Vauxhall Motors Story: October 2013

Hello dear friends and welcome to the latest episode of my Football Manager 2011 story! The last installment left us in 7th place at the end of September, we went unbeaten the whole month and managed to climb up the table after an unconvincing start in August. Now we had to confirm that good run in October and maybe climb further up the ladder, let’s see what we were able to do.

Shrewsbury vs Vauxhall (League 1)

Venue: Greenhous Meadow

Attendance: 5,260

Starting line up: Martin Hansen — Ken Harris, Daniel Pappoe, Oliver Nicholas, Alex Billington — Jacob Hronec, Matthew Ball, Mark Brown, Keith Higgs — Darryl Duffy, Dale Hills

Team Talk: You can win today!

This was expected to be a very tough match since Shrewsbury were in 4th place before the game. Fortunately we got off to a flying start as Oliver Nicholas netted his first goal of the season just four minutes into the game when he powered in a corner kick header. We played very well after the goal but wasted three big chances before the interval, we could have killed off the game during the first 45 minutes.

Half time score: 0-1

Half time team talk: Pleased

Half time substitutions: Jason Banton for Harris, Peter Leven for Brown

The home side nearly punished us for the wasteful finishing five minutes after the re-start when they hit the crossbar from distance and I was forced to make the third substitution on 54 minutes when injured Hills was replaced by Luke Williams. We doubled the lead four minutes later thanks to the other centre back, Daniel Pappoe smashed in a corner kick header. We were under loads of pressure though and Shrewsbury deservedly pulled one back after a fine move in the 65th minute. We restored the two-goal lead just four minutes later when Jason Banton bagged his first goal for the club and then there was no looking back: Banton provided an assist for Peter Leven after a superb play and then Daniel Pappoe completed his first ever hat-trick for the club and probably the first hat-trick of his career! We won the game 6-1 but four of our goals were scored by the centre backs, that’s not exactly what I would want but it’s good enough at this stage.

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Daniel Pappoe

Flop of the match: Dale Hills

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Plymouth vs Vauxhall (League 1)

Venue: Home Park

Attendance: 7,541

Starting line up: Martin Hansen — Ken Harris, Daniel Pappoe, Oliver Nicholas, Grant Baddeley — Carlos Bogado, Mark Brown, Graham Howson, Jason Banton — Darryl Duffy, Mark Cullen

Team Talk: You can win today!

Plymouth were in 16th place before the game so I was hoping for another positive result. We did some damage right away, Jason Banton received a gift on 10 minutes when he intercepted a poor pass and he coolly slotted home. Our lead was doubled midway through the first half when Mark Brown played a perfect through ball for Mark Cullen and then, just two minutes later, Banton added another goal to his tally when he headed home a good cross from Carlos Bogado. We could have scored even more before half time but Plymouth had a pair of good chances as well.

Half time score: 0-3

Half time team talk: Pleased

Half time substitutions: Keith Higgs for Bogado, Omar Koroma for Duffy

The second half was pure entertainment but both teams proved to be rather wasteful. Only one more goal was scored, Graham Howson converted a penalty kick with two minutes remaining. This probably was our best performance of the season so far and Banton was absolutely unstoppable.

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Jason Banton

Flop of the match: Omar Koroma

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Vauxhall vs Tranmere (Johnstone’s Paint Trophy North 2nd round)

Venue: Rivacre Park

Attendance: 1,027

Starting line up: James Dunn — Jacob Hronec, Derrick Williams, Elton Monteiro, Alex Billington — Darren King, Nathan Rooney, Peter Leven, Jacob Walcott — Omar Koroma, Luke Williams

Team Talk: You can win today! («No pressure» for Monteiro as this was his debut game)

Tranmere were sitting third in League Two before the match and they were the favorites despite being in a lower league. I was quite confident that we were going to win though and I chose to rest my first team regulars. Things seemed to go the right way as we took the lead just five minutes into the game when a corner kick header from Elton Monteiro went in off an opponent. We had a decent first half overall, the game seemed to be under our control.

Half time score: 1-0

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Daniel Pappoe for Monteiro, Darryl Duffy for Koroma

Things changed after half time, Tranmere were determined to come back into the game and they did that on 69 minutes. My lads woke up and started pushing forward but they missed a few good chances and the match went to penalties. We won the lottery this time, I was relieved to see my side progress to the next round. We should have won the game though, some of my backup players didn’t prove that they deserve more chances to play.

Full time team talk: Sympathise.

Man of the match: Derrick Williams

Flop of the match: Omar Koroma

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Vauxhall vs Brighton (League 1)

Venue: Rivacre Park

Attendance: 2,500 (capacity crowd)

Starting line up: Martin Hansen — Ken Harris, Daniel Pappoe, Oliver Nicholas, Grant Baddeley — Jacob Hronec, Mark Brown, Graham Howson, Jason Banton — Darryl Duffy, Mark Cullen

Team Talk: You can win today!

