FMstory

Hello friends, it was a nice workout on the friendly games last month and now we are ready to begin our life in league 2 which is certainly not easy. Troy Archibad-Henville was out injured again before the start of the game. He is quite injury prone, i hope he don’t become Ledley King of Thurrock. First month of the new season will see us played 6 games in total including a league cup match against Southend Utd. I had brought in another three players for short term loans to give us some backup on various position. Please find their screenshot here. Before i go to the match detail, lets take a look on how we fare in our first month.

A decent start for us with only 1 league defeat and also the defeat to Southend Utd meant that we went out the first round of the league cup. I thought that we adapt quite well to the challenge of league 2 so far, this definitely will raise the morale and encourage the players that they have the quality to play in this level.

We began the month with a visit to Bournemouth, the team that finished 19th last season. We were very excited about the first game of the season as we wanted to have some idea on where we stand comparing to the rest of the team. Bournemouth began the game as the better team as we were still finding our feet into the game. We conceded a goal in the 20th minutes when they scored in close range but the players were angry with the referee for not flagging their player offside. They doubled the lead 4 minutes later, no controversy on this one as it was a mistake by Frederic Veseli resulting in the goal. Our top scorer last season Izale Mcleod managed to pull a goal back when he raced off a through ball to slide the ball into the net. We were the better team after the break and equalized in the 81st minute when Brett Slade robbed the ball from the defender and passed to Gonzalo Vicente, he put Izale Mcleod clear and he can’t miss his chance to level the score. However we conceded another goal with 3 minutes left when we gave their player too much space to power the ball in. We were staring in defeat but in dramatic fashion, Kevin Macdonald scored through a corner that deflected in from the upright. What a game!

Our first ever league cup appearance saw us pit against Southend a championship team. We were the underdogs but we never show it on the field, in fact i though we gave them a big fright. Although we conceded two early goals but twice we came from behind to level the score. They scored another one in the 51st minutes to make it 3-2. After the goal we were controlling the game and making most of the attack, if without the heroics of their goalkeeper, we would have won the game. I was disappointed to lose the match but the players certainly can’t be fault for their performances.

We returned to our league game after the disappointment of exiting the league cup. We were visiting Wycombe that finished 20th last season. We should have a chance of winning against them and we took a early lead when a quick counter attack saw Brett Slade sent a long pass to the path of Izale Mcleod, with his pace the defender was left behind and he calmly slide the ball to the left hand corner of the net. It was 1-0 in the first half. They came back strongly in the second half and managed to find space between our central defender to equalize in the 51st minute. In similar fashion,  Izale Mcleod gave us the advantage again when he scored an identical goal in the 71st minute. However we could not hold the lead and they made things level again when they scored a rebound after the ball bounce back from the upright from a corner.  We had conceded five in the last 2 league games, the defence needs to perform better if we want to register our first win in league 2.

Our first home game was against Brentford one of the four teams relegated from league 1 last season. They had a disastrous start and was lying bottom of the table now. We were dominating and controlling the game throughout the 90 minutes and we stormed to a 2 goal lead in the first half. Izale Mcleod was the scorer of both goals, he was in great form this month. This is his sixth goal in only three league games. He was a thorn to the defenders who couldn’t keep up with his pace.

A consecutive home game against the leader of league 2 Grimsby. They had a great start and i was a bit concern about the threat that they will give us. The game started with both side fighting for ball possession and controlling the midfield area. There was not much shot aiming at the goal and tackles were flying around. The referee had to hand out several yellow cards to put the game under control. But out of nowhere, we took the lead just when Thomas Hitchcock turned his defender and put the ball into the net just before the half time whistle. We doubled the lead 3 minutes after the break when Brian Smith, one of the three loan signings this month headed in a goal from a Kevin Macdonald corner. They immediately applied the pressure after the goal and pulled a goal back in the 57th minute. This spurred them on and we were under siege for numerous time but we managed to get away and held on for a win.

It was 4th vs 5th in this game(we were in 5th place). Both teams took turns to attack each other throughout the whole game, it was them who managed to score in the 32nd minute to give them the lead. We tried to come back into the game after the goal but our shots had no accuracy tonight though we hit the goal post twice in the game. I thought we deserved to get a point from this game. In the end we ended the month with our first defeat of the season.

After an encouraging start, we were lying in 8th place with 8 points. I was a bit worried beforehand that whether keeping the bulk of players from last season will backfire but it seems that the players has what it takes to challenge at this level. The season is still early but the board and fans can be optimistic that we can stay up instead of fighting against relegation. Izale Mcleod was the best player for us as he scored 6 goals in 5 league games. He was also awarded league 2 player of the month for August.

We will be playing 5 matches in September including the Johnstone’s Paint trophy match against Gillingham. There will be no easy game for us as every team will be difficult to beat in league 2. We will take each game at a time as it comes.

Dear friends, this is how we fare for our first month in league 2 and what do you think of the games so far? Please feel free to give me your comments. Thank you for reading the post and i will see you back in my next post Thurrock-September 2013 results updates.

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