Vauxhall Story: January and February 2012

Welcome back folks! I’ve had an unusual amount of spare time this weekend and I decided to invest most of it into one of my favourite hobbies, Football Manager 2011! So, here’s a fresh update to the Vauxhall Motors FC story, an episodes that starts in January 2012 after we had moved top of the table at the end of December. The race was very close though, Cheltenham and Luton were just two points behind us, so I knew that we couldn’t afford any slip-ups.

The first match of the new year was at home with struggling 22nd placed Braintree, needless to say that I was expecting a win. Dutch striker Akwasi Asante had a great first half and gave us a cozy two-goal lead after 25 minutes: first he made a fine run and squared it for Michael Ricketts and then he scored one himself with a close range volley from Sam Hart‘s cross. Then left winger Hart smashed one in himself to make it 3-0 at the break. Asante bagged another one three minutes after the interval but our complacency allowed Braintree to pull two goals back. However, Asante completed his first hat-trick for the club by converting yet another assist from midfielder Shane Williams.

Next up, a much more difficult game: away at 6th placed promotion contenders Grimsby. This one was Danny Uchechi‘s game: first he provided the assist for Omar Koroma‘s opener and then fired one in himself before Grimsby clawed one back on 18 minutes. It was just a temporary setback though as Uchechi went on to complete a fine hat-trick with two more goals either side of half time. Our second half display was close to sensational, we created loads of chances but unfortunately we scored only once during the last 45 minutes.

The next game was the very important FA Trophy second round game against Mansfield, we had to go through in order to balance the club’s shaky finances. We got off to a dream start as centre back Fraser Kerr headed home a corner kick just two minutes into the game. Then we managed to keep things quiet until half time and struck a lucky second after the break when one of Mansfield‘s defenders put one past his own keeper. Our opponents pulled one back nine minutes from time but we never looked like losing the game although we could have killed it off much earlier with better finishing.

Back to the league then, our next game was at home with 7th placed Cambridge. We missed a very good chance early on but I forgave the players after we took the lead thanks to a killer counter attack started by Sam Hart and finished by Danny Uchechi. We were in control of the game throughout the 90 minutes and we could have wrapped it up several times but we wasted quite a few decent chances, including a penalty kick.

The last game of the month was away at Kevin‘s Wrexham, they were down in 16th place before the match. I was hoping to extend our winning streak but I was in for a big surprise as I could hardly recognize my players on the pitch during that game. It’s true that Wrexham scored a rather fortuitous corner kick goal and it’s also true that we missed two clear cut chances but we never looked like winning this one to be honest. It was a deserved win for Wrexham and quite a setback for my lads after a great run up to that point.

We were still top of the table though, Cheltenham dropped into sixth place but Histon and Luton were just one point behind us!

The race was incredibly tight so I though that some fresh blood might help us during the decisive moments of the season. I made two new signings, both of them spotted by my scouts in Slovakia‘s under 21 squad. First we brought in striker Julius Gombala, a talented and quick lad that could do a decent job upfront.

I didn’t want him to feel lonely so I also brought in one of his teammates, right midfielder Jacob Hronec. He is a solid player overall and the best thing about him is that he can cover every single role on the right side of the pitch, from right back to right attacking midfielder. Two players left the club after these new signings were completed: veteran striker Michael Ricketts and midfielder James Paris. So, January was over but with the race being so tight I decided to keep the game going for another month! Please move on to the next page to see what happened in February 2012!

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

The first game of the month was at home with 15th placed Hayes & Yeading, one of the most in-form teams in the league as they had three wins in a row. I had a pretty tricky situation in goal before the game, Adam Street was away with his national team, backup goalie James Dunn was injured, so I signed an emergency goalkeeper to see us through the next couple of games. On to the match then… We dominated the first half but we were struggling to convert possession into chances. We got lucky four minutes before the break when a shot from Akwasi Asante was deflected into the net but that luck turned against us in the second half as Hayes netted a similar goal. We could have won it with a late goal but Asante was not calm enough to convert when one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

We had the FA Trophy third round match coming up and we had a good opportunity to advance to the next round as our opponents were Blue Square North side Guiseley. We controlled the game but we were rather wasteful again so centre back Fraser Kerr had to come to the rescue and see us through with a powerful corner kick header. We got a few thousand pounds in prize money for going through to the next round, that was a good breath of air for our budget.

Back to the more important league games, our next one was away at mid-table side Newport County. We had a decent first half, especially since our opponents were restricted to long shots and didn’t manage to get any of them on target. We also managed to take the lead on 23 minutes when a low cross from Omar Koroma was pushed in by left winger Sam Hart with a sliding finish. Things changed after the break, we found ourselves under pressure but survived with fair ease until the 70th minute. Then things changed dramatically, Newport fired in two goals in the space of three minutes and it was all over. We lost two of our last three games and we dropped into third place… We had to turn things around and fast!

We had a good chance to bounce back as our next game was at home with struggling 21st placed Forest Green, we had no choice but to win that game! We were not playing very well, our passes were not connecting anymore, but we did manage to take the lead when new signing Jacob Hronec fired in his first goal for the club on the stroke of half time. Omar Koroma netted his 10th goal of the season shortly after the break and we clinched the very important three points despite not having a good game.

Next up, an away game at 18th placed Macclesfield. I was hoping to get another win but the first half was a total nightmare. Macclesfield scored three goals inside the opening 24 minutes and even missed a penalty kick in the process! My players were looking like they were playing in slippers instead of football boots, it was an onslaught! As you can imagine I was furious at half time and I decided against making any substitutions: the same players that produced that shameful display had to turn things around. The strategy seemed to be working: Danny Uchechi netted his 20th goal of the season two minutes into the second half and then new striker Julius Gombala fired in a double to make it all square. We had another half an hour to win the game but unfortunately we missed no less than three huge chances… I was pleased with the fightback but I guess we dropped two points here…

The last league game of the month was a tough one as promotion contenders Gateshead were coming at Rivacre Park. We took the lead 24 minutes into the game when Michael Ball played a good assist form Akwasi Asante but we could have added another couple if Omar Koroma would have been more concentrated in front of goal (he missed the net even after dribbling past the goalkeeper on one occasion). Fortunately midfielder Oguzhan Ozyakup made it 2-0 on the stroke of half time with a beautiful shot from 20 yards out. Gateshead tried to fight back after the interval but we held firm and settled the game on a quick counter attack which saw Sam Hart heading in a Pietro Palladino cross.

We ended the month in third place, one point behind new leaders Luton and tied with runners up Histon. I guess a play-off spot is more or less in the bag but the title is there for the taking and I really wouldn’t want to go through a play-off at the end of the season…

We had one more game before the end of the month, the FA Trophy quarter final with Blue Square South side Ebbsfleet. We had a great chance to advance to the semi finals but our poor finishing nearly cost us the game. It was quite frustrating to watch but I was relieved to see Pietro Palladino heading in a stoppage time winner to get us through to the last four. It was his first goal of the season and I guess he picked the perfect moment to score it.

The good news is that we’re still in with a chance to win the league and the FA Trophy. The bad news is that we will have no less than nine games to play in March! We are going to meet Wrexham in the FA Trophy semi finals, I’m looking forward to that ;)

We’re going to be playing every three or four days for a full month and that will surely stretch our squad to its limits. Every single player will have his fair share of first team football and I hope they will be up to the task. March will make or break our season and hopefully we won’t have too many injuries added to the already precarious fitness situation caused by the crammed schedule. Thanks a lot for reading and thanks in advance for your good luck wishes, we’re going to need all the good fortune that we can get!