Hello folks, welcome back to the Dorchester Town Football Manager 2010 story! This update will wrap up my second season in charge of the Magpies so you’d better not miss it! :) As you know we were top of the table at the end of February, 12 points clear but second placed York had a game in hand. We were also on our way to reach the FA Trophy final but we had to get past a two-leg semi final against Cheltenham. Do you want to know if we got promoted to League Two? The answer is coming up…
The first game of March was away at 20th placed Tamworth, a good opportunity to grab another three points. Things didn’t look so well during the first 20 minutes though, our opponents were unlucky to see a good shot hitting the crossbar. Then we took control of the game but wasted a couple of good chances until half time. We came out of the dressing room with more determination and it showed right away, striker Marius Dabu powered one in to give us the lead. We kept control of the ball after the goal but we were less incisive and could have been punished for that during injury time, Tamworth had a pretty good chance but goalkeeper Catalano did very well to pull off a save.
Next up, a much more difficult game: at home against 5th placed Luton, a team that beat us 3-2 in October (that was our first defeat of the season!) We got an unexpected push towards victory this time though, one of Luton‘s centre backs got sent off only five minutes into the game for a horrible tackle on Marius Dabu. Fortunately my striker survived that murderous attack and we were pushing forward to take the lead. We were unlucky though, two good chances ended up by hitting the woodwork. Luton were relying on corner kicks and free kicks and they had a couple of good opportunities from such set pieces. We resumed the attacks after half time and veteran striker Leonardo Biagini finally gave us the lead by rounding off a flowing team move. The Argentinian marksman doubled his tally from the spot seven minutes before time and we recorded a very important win.
The first leg of the FA Trophy semi final was coming up next, we were playing at home against Cheltenham, 4th in the Blue Square Premier table. We got off to a flier as backup striker Alexandru Almani powered one in only a few minutes into the game, then it was all easy. Captain Ryan Carolan had a great day, he headed in two corner kicks to bring his season tally to 10 goals, not bad for a centre back! Marius Dabu and Leonardo Biagini brought the score line to an unbelievable 5-0 but we conceded a goal 15 minutes from time, it was a great goal too. However, we had a four goal advantage to take into the second leg and I was quite sure that we wouldn’t let the final slip away.
Back to the league for the next game, away at 17th placed Kettering. We got off to a fantastic start again, captain Ryan Carolan scored with a corner kick header only three minutes into the game! Left winger Alexandru Gheba and striker Marius Dabu hit the net too and we were leading 3-0 at half time! We continued to play well after the break but the finishing was rather wasteful. And we could have lived to regret that, Kettering clawed one back from a corner kick seven minutes from time and then things got even more serious when they scored the second goal in the 89th minute. Luckily my lads woke up just in time and gave the opponents no more chances to get close to our penalty area.
The second league of the FA Trophy semi final was just a formality, I was sure that we could defend the solid four goal advantage. I decided to send in the backup players to give my first team regulars a well deserved rest and the game was fairly quiet even though Cheltenham scored in the very first minute of the game. Irish centre back Stefan O’Brien managed to score his first ever goal for the club and we walked away unbeaten. We were going to Wembley! The final was going to be played at Wembley on the 7th of May and we were going to meet… York. Our league rivalry was going to continue in the cup too…
We still had the league to worry about until then, the play-off spot was already secured but I was surely wanting more than that. We only needed a few more wins to wrap up the title chase. The next game was away at 14th placed Barrow and we had a very poor first half. Some relaxed defending gave the opponents the chance to score and we didn’t show too much in attack either. I guess the lads celebrated the FA Trophy qualification a bit too enthusiastically. The team looked a bit better after half time and substitute right winger Carol Domodi latched onto a great through ball from Dabu and fired it home. We kept on pushing forward and finally got our reward four minutes from time when left winger Alexandru Gheba scored the winning goal. A quick look at the table showed that we were no less than 17 points clear of 2nd placed York, so we only needed two more wins to secure the title! 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!!