retired_kreese

Sunday 1st April 2007
Monthly review: March

This month we played a total of 6 matches of which 3 ended in a draw and all the others were won. And this resulted in a 3rd position in the English Conference South. With 5 matches left in the season, we were very close to the play offs and a possible promotion to the English Conference National. I was pleased with the results this month and hoped the team could keep it up.

The board and also the supporters were very pleased with the progress the team was making. This had already resulted in a new 3 year contract, which I also did sign.

Saturday 7th April 2007
In the home match against Salisbury City, we were the stronger team on the field and dominating the match. But the problem was to score a goal so we could win the match. I had to be patient at I had to wait till the 75th minute to celebrate a goal. It was Mark Jermyn converting a freekick. A little we again were given a freekick and Mark Jermyn showed his skills one more time. The match ended in a 2-0 victory

Monday 9th April 2007
Top 5 team Fisher Athletic hosted today’s match and both teams wanted a victory to secure their position. In the first half it was Matt Groves to score and we had taken a lead in the game. Everything looked to go our way till the 60th minute, within 5 minutes Fished turned around the match and took a 2-1 lead. We had to take a little more risk as we at least wanted to take home 1 point. It was Marvin McDonald finding the back of the net. With only 10 minutes on the clock the score was leveled again. A Shock when David Town had to leave the pitch due to an injury. He suffered strained knee ligaments and was out for the season. The match ended in a draw and both teams needed just one more win to secure the play offs.

Saturday 14th April 2007
Bedford Town came to Avenue Stadium and they desperate needed a win as they struggled against relegation. To bad for them they found Matt Groves in an excellent form. Matt Groves scored a goal after 13 minutes and when Mark Jermyn found the net a little later, the match was over. This victory secured our play off spot but also resulted in relegation for Bedford Town.


Saturday 21st April 2007
As the play offs were reached, the pressure was gone. Only thing important was to keep away from injuries. This was our last away match in the English Conference South this season. It was Thurrock taking a lead after just 19 minutes. From that moment we were able to take control over the match. And as in our match against Bedford both Matt Groves and Mark Jermyn scored a goal. The match ended in a 2-1 victory. When I looked at he table after the match, I saw we were not able to climb to a higher spot. Also Sutton United had won the English Conference South.

Saturday 28st April
The last match of the English Conference South. We had to face Bognor Regis Town in a home match. The only thing at stake in this match was what position we would end at the table. We could finish 3rd but it also was possible to finish 5th place. If we won this match, 3rd place was ours. If the match ended in a draw or a defeat, position depended on results in other matches. It was Callum Flanagan scoring the only goal in the first half. As we dominated the game, this lead was deserved. In the second half it was Bognor Regis with a goal to level the score and I started listening to the results of the other matches. If this was the result at the end of the game, we probably would lose 3rd place. In the last minute of the match, Marvin McDonald headed home a corner and secured our victory. So 3rd place was ours and we had to try to win promotion in the play offs.

