Thurrock-December 2014 results

Hello friends, 2014 is reaching its end and we are still in touch of a play-off place even though we performed poorly in the last two months. We will be playing six league games in this month and some difficult fixtures awaiting us. We will be visiting Tranmere and have a home game against MK Dons two of the title contenders in league 2. From this month onwards i will modify the formation slightly pushing both the wingers up to 4-4-2 attacking. So lets take a look how the formation works for the games.

Things slightly improved in this month, we showed much improvement going forward. As a results, we had 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in total. The new 4-4-2 attacking formation made a real difference with the wingers looking dangerous when attacking.

First game was away to mid-table team Walsall. We were confident of this fixture and though we were away, attacking strategy was chosen. As both teams went into attacking mode, it was open play and goals will come in the mean of time. It was them who took the lead through a well taken freekick. We instantly replied through Moreno Marra when Thomas Hitchcock made use of his dribbling skills to draw the defender out and found Moreno Marra unmarked in front of the goalmouth area.  We conceded another goal in the first half to go to the break with a goal behind. I was actually quite pleased with the performance and told the players that. They produced a superb second half performance to overturn the deficit and scored three goals to win the game 4-2. Thomas Hitchcock equalized in the 57th minute after putting through by Kevin McDonald. Morena Marra scored his second goal of the game after a fine cross from Bram Meijer. Substitute Izale McLeod completed the rout by winning the ball at our own half after the ball was cleared from a corner, bringing the ball for almost the whole field and put the ball past the goalkeeper.

Next was a home game against bottom team York. It was a game which we showed our superiority in front of our home fans. Our first half performance was a delight to watch and we totally dominated them. Petr Kopecky gave us a two goal lead after a place shot and a header. Moreno Marra continued his good form after a fine assist by Petr Kopecky. Emmanuel Frimpong scored a freekick his first goal for the club to give us a 4-0 lead. With a four goal advantage the players were slightly slacking in the second half and we conceded an own goal in the 70th minute. Paul Sturrock picked up a knock one minute later and was replaced. Luckily his injury is nothing serious. It was a magnificent performance by the players and i was really pleased.

Next was a difficult game against 2nd placeTranmere. We were under a lot of pressure since the start of the whistle. We conceded an early goal in the 8th minute after their player pounced on the rebound from a save of our goalkeeper. Things got worse for us when Emmanuel Frimpong was sent off for a professional foul in the 38th minute. I wondered how we were going to last the game with 50 minutes on the clock. We reacted well and kept them at bay and went into the break with a goal behind. Thomas Hitchcock gave us some hope with a well taken equalizer in the 54th minute. We tried to go defensive and hold on to a draw but we conceded a magical goal from them with 2 minutes left. That was a hard blow to the players.

After the unlucky loss to Tranmere, we went back to Ship Lane to face 13th place Accrington. Bram Meijer hurt himself in the 13th minute and had to be replaced by Kevan Hurst as a precaution. We took control of possession but need to wait until 40th minute then we saw a goal from Thomas Hitchcock which the move started from Moreno Marra. We couldn’t keep the lead long and conceded a goal just before the break. We started the second half strongly and Moreno Marra was a constant thorn to their defence on the left. He produced a fine cross for Petr Kopecky to head in a goal and doubled our lead. Moreno Marra then round off his fine performance with a goal to give us three points. The injury to Bram Meijer is not serious and will only be out for 1-2 weeks.

Another home game coming up and we were up against 4th place MK Dons. It was an exciting first half, both team had a lot of chances but just couldn’t find the target. Things remained pretty the same in the second half. Just when everyone in the stadium thought that the game was heading to a draw. Jonathan Worthington produced a magical goal when he launched a 35 yarder shot to the goal. That was not the winning goal though, they equalized when we failed to pick up a run from their midfielder and conceded the equalizer.

Last game of the month was against 19th place Bury. We dominated the game from the start to finish but went a goal behind when their first chance resulted in a goal. Thomas Hitchcock level things for us when he turned his defender ran past him and slide the ball into the net. Second half was one way traffic with us controlling the game and attacking their goal. The winning goal came when Moreno Marra dribbled past few defenders down the left flank and put the ball past the goalkeeper in a tight angle. Absolutely brilliant! The goal reminds me of the Man Utd vs Arsenal FA cup semi-final when Ryan Giggs scored the winner for Man Utd.

An improved performance this month saw us climbed to 5th place on the table. I was pretty pleased with how we played especially the front four players. With Morena Marra and Bram Meijer on the wings and Petr Kopecky and Thomas Hitchcock leading the line. We looked capable of unlocked any defence in the league. Moreno Marra along with the ever impressive Thomas Hitchcock were the player who stand out this month scoring 5 goals and 4 goals respectively. Moreno Marra was also awarded his first player of the month award after his performance. He really looked like a different player eversince he was pushed up further to the winger position. It really bring out his potential as he started to cut inside more and got into dangerous position.

Next month will see us start the month with a FA cup match against Swansea, after that we will be playing five league games. Most of the teams is lying in mid-table and we have a great chance of consolidate our position. This conclude our performance in December my friends. I will be looking forward to your comments and feedback. Next post will be the updates of a brand new year. I will see you in my next post Thurrock-January 2015 results.