Thurrock December 2019 results-Draw Specialist

Hello friends, we have reached to the mid-season and here is another month of updates. We were pretty poor last month having only 1 win and dropped to 16th place drifting further and further off the play-off places. However we are performing miracles in the league knocking mighty Man City out to secure a meeting with Hull City which turns out to be our first game. Before i show you the results, i am pleased to inform that after several months of rotting in the reserves. Tristan Hickman and Oscar Raimbault had a change of mind about leaving the club and had accepted a new contract. They will be given a chance in the first team soon. Without any delay, here is the results.

December results

We started the month with a league cup quarter final clash with Hull City and we were very close in causing an upset. After that we seem unable to get a win drawing five games consecutively before finally beating Newcastle Utd in the final game.

League Cup quarter final

Our first game was to compete for a place in the League Cup semi-final against Premiership side Hull City. Their squad looks stronger than Man City and i am pondering whether we can create another upset. Obviously they were coming at us straight away after the whistle and i was surprised that my players played with courage and enthusiasm that we were able to match them in the first half. Although we were unable to get a goal but we contained them pretty well. We had a dream start after the break when Eyong Enoh intercepted a pass and lay the ball up front to Julian Hayward whose pace is too much for their defender. He smashed a shot in to give us the lead. The lead lasted for ten minutes after a loose ball from a corner fell to their right winger and he had no hesitation in putting it in. Their winner came in 68th minute after Leroy George failed to stop a through ball and we went out of the competition as a result. Though disappointed but i was really pleased with the players. They gave a good fight throughout the game.

Home against Reading

We shift our focus to the league after we were out of the League Cup competition. We returned to Ship Lane to face Reading a team lying in 19th place. We were pretty much in control of the game and Gary Lewis curled the ball in by his strong left foot and it went in off the post. I was thinking that would be the start of our dominance but it wasn’t to be. We gave a penalty away one minute before the break but luckily for us David Cook kept it out. However they got their goal one minute later through a crowded penalty and we went into the break with the scores level. Second half saw both team going ahead and searching for the winner but the goalkeepers were doing a fantastic job. The referee blew the whistle and it ended 1-1.

Away at Upton Park

We were away to Upton Park for our next game against 17th place West Ham. Their position doesn’t reflect their quality and we need to be wary of their threat at home. There were a lot of chances created from both team who took turns to attack each others goal. It was Thurrock who had the upper hand when James Wallace show his technique to hit a low shot straight to the goal from 25 yards. But they equalized just four minutes later after a through ball found their striker one on one with David Cook. There was certainly some mis-communication between the two central defenders there. Both teams were guilty of some poor finishing in the second half although there was plenty of movement on the field. The game ended as another draw for us.

Home against West Brom

We had a difficult game coming up and 2nd place West Brom was our next opposition. They had been having a good run of form recently. We started the game as a better team and we managed to curb their attacking display shown in their last few games. But we were unable to convert those possession into goals. They came out of the dressing room with more energy and started to threaten our goal. We held them well to keep a clean sheet but we were unable to score a goal. The game ended as a goalless draw.

Home against Sunderland

Next was against relegation threaten team 22nd place Sunderland. They were predicted to finish 1st so definitely they are underachieving in their fans point of view.  We dominated the game from the start but we went behind from an early goal and few players were clearly at fault there. Julian Hayward has been performing well in this month and he equalized for us in 21st minute with a place shot. Both teams went into the dressing room with the score 1-1. We were still in total control after the break, Julian Hayward scored his second goal of the game in 59th minute to give us the lead again. But another defensive lapse in 79th minute saw us threw our game away and we still can’t get a win.

Away at City Ground

We will be facing 13th place Nottingham Forest in our next game. We had a great start to the game after Gary Lewis fired us ahead from the spot kick. But they hit us us back immediately 2 minutes later. Petro Poursanidis had a chance to give us the lead again through our 2nd penalty but he hit straight at the goalkeeper. The game turned scrappy after the break and both team could not churn out any clear cut chances. Never did we played so many draws in a row though we remained unbeaten for five games.

Home against Newcastle

Last game of the month was against 7th place Newcastle Utd. We showed great attitude and were all over them on the field. They were having trouble in holding possession. Jim Beardsley who came back from injury gave us a perfect start after a fine through ball from Damian Russell. Their morale was hit further after one of their key defender was injured and need to be replaced. We totally dominated the game after the break and Julian Hayward and Andy Holsgrove scored near the end of the game to give us a perfect win. It was an awesome performance by the team against a more reputable side.

Table

Even though we are unbeaten in the league this month but there is not enough points for us to climb up the table. Instead we drop to 19th place. Although we are some distance away from the relegation spot but we need to work really hard in the second half of the season to achieve a play-off spot. I am please with the progress of Julian Hayward as he is the only striker who performs well in this month. I also like to mention John Leonard who is on loan with league 1 side Huddersfield. I have been monitoring his progress and he really did well there so far scoring 12 goals and having 6 man of the match. I believe he will definitely be in my first team plans next season.

January fixtures

Next month will see us play five games including a FA cup meeting with Charlton. The teams that we will be facing all are lying in the bottom half. Hopefully we can play some good results in these fixtures.

Wrap up

Alright friends, there are a lot of draws this month. Our problem seems to be our incapability of keeping the lead. The only positive sign is that we remain unbeaten for six games now. Hope to have better results to show you in my next updates. Thanks a lot for reading and looking forward to your comments.