Dorchester Town Story — November 2010

Hello folks, time for another update of my Dorchester Town Football Manager 2010 story! As you know we recorded our first defeat of the season in October but we were still top of the Blue Square Premier table, six points clear of the second placed team. My lads recovered well after that defeat at the hands of Luton Town and went back to the winning ways. We had to keep up the pace though, the season was still long and promotion was not at all guaranteed.

The first game of the month was at home against 8th placed Barrow, I was hoping to pull off another win with the help of our fans. We started the game well and striker Marius Dabu gave us the lead by finishing a nicely crafted team move. Then he missed a huge chance to double his tally five minutes later and we got punished on a counter attack, Barrow managed to level the game. The team was still playing well though and Marius Dabu eased my worries a few minutes later when he fired in another one from inside the penalty area. The third goal came as a natural consequence of our good display, left back Lee Molyneux crossed to the far post and right winger Jason Mycoe coolly headed it in. We missed quite a few chances in the second half and we scored only one more goal, a solo effort from striker Sergiu Jivan.

The next game was our toughest test yet, the FA Cup 1st round game against League One side Carlisle. They were doing quite well in League One too, they were pushing for promotion to the Championship. The first ten minutes proved that we were up against it, my defense was under pressure but we managed to survive. Then we gradually took control of the game in midfield and I was overjoyed in the 19th minute when striker Leonardo Biagini curled in a fantastic shot from the edge of the area, straight into the top corner! We were leading 1-0 and the crowd at Brunton Park was in disbelief. Our joy was short-lived though, Carlisle only needed three minutes to equalize as my defenders were unable to handle a long ball and that put Carlisle‘s striker in the clear. I was hoping to hang in there until half time and we almost made it. Unfortunately a shot from 30 yards out went past my keeper only one minute before the break, young goalie Maximiliano Catalano could have saved it, it wasn’t much of a shot… My team looked to be in disarray and Carlisle missed a huge chance right before the half time interval. The team came out with a good attitude in the second half and we almost managed to score the equalizer but Ryan Carolan‘s good corner kick header hit the upright. We kept on trying until the final whistle but we lacked precision, most of our shots were going high or wide. It was a good effort from the lads though, I congratulated them after the game. The bad thing was that centre back and captain Ryan Carolan got injured and was going to be out for three weeks.

Back to the league, we had a tough away game coming up at 3rd placed Ebbsfleet. The cup game seemed to have left a mark though, we had an unconvincing start and Ebbsfleet eventually took the lead from a penalty kick. We tried to get back level before half time but Dabu missed a huge chance, he shot straight at the keeper from point blank range. We continued to push forward after the break and the reward came in the 58th minute, centre back Bosko Visatovici banged in a corner kick header to get us back on level terms. The team was playing pretty well but just when it looked like we were going to score the second goalkeeper Catalano pulled a «Robert Green» on me, he fumbled a shot from distance and the ball went in… We poured forward in a desperate attempt to save the game but Marius Dabu missed a huge chance and our fate was sealed, we recorded the second defeat of the season.

We had to recover quickly but the next game wasn’t easy at all, we were playing away at 6th placed Histon. We started the game pretty well and things were looking pretty good 20 minutes in, midfielder el Kadi was brought down inside the box and the referee pointed to the spot. Sergiu Jivan stepped up to take the penalty, the shot didn’t look bad at all but the goalkeeper pulled off a superb save. We continued to push forward but luck seemed to be totally against us. We finally managed to get the breakthrough we needed nine minutes before half time, a nice flowing team move freed left winger Alexandru Gheba inside the area and he blasted it home. We were safely in control during the second half, we kept possession very well and secured the win. Unfortunately it seemed that we had a small injury crisis going on as right wingers Mycoe and Marwood got injured and would be unavailable for quite some time, around two months… That means that I have only one right winger left, Carol Domondi, so he’ll play to exhaustion until the other two get back. Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

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