Thurrock August & September 2020 results-Keeping close at a play-off place

Hello friends, it great to finally get the season underway. After pre-season preparation has ended, now its the time to face the real test. The new formation seems to work well in the friendly games but we will know how effective it is after the first month. Lets take a look on how our new season get going. I will be showing August and September results as i got too engrossed and forgot to save the table in August. Well, that happens when you got too excited in the game.

August Results

We got off to a very good start beating Sheff Wed by four goals but we went out of the league cup after i rested my first team players. We were then unable to profit in the against against Huddersfield and Rotherham. We suffered our first defeat against Swansea and rounded off the month with a win against Southampton.

Home against Sheff Wed

We started our new season with a meeting against Sheff Wed who we always have trouble beating them. I employed a control strategy with us playing short passes controlling the game. We got off to a good start after a through ball from Gabriel Torje found John Leonard clear in the penalty and he smashed the ball in from a tight angle. We double the lead just two minutes later. John Leonard was the creator this time dribbling his way through, drew the defenders over and sent a delightful pass to the unmarked Aleksandar Lafuente to score his first goal for the club. Things were looking good for us but we were unable to add more goals in the first half. We were still the better team after the break and Colin Madden was the star in the second half. He showed good technique and skills to score two long range goals in 60th minute and 74th minute respectively. We won by four goals and a great start to our new season.

League Cup 1st round

An away trip to league 2 side Bournemouth saw us dumped out of the league cup 1st round. I was too complacent, changing the first team players but i believe in the quality of the other players. We conceded two early goals through counter attacks and Gary Lewis pulled a goal back for us in 22nd minute. We had numerous chances to get back to the game but they were very hardworking in their defence and our wasteful finishing contributed to the loss. I am not too concern about the loss as my main focus this season is in the league.

Away at The Galpharm Stadium

Recently promoted team Huddersfield was our next opponent. I don’t like to play promoted teams as they don’t seem as easy as you would expect to be. We were clearly the better team but we were denied by their goalkeeper Paul Kean whom i sold to them for 14k in the early of the month several times. I believe he got something to prove to me. To make things difficult for us, John Leonard was taken off due to an injury in 30th minute and seven minutes later we went behind after Jose Antonio Castellano gave too much for their striker resulted in a goal. We kept our attacking display after the break but once again we found Paul Kean in good form. The equalizer came when Gary Lewis powered a ball in to the top corner with his strong left foot in 57th minute. There was no further goals even though we were the better team in the last period of the game. The injury to John Leonard was not serious as he will be out for just six days.

Home against Rotherham

Next game was against Rotherham who finished 8th last season. Colin Madden gave us an early lead after he made a good run to the penalty area to put the ball past their goalkeeper. We got another goal in 19th minute and this time Jose Antonio Castellano pop up at the other side of the field to head in a goal from a corner. The deficit was reduced nine minutes later as we conceded a goal from a counter attack. David cook had to bear some of the responsibility as he could have saved the goal. We went into the break with a one goal lead. I was a bit disappointed when we conceded an early goal  after the break where Manny Smith was clearly at fault there. Both team could not get a winner after that and the game ended as a draw.

Away at The Liberty Stadium

We travel to The Liberty Stadium to meet out our rivals Swansea(i consider them to be our rivals). It was a game which we totally dominated from start to finish. There was a lot of chances created even though we were playing away from home. However we found their goalkeeper to be in the best form of his life. Its no surprise that he was awarded the Man of the Match after the game. Things got worst when we conceded a goal in the 81st minute and we couldn’t find a way back with nine minutes left.

Home against Southampton

We entertained Southampton in Ship Lane for our last game of the month. It was the same scenario as we were struggling to have a breakthrough in finding the net. The players were not converting the chances in. Both team went into the break with the score goalless. In 59th minute i replaced the ineffective Aleksandar Lafuente with  Jim Beardsley drawing John Leonard to fill the attacking midfielder role. Jim Beardsley came in and did really well after he pounced on a mistake by a Southampton player to slide the ball in after coming on six minutes earlier. We had an injury blow to Moreno Marra in 77th minute and he need to be taken off. The Jim Beardsley goal was enough to give us a win after 90 minutes. The injury will sideline Moreno Marra for 4-5 weeks and he will miss the action for whole of September.

