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With 8 games gone into the season and I have to admit that the summer signings don’t look as good as I would have hoped.
Chris MacDonald is a big concern. He was fairly poor in the opener away at Huddersfield, but Lamont scored to give us a 1-0 win in a dreary affair.
Another mess of a game followed in the 1-0 loss to Bristol City. Dover had 14 fouls and 11 offside calls in a sloppy game full of referee’s whistles.
An indifferent penalty shootout win in the 1st Round of the League Cup followed, beating Northampton.
MacDonald was awful enough to get a warning for his crappy play in a 1-0 win over Tranmere. Lamont again bailed the team out with a solid goal.
We finally got an easy game in a 3-0 win at home over Gillingham. MacDonald scored his first, but it was new signing Patrice Diawara, an excellent center-back, who was the key man on the day. Lamont and Ian Thomson got the other goals.
The 0-0 draw against Birmingham was notable only for MacDonald again being crap, and getting himself injured before halftime. Diawara again the best player on the pitch.
A 1-0 win over Luton followed, as we had the good fortune to have our opponents be reduced to 10 men early. MacKay got his first of the season.
Vahirua was given the start against Leicester, and promptly scored in the 13th before Ryan Carter (remember him?) scored to leave us at 1-1.
We got soundly beaten in a good contest with Premiership side Bradford in the League Cup 2nd Round, though we had a significant number of changes from the first team.
We really should have done better against Port Vale, but could only manage a 1-1 draw. MacKay scored, but Vale got a strike from a freekick just seconds later to tie it up.
I think we are going to have to change things up. These Englishmen may actually be onto us...
09-01-2006, 08:26 PM
Revenge is a dish best served with haggis and stinky cheese. (AAC) Post #42
I know this will be confusing to you, so read the following paragraph slowly.
There are other formations than 4-4-2. Really. I know you don’t believe it, but just remember that. The 4-5-1 is a formation that increases the number of players in the center of the field and isolates a striker up front.
I know, I know, you’re thinking how can you have a tall striker and a quick striker when there is only one striker…
Simply, you don’t. In the 4-5-1, or in my 4-5-1, in particular, that’s not important. What is important is that your solo striker has excellent movement without the ball to make the runs. In my 4-5-1, 2 defensive midfielders form a triangle with an attacking midfielder. 2 wide midfielders are requested to provide a greater percentage of the offense than usual. The defense is well protected and rarely broken down.
It is a tactic designed to get close wins without allowing the opposition any room to control the play. It’s also a perfect tactic to take into cup games.
Got all that? Take your time, I’ll wait…
…
Against Wimbledon, the new formation worked great against the blundering of their keeper Baroni. Lamont scored 4 times and Diawara added a 5th in an easy win. Wimbledon couldn’t manage a shot during the easy win.
Away at Portsmouth and things were still working well under the new tactic. Lamont and Gallagher got a goal a piece, and the defense held the home side to just 1 shot in 90 minutes.
W.B.A. weren’t confused and outplayed us to hand us a 1-0 defeat. Robertson was excellent in our back-line, but the offense couldn’t find a way past W.B.A.’s keeper.
A nil-nil draw against Millwall should have been a win, but Millwall’s keeper was in good form to deny us. Diawara still looks to be our classiest player.
A narrow 1-0 win over Wrexham followed, Lamont getting the only goal. Despite all the signings at his position, Alan Stewart still plays better than most of them, and this game was no exception.
Chevalier gave up 2 goals in the first 5 minutes to Middlesbrough and we never found our way back into the game. Ian Thomson continues to play well, though he hasn’t developed in his time with Dover.
The Sheffield Wednesday game was far too close fought. It took a 90th minute strike from Paterson to give us a point and a 2-2 draw.