retired_kreese

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">English Conference South -- 29th April 2007Holders - Weymouth Pos| Inf| Team|| Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag| G.D. | Pts ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st| Pr| Sutton Utd|| 42 | 26 | 8 | 8 | 76 | 40| +36 | 86 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd| Pl| Fisher || 42 | 25 | 10 | 7 | 69 | 38| +31 | 85 3rd| Pl| Dorchester|| 42 | 21 | 18 | 3 | 71 | 41| +30 | 81 4th| Pl| Lewes || 42 | 22 | 10 | 10 | 70 | 44| +26 | 76 5th| Pl| Welling|| 42 | 21 | 12 | 9 | 73 | 48| +25 | 75 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6th|| Eastleigh || 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 44 | 41| +3 | 68 7th|| Eastbourne Boro|| 42 | 19 | 10 | 13 | 66 | 51| +15 | 67 8th|| Farnborough || 42 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 62 | 38| +24 | 63 9th|| Salisbury|| 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 65 | 61| +4 | 61 10th|| Weston-s-Mare|| 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 66 | 60| +6 | 59 11th|| Bognor Regis|| 42 | 18 | 5 | 19 | 62 | 64| -2 | 59 12th|| Newport Co|| 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 64 | 60| +4 | 57 13th|| Histon|| 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 67 | 70| -3 | 57 14th|| Havant & W|| 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 55 | 54| +1 | 53 15th|| Bishop's St || 42 | 14 | 9 | 19 | 60 | 73| -13 | 51 16th|| Thurrock|| 42 | 14 | 9 | 19 | 63 | 78| -15 | 51 17th|| Cambridge City|| 42 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 43 | 57| -14 | 43 18th|| Hayes|| 42 | 10 | 9 | 23 | 50 | 65| -15 | 39 19th|| Yeading|| 42 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 46 | 78| -32 | 37 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20th| R| Braintree|| 42 | 9 | 10 | 23 | 43 | 78| -35 | 37 21st| R| Bedford || 42 | 7 | 9 | 26 | 50 | 86| -36 | 30 22nd| R| Basingstoke|| 42 | 5 | 10 | 27 | 41 | 81| -40 | 25 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 points deducted from Farnborough</pre>

retired_kreese

Sunday 29th April 2007
The drawing of the play offs was made and this was the outcome:
Welling United – Fisher Athletic
Dorchester Town - Lewes

The winners of each match, had to face each in the final at Recreation Ground, Aldershot.

Monday 30th April 2007
The first match, we played at home against Lewes and I expected my team to start with a good result, so they needed to be the attacking team in the second match. It was a close match and both teams had chances to score. In the 61st minute Justin Keeler was brought down in the area and the referee pointed towards the spot. It was Justin Keeler himself to take the penalty and score the only goal in this game. We had won the home match, 1-0.

Thursday 3rd May 2007
Lewes had to score in the second match and so they were the one who needed to attack. This gave us a chance to play on the break and that was successful. A corner was taken and a foul was made against Scott Morgan in the area. Again Lewes conceded a penalty and again it was Justin Keeler scoring from the spot. Lewes now needed to score goals but they did not find the goal. Richard Martin was unbeatable today and wanted a clean sheet. In the last minute of the game, it was again Justin Keeler to score on the break and securing our win. We had made it to the final of the play offs and had to face Welling United to win promotion.



Saturday 12th May 2007
An important match for both teams as promotion to the English Conference National was at stake. The media expected Dorchester Town win the match against Welling United. I sure hoped they were right and we would be on the right side of the score when the game was over.
It was a close game in which both teams looked for a goal. It was Welling scoring the goal after 12 minutes and taking a 1-0 lead. But it did not last very long as we turned around the score completely. In about 15 minutes we scored 3 goals. Marvin McDonald headed home a corner to score the equalizer. Matt Groves showed his form of this season and scored 2 goals. This player again played a very important role for our team. Still the match was not over as Welling scored a second goal before half time. In the second half no goals were scored and so we won the match 3-2. So the season was finished and we were going to play in the English Conference National. Dorchester Town had won promotion for the first time ever.

The board and supporters were very pleased with the season. They gave us a warm welcome when we arrived at Avenue Stadium. I stayed in the buss as I thought the players deserved this welcome after a strong match and an excellent season. The supporters yelled every player’s name, when they left the buss. Suddenly it was silence all over the place. Alex Browne stepped back inside and came up to me and pushed me to the door. At the moment the supporters saw me, they again started shouting. For 10 minutes my name was shouted. At this moment I was proud to be part of Dorchester Town. We were successful this season but a difficult season was waiting as this team needed to be strengthened to survive in the Conference National.