September Results

We had mixed results in September having 2 wins, 2 losses and a draw. We performed well against Wolves and able to gain a win against one of the favorites in this league.

Away at Britannia Stadium

Our first game in December was against Stoke who we had a bad record against them. They had a dangerous player in Nile Ranger. I had specially told my players to take care of him. The game started with both teams evenly matched. But they took their chances well and we went behind after Nile Ranger scored a goal in 29th minute.  We missed quite a few chances after that and trailed by a goal in the first half. Nile Ranger was a real handful for Andy Holsgrove in the left flank and he scored another goal in 79th minute to condemned us to a disappointing defeat.

Home against Middlesbrough

Next game was at home against Middlesbrough. The game started as we took control of possession and laying siege on their goal. But we went behind after a long shot hit the post and deflected in by David Cook. It was an unlucky goal to concede. We went into the dressing room cursing the bad luck. We rallied ourselves in the second half and Gary Lewis lead the comeback with a goal after putting through by Bastian Bruckner. Nine minutes before the final whistle, we completed the comeback after Bastian Bruckner score his first goal for the club and the winner for the team.

Away at Upton Park

Next was a trip to London Upton Park to face 20th place West Ham. Their form was poor as they suffered three defeat in the last three games. But they settled to game fast and 2 minutes into the game, our former loanee Petros Poursanidis put the ball past David Cook. We made things even seven minutes later when a counter attack saw John Leonard clear and he couldn’t miss. It was full of action in the first as Petros Poursanidis scored another goal which Tristan Hickman couldn’t seem capable to stop his former team mate. Once again we chased back the game in 39th minutes after Colin Madden scored with his head from a set-piece. The second half saw both team had some chances but unable to take the chances. West Ham got the winner five minutes from the whistle after their substitute raced past our defence and angled the ball past David Cook. The defenders did not perform well today and the reason that we conceded three goals.

Home against Notts County

A sell out crowd of 4500 fans was here to support us and we entertained 20th place Notts County in this game. We controlled the game from the start but disappointingly conceded a goal in 7th minute from the middle. Once again the players were wasteful in front of goal and we were behind when the first half whistle ended. Second half saw our players working hard to create something out of this game. We were finally rewarded after Colin Madden showed good vision to spot the run of Gabriel Torje and he smashed in the equalizer for us. However we were unable to clinch the winner and the game ended as a draw.

Away at Molineux Stadium

Last game of the month saw us played the recent relegated Wolves who is lying in 3rd place. We employed a defensive strategy which clearly frustrated Wolves and they could not play their normal game. We were in fact the better team in the first half but it was stalemate into the dressing room. Not long after the break, we were in wonderland when Jim Beardsley beat his defender to head in a goal from a Moreno Marra cross. We went one further just four minutes later after Andy Holsgrove threw a Rory Delap alike throw to the penalty area and Jim Beardsley made use of his strength to beat the goalkeeper. We had a comfortable lead and Wolves managed to pull a goal one minute before full time but it was just consolation goal for them.

Table

After 10 games into the life of the new season, we are currently lying in 8th place. But we are just 5 points from 1st place Bristol City. It is extremely tight this season as there is no indication on who is the clear favorites for the two automatic promotion spot. Even though the results of the new formation is satisfactorily but its a bit worrying in the last few games. Having a lone striker is causing us to miss a lot of chances. I may switch back to 4-4-2 if things doesn’t improve. Pick of the player is Colin Madden who has an average rating of 7.44 so far. He also contributes 4 goals and 3 assists.

October Fixtures

We have some difficult fixtures in October starting with the first game against 1st place Bristol City. The rest of the teams are lying either in mid-table or the bottom half but Newcastle and Southend will cause us some problems.

Wrap up

Dear friends, so this is how we fare in the first two months of 2020/21 season. I am quite please that we are able keep close at the top this time. Hopefully we will be able to keep on staying there challenging. Thanks for following the story and see you soon.