A strong 2-0 win over Bolton followed, thanks to goals from Thomson and Lamont. Bolton didn’t manage a shot during the game.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ********************************************* English First Division - Friday 5th November****************************************** ***Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts-----------------------1st Wrexham 15 5 1 2 19 10 5 1 1 16 6 32 2nd Bristol C 15 5 1 1 13 7 5 1 2 9 5 32 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Middlesbrough 15 5 1 2 13 10 4 3 0 11 6 31 4th Dover 16 2 3 3 6 5 6 2 0 14 3 29 5th Coventry 16 6 2 0 17 4 2 2 4 11 15 28 6th Sheff Wed 15 4 4 0 18 10 3 2 2 13 10 27 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7th Aston Villa 14 5 1 1 9 5 3 2 2 13 9 27 ...21st Gillingham 16 2 2 4 7 12 0 3 5 6 22 11 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------22nd Wimbledon 15 0 2 5 4 14 2 1 5 9 13 9 23rd Tranmere 16 2 1 5 8 13 0 2 6 4 13 9 24th Port Vale 16 0 3 5 6 16 0 2 6 12 25 5 Goalsos Player Club Apps Gls-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Michael Lamont Dover 16 10 2nd Khalid El Addouly Birmingham 15 9 3rd Daniel Black West Ham 10 (2) 9 4th Chris Webster Wrexham 15 8 5th Gary Hill Coventry 14 8 Assistsos Player Club Apps Asts-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Phil Gale West Ham 11 7 2nd Stephen Foster Bolton 6 (5) 7 3rd Daniel Hermansson Coventry 16 7 4th Sean Walker Luton 16 6 5th Robbie Sullivan Millwall 12 6 Average Ratingos Player Club Apps Av R-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Mahmoud Abu Greisha Birmingham 15 8.00 2nd Darren Allan Wrexham 13 8.00 3rd Phil Miller Wrexham 14 8.00 4th Jon Warner Aston Villa 14 8.00 5th Patrice Diawara Dover 14 7.93 23rd Michael Lamont Dover 16 7.63 Man of the Matchos Player Club Apps MoM-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Steve Scott Bristol C 13 4 2nd Mahmoud Abu Greisha Birmingham 15 3 3rd Khalid El Addouly Birmingham 15 3 4th Gareth Moore Millwall 15 3 5th Otari Makovskiy Huddersfield 15 3 9th Patrice Diawara Dover 14 3 11th Michael Lamont Dover 16 3 21st Mark Robertson Dover 16 2 </pre>
09-05-2006, 05:42 PM
Revenge is a dish best served with haggis and stinky cheese. (AAC) Post #43
Heading into the 17th game of the season and I was happy to announce two new additions to the Dover squad. Right midfielder Mark O’Niell will be first team, replacing Gallagher who never showed particularly strong or consistent form. Striker Michael Craig was happy to leave Boro to find first team games, and he’s a excellent player who will probably take Lamont’s first team spot in the 4-5-1 when he is healthy. Neither signing was cheap, as we had to spend 1 million pounds for the former and 1.5 for the later.
Lamont didn’t seem worried about the new signing, as he was fantastic in the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace. It took him until the 81st minute to get the winner, but it was a phenomenal solo strike where he beat two players. The visiting side didn’t trouble us as they couldn’t manage a shot either.
The 2-2 draw at Aston Villa was a difficult comeback for a point. After a dubious penalty (when are they not?) Villa went up by 2 just before half-time. We reverted to a 4-4-2 to try and force some goals, and got 2 thanks to strikes from MacDonald and Lamont.
Home to Watford, and a dull 0-0 draw, though a fairly even match.
Coventry took advantage of a poor day from Chevalier and scored twice through their midfielder Adam Lewis.
The start of a 3 home stretch was a fairly dull 1-0 win over Preston. Lamont again scored the lone goal.
The next game was a carbon copy, with MacDonald getting the only goal.
We reached the midpoint of the season with a good 2-0 win over West Ham. Lamont and Stewart got our goals.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> *************************************** English First Division - Saturday 18th***************************************Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Bolton 23 9 2 2 22 10 4 3 3 14 12 44 2nd Dover 23 6 4 3 11 5 6 3 1 16 7 43 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Bristol C 23 7 2 1 15 7 6 2 5 13 11 43 4th Middlesbrough 23 7 3 3 21 17 5 3 2 20 16 42 5th Aston Villa 23 6 3 1 15 9 5 5 3 19 14 41 6th Wrexham 23 7 1 4 24 15 5 3 3 21 14 40 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7th Coventry 23 8 2 0 21 5 4 2 7 21 27 40 Goalsos Player Club Apps Gls-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Michael Lamont Dover 23 14 2nd Lawrence Okoye Leicester 22 12 3rd Phil Miller Wrexham 21 12 4th Khalid El Addouly Birmingham 23 11 5th Daniel Black West Ham 18 (2) 11 Assistsos Player Club Apps Asts-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Daniel Hermansson Coventry 23 9 2nd Christian Berntsson Coventry 23 9 3rd Sean Walker Luton 23 8 4th Phil Gale West Ham 16 7 5th Bernie Rudge Bolton 21 7 Average Ratingos Player Club Apps Av R-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Darren Allan Wrexham 19 8.05 2nd Mahmoud Abu Greisha Birmingham 23 7.96 3rd Colin Reynolds Aston Villa 19 7.95 4th Phil Miller Wrexham 21 7.90 5th Jon Warner Aston Villa 23 7.87 13th Patrice Diawara Dover 21 7.76 24th Michael Lamont Dover 23 7.61 Man of the Matchos Player Club Apps MoM-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Mahmoud Abu Greisha Birmingham 23 5 2nd Michael Lamont Dover 23 5 3rd Steve Scott Bristol C 21 4 4th Gareth Bater Watford 21 4 5th Bernie Rudge Bolton 21 4 20th Patrice Diawara Dover 21 3 </pre>
09-08-2006, 12:12 AM
Revenge is a dish best served with haggis and stinky cheese. (AAC) Post #44
Back in action away at Crewe, and we found the definition of infuriating. Robertson was sent off in the 39th, and Faivre was sent off in the 74th, and despite that we still outplayed the home side. Didn’t matter, they scored once against our 10 men, and then another against our 9 men. I made a point of complaining to the FA about the dreadful ref in the game as he had called 11 fouls against, and handed out 7 yellows. This time the FA didn’t agree, and upheld both suspensions.
