Hello folks and welcome to the climax of Dorchester‘s Championship season, the last games that were going to tell us whether we were going to step up to the Premiership or not. We were sitting 4th at the end of March, eight points behind the second place but also 8 points clear of the 7th. So we had a good chance to grab a play-off spot but also a slim outside chance of challenging for automatic promotion, let’s see how we fared.
The first game of the month was at home with relegation threatened 21st placed Barnsley, I was expecting nothing less than three points. We got off to a rather bad start though and Barnsley took the lead 10 minutes into the game with a good breakaway goal. We were dominating the game though and managed to net the equalizer in the 26th minute when Liam Parker‘s powerful finish rounded off a flowing team move. Nine minutes later midfielder Jonathan Dos Santos found himself unmarked at the far post and headed in a free kick cross to give us the lead. The second half was all quiet with Liam Parker heading in his second goal from a good cross by Tiberiu Paduraru.
The next game was a lot tougher and also a crucial one: away at 3rd placed Southampton. They were ahead of us only on goal difference, we were tied at 73 points. We got off to a flying start this time, young striker Peter Singh sidestepped a defender and powered the ball in from just inside the area nine minutes into the game. We were forced to defend after that goal but we were doing it pretty well. It got even better, we doubled the lead against the run of play when Francesco Tosto popped a corner kick header. Southampton clawed one back three minutes into the second half, it was a very good team move that left my defense standing. We were under pressure but managed to survive until the 68th minute when a big error in the middle of our back four gifted Southampton the equalizer. We had a couple of chances to strike on counter attacks but I have to admit that we were lucky to get the draw as the Saints hit the woodwork twice after the second goal!
Next up, a very difficult home game against league leaders Newcastle. Promotion was already secured for them so I was hoping they would show some complacency :) Unfortunately they took the lead only three minutes into the game, a Rory Delap style throw-in was headed in by Xisco… We played pretty well, especially after the interval, but Newcastle‘s defense was rock solid and we didn’t have enough strength to break through.
Despite that defeat our play-off spot was secured! We didn’t have any chances left for automatic promotion but we were going to be in the play-offs, that’s something I really wasn’t expecting at the start of the season.
The last two games of the regular season saw two good displays from the lads, especially against Nottingham Forest. The game against Millwall was special for Ryan Carolan, he scored his first goal of the season since he didn’t have too many chances to play for the first team.
We finished 3rd and that pitched us against Ipswich for the play-off semi final!
We had a good record against them, we won 2-1 at home in November and got a good 2-2 away draw in March. Things appeared to be different this time though, we were under pressure right from the start of the game but our defense was coping with it pretty well. I was hoping to strike on counter attacks and we did have a good chance on 25 minutes but failed to convert it. Three minutes later a corner kick cross was headed in past our keeper and Ipswich were leading 1-0… Things were pretty quiet until half time and then we started playing a bit better after the break. Unfortunately Liam Parker wasted two huge chances, it was looking like one of those days in which everything goes against you… Somebody had to do something and that somebody was Mohammed Tchite, he took the ball 20 yards out, weaved between three defenders and placed it in, magnificent individual effort! Nine minutes later Tchité made another one of his great runs but this time he squared the ball for Liam Parker who tucked it in! Ipswich were trying hard to get back level but they were leaving gaps behind and we had another good chance to score on a counter attack before Liam Parker finally sent one in during injury time! It was a great result that gave us a big advantage before the second leg. Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Lye
16 сентября, 2010 at 13:31
Hi Johnny,
Definitely we will be behind you. Congratulations on another straight promotion to the Premier League. The Premiership standard probably require you to have a new stadium? I hope your board can do something about it. It will be tough next season but no doubt i think you have no problem in surviving. Great job there mate.
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2010 at 15:21
Thanks Lye. I am quite curious to see what will happen with the stadium, it surely is not up to the Premier League standards. Maybe the board will rent a stadium.
hils
16 сентября, 2010 at 15:53
Brilliant Johnny!!!!!!!! Dorchester have a massive chance of surviving in the prem. Good luck!!!!
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2010 at 18:52
Thanks for the good wishes and for the compliment Hils.
Vinners
16 сентября, 2010 at 17:29
I think Dorchester have alot of rebuilding to do for the premiership, facilities, stadium, squad. But with Johnny at the helm they’ll do well. Congratulations on another promotion!
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2010 at 18:53
Thanks Vinners. You are right, we have lots of bricks to replace in the club’s structure but we’ll do that gradually.
Kevin Mayo
16 сентября, 2010 at 18:20
Hello Johnny
Congratulations on an amazing achievement bringing Dorchester from the BSS League all the way to The Premier. To do this type of thing with one team (Blyth) is quite something but to repeat the success again is true Master Class. You have an outstanding ability for chosing the right players for your tactics. Well done!
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2010 at 18:54
Thanks Kevin. Actually I think that this one is better than Blyth since I didn’t have five consecutive promotions with the Spartans.
Darren Smith
16 сентября, 2010 at 18:38
Im behind you all the way Johnny. You have pulled off the impossible mission…guiding Dorchester to five consecutive promotions. You must be really happy and I cant wait to see what happens in the summer. Well done mate!
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2010 at 18:55
Thanks Darren. I am happy but also a bit concerned when I think about the massive amount of work that has to be done in pre-season :)
Sears
16 сентября, 2010 at 20:19
Hi Johnny,
Well done on guiding Dorchester to the Premier League. You have a lot of work ahead of you, but you can defo stay up next season.
ps regarding your Blyth Spartens story, you DID win 5 promotions in a row. It was with Chester that you had two years in the Championship. Check your stories page :-)
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2010 at 21:05
Thanks a lot for the reminder Sears :) You are right, I forgot :)
Sayam Khan
16 сентября, 2010 at 20:50
Well Done Johnny!!!!! You are truely the best FM manager I have ever seen!
I also think you need a new stadium, and maybe a squad revolution apart from your strikers and collocini? What do you think?
Johnny Karp
16 сентября, 2010 at 21:04
Thanks Sayam. I already started the pre-season and I can tell you that we won’t have a new stadium, the board will expand the current one. I guess you are right, well need new players especially in midfield.
Laxeyman
17 сентября, 2010 at 16:13
Brilliant Johnny, another great season for your side, and you should be proud of your efforts. Next season will be tough because of the poor fianances, but I’m confident you’ll do okay and can’t wait too see what happens. Good luck!
Johnny Karp
18 сентября, 2010 at 12:46
Thanks Laxeyman, bringing in players with no money isn’t easy but it isn’t impossible either ;)