retired_kreese

Season 2006-2007 Review

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> 3rd in English Conference South Pkd | Inf | Name | Position | Morale | Form | Con | Apps | Gls | Av Rat ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GK | | Richard Martin | GK | Good | 7-6-8-8-6 | 100% | 37 | - | 6.62 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - | | Ryan Hill | D R | Very Good | 7-7-7-6-6 | 94% | 6 | - | 6.67 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S1 | Wnt | Matt Stowell | D RLC | Very Good | 8-7-7-7-7 | 99% | 24 (9) | - | 6.79 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DC | Wnt | Scott Morgan | D LC | Very Good | 7-7-7-9-7 | 98% | 43 (2) | - | 7.02 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S2 | Wnt | Simon Hughes | D LC, DM | Very Good | 6-7-7-7-6 | 95% | 13 (2) | 1 | 6.93 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DC | | Alex Browne | D C | Very Good | 7-7-7-7-7 | 98% | 41 | 1 | 7.12 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - | | Michael Taylor | D C | Very Good | 6-6-6-6-6 | 95% | 11 (6) | - | 6.88 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DL | | Terry Parker | D/WB L | Good | 7-7-7-7-7 | 97% | 42 (2) | - | 6.93 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR | Wnt | Barry McConnell | D/WB/M R | Very Good | 7-6-7-8-7 | 98% | 30 (5) | - | 6.89 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DMC | | Mark Jermyn | DM | Very Good | 8-7-7-8-7 | 99% | 20 (6) | 5 | 7.12 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MC | | Guy Lopez | DM | Very Good | 8-5-7-7-7 | 98% | 40 (8) | 1 | 7.10 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S3 | | James Rowe | M C | Very Good | 6-7-7-6-7 | 97% | 36 (6) | - | 6.93 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - | | Sean Smith | M C | Very Good | 7-7-6-6-7 | 94% | 2 (5) | - | 6.57 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MR | Wnt | Dean Samuels | AM RL | Very Good | 7-7-7-7-7 | 100% | 32 (7) | 2 | 6.87 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S4 | | Larbi Mekchiche | AM RL, F C | Very Good | 9-7-7-7-7 | 91% | 16 (7) | 2 | 7.04 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - | Wnt | Andrew Burke | AM L | Very Good | 7-6-6-7-6 | 95% | 9 (12) | 1 | 6.86 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ML | | Justin Keeler | AM L | Very Good | 7-7-7-8-8 | 97% | 39 (7) | 16 | 7.24 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - | Inj | David Town | AM/F C | Very Good | 8-8-7-7-8 | 40% | 44 (2) | 13 | 7.07 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S5 | | Callum Flanagan | ST | Very Good | 6-6-7-7-7 | 95% | 3 (10) | 1 | 6.62 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FC | | Matt Groves | ST | Good | 7-7-7-8-8 | 99% | 51 | 35 | 7.31 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - | | Steve Lunt | ST | Very Good | 6-7-7-6-7 | 94% | 1 (26) | 6 | 6.56 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FC | | Marvin McDonald | ST | Good | 7-7-6-7-7 | 97% | 15 (6) | 6 | 6.86 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </pre>

It was a very good season for the team as we managed to win promotion to the English Conference National. At the start of the season, everyone expected us to finish mid-table. Finishing 3rd in the English National South and winning promotion was a surprise for everyone. But when you look at the table, you see we were the team with lowest number of defeat (3).

When looking at the scorer list, there were 3 players that really topped the list. Matt Groves scored 35 goals and was really on fire this season. Justin Keeler (16) and David Town (13) followed him but with some distance.

For the next season, we will have to make a lot of chances within the squad. I just did not think this team was strong enough for to survive in the English Conference National. So that was our goal for the upcoming months. Looking for decent players that were willing to come and play for Dorchester Town.

Dorchester’s fans’ Player of the Year: Matt Groves

English Conference South
Top Goalscorer: Matt Groves (Dorchester) 27
Most Assist: Justin Keeler (Dorchester) 14
Highest Average rating: Ryan Hall (Sutton) 7.48

Information about awards in Europe

England: Premier Division
Champions: Arsenal
Promotion: Norwich City, Derby County, Sunderland
Relegation: Reading, Portmouth, Sheffield United

England: FA Cup
Winners: Newcastle United
Runner up: Plymouth Argyle

Champions Cup
Winners: Arsenal
Runner up: Lyon

Euro Cup
Winners: Tottenham Hotspur
Runner up: Liverpool