Brighton were in 6th place before the match so it was another tough promotion battle. The first half was very entertaining, Brighton hit the woodwork twice while we had one shot thundering off the crossbar. Luckily we made the difference deep into stoppage time when Graham Howson‘s cross from the byline was volleyed home by Mark Cullen. We didn’t really deserve to be in the lead at the break but I was happy that we were!

Half time score: 1-0

Half time team talk: Encourage.

Half time substitutions: Keith Higgs for Hronec, Jacob Walcott for Banton

Things got even better after the break, Daniel Pappoe had a corner kick header going in off the crossbar and then we took control of the game. Winger Keith Higgs made it 3-0 at the hour mark by taking advantage of a defensive error and although Brighton pulled one back minutes later the three points were safely in our bag.

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Daniel Pappoe

Flop of the match: Darryl Duffy

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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

Colchester vs Vauxhall (League 1)

Venue: The Weston Homes Community Stadium

Attendance: 5,210

Starting line up: Martin Hansen — Ken Harris, Daniel Pappoe, Oliver Nicholas, Grant Baddeley — Carlos Bogado, Mark Brown, Graham Howson, Jason Banton — Mark Cullen, Dale Hills

Team Talk: You can win today!

Colchester were lying in 11th place before the match so I was quite optimistic that our unbeaten run was going to continue. Our opponents were showing much more determination though and they took a two-goal lead before the 20th minute! My side was sinking, we were playing quite badly… Luckily Oliver Nicholas bagged a corner kick header just before the break so our hopes were not entirely gone.

Half time score: 2-1

Half time team talk: I want to see more from you!

Half time substitutions: Derrick Williams for Pappoe

We started the second half with a bit more impetus in attack but unfortunately we were caught on a counter attack on 54 minutes and Colchester restored the two-goal deficit. I made two changes tight after the goal, we had nothing to lose anymore: Darryl Duffy for Hills and Peter Leven in for Brown. The moves paid off around 10 minutes later, a quickfire double from Mark Cullen made the score all square and the assists were provided by substitutes Duffy and Leven! Cullen could have completed a hat-trick on 75 minutes but his shot was parried by the goalie. Luckily Darryl Duffy was there to push in on the rebound! That was a great comeback but we had to defend the lead, I switched the strategy to counter for the last 10 minutes and we survived to claim the three points, nice job!

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Mark Cullen

Flop of the match: Dale Hills

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Vauxhall vs Southend (League 1)

Venue: Rivacre Park

Attendance: 2,389

Starting line up: Martin Hansen — Ken Harris, Daniel Pappoe, Oliver Nicholas, Grant Baddeley — Carlos Bogado, Mark Brown, Graham Howson, Jason Banton — Darryl Duffy, Mark Cullen

Team Talk: You can win today!

The last game of the month; Southend were in 17th place so we had a good chance of ending a perfect month with another win. The first half was entirely ours but we wasted a pair of chances before Oliver Nicholas stepped up again to convert a corner kick. It looked like we were not going to have a tough afternoon, we were in the lead and Southend were not showing much in attack.

Half time score: 1-0

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: none

The lads seemed to be a bit complacent after the break, Southend were dominating so I decided to make three changes in the 60th minute: Keith Hills for Bogado, Jacob Walcott for Banton and Dale Hills for Duffy. The team started to play a bit better after those substitutions but we were rather unlucky to hit the woodwork twice. The game had a nervy finale, we were under loads of pressure during the final five minutes but we weathered the storm and grabbed another three points. I was not very happy with the display though.

Full time team talk: none

Man of the match: Graham Howson

Flop of the match: Keith Higgs

Match Stats

Video Highlights

October Results

We are on a seven-game winning streak and that pushed us all the way up to the second place, just two points behind the leaders.

My players dominated the awards ceremonies this month, Daniel Pappoe was elected player of the month while Banton and Nicholas completed the podium. Pappoe is our top goalscorer at the moment with 8 goals, I hope that one of the strikers will take his place soon.

I was handed an award myself, I guess they couldn’t have picked anybody else after such a month.

November will be tough, seven games to play and it will culminate with the home game against the current leaders, Preston. I hope that we will continue our Johnstone’s Paint Trophy run and maybe we’ll have another good FA Cup run as well.

That’s how it was folks, a perfect month which established us as one of the top teams in League One. We shouldn’t get carried away though, there’s still a lot of work to do and plenty that could go wrong. Thanks a lot for reading and don’t forget to vote for the Goal Of The Month!