my players and right winger Jason Mycoe missed a huge chance only two minutes into the half, he was one on one with the keeper but didn’t find a way past him. The most important moment of the game came a few minutes later, we were on a quick counter attack and playmaker Juanje played a beautiful chip past York‘s defense… Substitute left winger James Marwood beat the offside trap and volleyed the ball home, we had one hand on the trophy!
York were unable to react after that goal, we took control of the game and captain Ryan Carolan wrapped up his fabulous season with another winning corner kick header. The trophy was ours and we received a nice bonus from the FA for the win, 50 thousand pounds! The club’s financial situation was much better now, we were still in debt but that went down from more than 200 K to 46,000 pounds.
Here are the player stats for the season, sorted by the average rating. I’m quite pleased with most of the players, some of them really played much better than I was expecting them to. I think that around five or six players will leave the club at the end of the season but I will probably have to wait and see the wage budget for the next season.
Our hero was undoubtedly captain Ryan Carolan, he is a role model to both his team mates and the fans. He scored no less than 12 goals this season but the most important thing is that he was always pretty solid in defense apart from some mistakes now and then. I always felt confident when he was in the starting line up and he will surely be our captain next season too.
Along with Carolan another two players were picked in the Blue Square Premier Team of The Season, Dutch midfielder el Kadi and Romanian striker Jivan.
That’s how the beautiful season ended, another promotion for my Dorchester and another challenge ahead of us, surviving in League Two. I doubt I’ll have a transfer budget so I guess I’ll be looking for bargains again but the thing that worries me is that two of my players have really bad injuries that will keep them on the sidelines until autumn or even more. I’m quite curious to see the wage budget for next season, I hope that the board will be a bit more generous. And I also hope they will finally find me a parent club…
Thanks a lot for reading this rather long post my friends. I will be away for a few days, the plane is leaving in a few hours… I will have access to a computer though so I will be able to reply to your comments and emails, just not as quickly as I usually do.
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!!