Thurrock December 2020 results-Maintaining 3rd place in the league

Hello friends, we are reaching the halfway mark of 2020/21 season. We are currently sitting in 3rd place with a chance to go for the automatic promotion spot. We had an unbelievable month in November with us unbeaten and gaining 14 points out of 18. We need to consolidate our position and finally get a shot in the highest league in England. There are seven games waiting for us and lets see whether we have what it takes to gain a shot in the Premiership.

December results

We started really well winning our first four games in a row. We couldn’t maintain the form after an injury to Colin Madden. But we returned to winning ways against Swansea and finished off the month with a draw against Southampton.

Home against West Brom

First game of the month was against 21st place West Brom. Our confidence was high and this should be a fairly easy game for us. The players did not let the fans down as they raced to a two goal lead inside 17 minutes. First goal was volleyed in by John Leonard after a through ball from Colin Madden. Gary Lewis scored the second goal after Jose Cosme spotted his run inside the six yards box. The players backed down after that and the clock ran until 75th minute before we saw another goal. This time round it was scored by West Brom. The players was waken up by the goal and Jim Beardsley hit them back to restore our two goal lead just one minute later. Aleksandar Lafuente got his second goal of the season when he hit the ball into the net in a very tight angle. West Brom scored another goal two minutes later to make the score 4-2.

Away at Reebok Stadium

Next game was up against 24th place Bolton. We were under pressure from the start and conceded an early goal four minutes into the game. Our players responded well and Gary Lewis equalized for us two minutes later. They really don’t look like a team lying in the bottom as they had their fair share of chances as us. John Leonard put us ahead just before the first half but our defence was poor today. They equalized in injury time just before the whistle. The game turned quiet in the early stages after the break but the action exploded once again after John Leonard scored his second goal in 73rd minute. We allowed them to level things again six minutes before full time. It looked like we were heading for a draw but Jim Beardsley had other ideas. Two minutes after they equalized, Jim Beardsley used his pace to outrun the defender from a through ball from John Leonard and bang in the winning goal. It was really a pulsating match as at times i was urging the team on several occasion.

Away at Hillsborough

We were away to face 11th place Sheff Wed in our next game. Both teams were evenly matched in this game as both teams having equal chances in front of goal. We had a great escape in the first half when Sheff Wed nearly scored a goal but it hit the post and reflected out to safety. It was pretty similar in the second half. But we had the breakthrough in 51st minute after Jose Cosme was fouled inside the box and Bastian Bruckner did not miss this time to score the only goal to give us our third win in a row.

Linked with Derby

It seems i am linked to every team in the Championship who just sacked their manager. This time round was Derby. I immediately deny the speculation as i want to focus in bringing Thurrock to the Premiership.

Home against Huddersfield

We welcome 17th place Huddersfield to Ship Lane one week later. It was a boring first half as neither teams was able to create any clear cut chances in the first half. The players seem to reserved their entertainment for the second half as there was plenty of action after the break. Huddersfield took a shock lead just one minute into the second half but that only spurred my players in playing the way they showed recently. In a two minute salvo, John Leonard and Gary Lewis provided the assist for each other to go ahead seven minutes later. Gary Lewis added another goal in 71st minute to give us a very comfortable lead. He was the most outstanding player tonight as he put Bastian Bruckner through to score our fourth goal of the game. The big margin win was hit with a blow when the influential Colin Madden and Andy Holsgrove both suffered an injury and they will be out for 2-7 weeks respectively. We will miss Colin Madden for 6-7 weeks and i hope we will not be affected too much by his absence.

Away at Don Valley Stadium

Next was away to face 5th place Rotherham who was having a good run recently. We seem to be lacking of direction with the absence of Colin Madden in the middle. There was no bite from the whole team. The first half was a scrappy affair and we went into the dressing room with the score goalless. Second half saw us playing much better but Rotherham scored first in the 66th minute due to a mistake from Manny Smith. But he redeemed himself three minutes when he headed in the equalizer for us. We worked hard to retain them but disappointedly we conceded a goal in injury time to lose our first game of the month. Our in form striker Gary Lewis suffered an injury and will be out for around 1 week.

Home against Swansea

We entertained 10th place Swansea in Ship Lane for the next game. The first saw both teams creating a lot of chances and hitting the woodwork few times. Our players suddenly found their momentum starting in 24th minute and we scored three goals under seven minutes. Alexandar Lafuente started the ball rolling when he found space on the right. Jim Beardsley added to the tally with a header from a set-piece. He turned provider squaring the ball to John Leonard for the third goal of the game. Just few minutes into the second half, we extended our lead further from a Jose Antonio Castellano header from a corner. With a four goal cushion, we saw our concentration distracted and allowed Swansea to chase back two goals. To be fair to them, they deserved that.

Away at St Mary Stadium

Last game of the month was against 4th place Southampton. We got off to a great start when Jim Beardsley beat two defenders to pump in a goal just three minutes into the game. Jim Beardsley picked up a knock but he can continue playing. Southampton soon took control of the game and equalized in 24th minute. Though carrying an injury, Jim Beardsley scored the second goal two minutes before half time after putting through by John Leonard. It was clearly offside and the Southampton players protested furiously. But we conceded two minutes later to go into the dressing room with things even. Southampton was the better team after the break and they went ahead with a header in 65th minute. Jim Beardsley produced an outstanding performance when he claimed his hat trick in 77th minute with a close range shot again suspicious of scoring in a offside position. We managed to contain them for the rest of the period and the game ended as a draw. Another injury bad news for us, this time John Leonard pulled his hamstring and will be out for 3-4 weeks.

Table

We maintain our third place in the league behind Bristol City and Wolves. We have a great chance of aiming for an automatic promotion spot as we are only two and three points behind them respectively. We have a very unlucky month with all those injuries to the key players. The strikers have all performed well in the games this month as they scored loads of goals. We swept all the awards this month with me awarded the manager of the month. John Leonard won the player of the month award while Jose Cosme was the young player of the month in December.

January fixtures

We will have five games waiting for us next month starting with a FA Cup 3rd round game against Bristol City. After that we will meet Stoke, Middlesbrough, West Ham and finish off the month against Notts County.

Wrap up

We are maintaining our position in the league but hopefully there is no more injuries to our players. Then we have a great chance of going up. Dear friends, thats how we performed in December, thanks for reading and i will be waiting for your comments below.