Dorchester Town Story – January 2015

Hello folks, the Dorchester Town FM 2010 story continues and I’m pleased to welcome you to a new chapter. My lads had a wonderful first half of the season, they exceeded everybody’s expectations, including mine, and were lying in 6th position in the Premier League at the end of December 2014! The other teams were already starting to fear us but we had to keep our feet on the ground, there were lots more games to play. January was a good example, we had eight games to play so our squad was going to be stretched to its limits.

The first game of the new year was our opening FA Cup match, a third round clash with Championship side Ipswich. Since they were sitting 16th in the Championship I figured that my backup players would be enough to get past the opposition. I was wrong, we only survived the first half thanks to goalkeeper Gabriel Nicolau who backed up his claims for a first team place with a few great saves. I sent in Omar Koroma at half time and he managed to make the difference with a magnificent goal, a 40 yard run took him inside the box and he slid in his 10th goal of the season. We won the game but we really didn’t deserve to, that’s the honest truth. Unfortunately this victory added yet another game to our already packed January schedule, at home with League Two side Carlisle in the 4th round.

We had another cup game coming up, at home with Arsenal in the Carling Cup, the first leg of the semi final. It was our last game at St. Mary’s Stadium in Southampton since our own Avenue Stadium was a few days away from being ready to welcome the fans. My lads played a pretty good first half and we even had a couple of chances to score but the first one saw us hitting the crossbar while the second was saved by the goalkeeper. Things changed into the second half once I was forced to take out Iulian Marin due to an injury, we were no longer able to control the middle of the park and Arsenal started to dominate the match. They didn’t create any clear chances though and the game ended all square, a good result for Arsenal considering that we had to play the second leg at Emirates Stadium.

We had reasons to be happy though, our stadium was ready! It’s not exactly state of the art but it surely is much better than what we had until now.

We had the chance to inaugurate our new stands with a tough game, we had to meet Arsenal again but this time in the league. We played in front of a capacity crowd and the players were looking really fired up. They were unable to put that determination into playing attacking football though, the first half was quite boring as we only had one shot on target while Arsenal had only one shot altogether and that was off target! Unfortunately they hit the back of the net with their only shot on target after the break, Bendtner headed in a corner kick. My lads put on a decent reaction, Liam Parker had a good chance but was denied by the keeper. I guess we were a bit unlucky to lose the game but Arsenal proved to be a solid side that makes the most out of any opportunity. (unlike the real Arsenal I might add… )

Next up, an away game at 16th placed Bristol City, the fellow newly-promoted team that brought us our first home defeat of the season in August, they beat us 2-1 back then. This time I told the players to give their best for the fans, we had to get revenge! Our enthusiasm backfired on 15 minutes though, Bristol City caught us on a counter attack and they took the lead. We came close to hitting back immediately but Dacian Varga shot straight at the keeper from a great position inside the six yard box. We were not playing a very convincing game but Liam Parker managed to level the match just before half time, he took the ball inside the box all by himself and slid it past the keeper who was rushing out to block him. Then we got a bit lucky after the interval, some pushing inside the box determined the referee to point to the spot and Peter Singh slotted home his first goal of the season. I decided to switch the strategy to counter for the last 20 minutes of the game and that proved to be a good choice since we restricted the opponents to long shots that were easily handled by goalkeeper Davide La Rocca.

Back at the Avenue Stadium for the next game, 11th placed Hull City were coming to visit us. They beat us 4-3 in August and I can still remember that they managed to create loads of chances back then. I told the players that they can win the match but the first half was fairly even, Hull were proving to be a tough opposition. One player made the difference before the break though, midfielder Iulian Marin was back after the injury that he suffered against Arsenal and he celebrated his return with a fantastic shot from 25 yards out straight into the top corner. We hit the crossbar immediately after the interval, then Liam Parker missed a great chance and that didn’t go unpunished as Hull leveled the game with a fine solo effort. The game was still in the balance both on the scoreboard and on the pitch, both teams were looking to score the fatal blow. Luckily it was us who did it from the penalty spot after Parker was brought down and Jonathan Ezquerro scored his first ever goal for the club. I made the switch to counter strategy immediately after the goal and we managed to keep things under control until injury time when a last dash forward from Hull saw them hitting the post.

The second leg against Arsenal was coming up and although we had just a slim chance of reaching the final I told my players to play for the fans. They didn’t seem to have gotten my message though, we played a miserable first half and Arsenal scored two goals by taking advantage of two huge errors from our full backs, Ryan Carolan on the left for the first goal and Francesco Tosto on the right flank for the second. We were totally outplayed until half time and I was getting a bit angry. At half time I met the players in the dressing room with a threatening tone in my voice and I told them that I wanted to see more from them. The team talk seemed to work as we hit the net three minutes into the second half, Liam Parker headed in a good cross from Peter Singh. We could have netted the equalizer a few minutes later but Scott Carson pulled off a great save for Arsenal. We were dominating the game and Alex Song was unable to handle the pressure, he pushed Petre Micu inside the box and the ref pointed to the spot! Singh stepped up but Carson parried the shot, it bounced into the path of Fran Merida, he had the goal at his mercy but he sent the ball just wide! Luckily for him the former Arsenal midfielder made me forget that miss just a minute later, he ran straight at the defense, skipped past two Arsenal lads and placed the ball in! We were leading on away goals but our joy lasted just two minutes, Arsenal took the lead again and then my boys crumbled and conceded the fourth goal. It’s a shame that we lost it but I congratulated the lads for the very good second half. Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

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