The 1-0 loss that followed away at Bristol City was undeserved, but they took their only chance well and buried it, while Dover looked out of sorts. It was a particularly frustrating game as Craig seemed to have his first goal for Dover in the opening minutes, only to have it strangely ruled out for offsides.
Craig did get his first in an easy 3-0 win at home over Tranmere. The easy win was helped by Thomson scoring twice on headers.
Away at Leicester, and Chevalier again went missing, giving up 2 goals on 2 shots. Lamont scored in the 90th to make it 2-1.
This up and down form was the most inconsistent stretch of my tenure at Dover. We weren’t playing well, but nobody in the Division seemed able to really string together victories.
The 2-0 win over Division 3 Macclesfield in the FA Cup was only expected.
Home for the game against likely relegation victim Wimbledon, and right-back McIntyre had a fine game as he continued to outperform Garcia. Craig scored in the first half, and Lamont substituted for him in the 2nd and scored one himself as we eased to a 2-0 win over the hapless visitors.
We finally got a road win by scoring twice in the 2nd half to beat Gillingham 2-1. Craig was injured early, and Lamont came on to score the winner in the 76th. MacDonald had scored in the 59th to tie it up.
A 3-1 win over Port Vale in the FA Cup followed. Lamont continuing to shine and scoring a brace. Stewart got the other goal.
The loss to Luton was thanks to Robertson (given a few starts due to the bad form of Chevalier) having an awful day. Main scored a fine strike early for his first of the season, but 2 Luton goals ended our hopes of a win. To add insult to injury, Garcia threw a left hook at a Luton player, and deserved a straight red, while Lamont picked up an injury.
Craig showed that he could start instead of Lamont with significant class, and scored twice in the 3-0 win over W.B.A. Diawara scored a great goal for his first of the season. However, I was quite angry to see W.B.A. hack at Craig and send him onto the injury list as well.
Only 12 points separated 1st place from 15th.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************ English First Division - Saturday 12th February****************************************** ******Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Bolton 31 10 3 3 26 15 7 3 5 19 17 57 2nd Bristol C 31 11 3 1 26 12 6 2 8 16 17 56 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Dover 31 8 4 4 17 7 8 3 4 22 13 55 4th Aston Villa 31 9 4 2 27 18 6 6 4 23 17 55 5th Middlesbrough 31 8 5 3 28 23 7 4 4 29 24 54 6th Wrexham 31 10 2 4 31 19 6 3 6 29 24 53 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7th Watford 31 9 4 2 27 18 6 4 6 23 19 53 8th Preston 31 8 3 3 20 14 7 4 6 16 15 52 9th Coventry 31 10 4 1 30 11 4 3 9 25 34 49 10th Millwall 30 12 3 1 31 13 1 7 6 15 23 49 11th Leicester 31 8 5 3 32 20 5 3 7 22 29 47 ...21st Port Vale 31 5 4 8 20 29 0 3 11 18 41 22 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------22nd Tranmere 31 3 3 9 20 28 1 5 10 13 32 20 23rd Gillingham 31 4 4 7 20 26 0 4 12 16 44 20 24th Wimbledon 31 2 4 10 12 27 2 1 12 10 29 17 Goalsos Player Club Apps Gls-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Daniel Black West Ham 26 (2) 17 2nd Michael Lamont Dover 25 (4) 17 3rd Khalid El Addouly Birmingham 31 16 4th Phil Miller Wrexham 28 16 5th Lawrence Okoye Leicester 30 15 Assistsos Player Club Apps Asts-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Phil Gale West Ham 23 13 2nd Ehud Deri Birmingham 28 12 3rd Christian Berntsson Coventry 31 12 4th Phil King Middlesbrough 28 11 5th Scott Watson Watford 31 11 Average Ratingos Player Club Apps Av R-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Darren Allan Wrexham 24 7.96 2nd Mahmoud Abu Greisha Birmingham 31 7.94 3rd Martin Gerritsen Birmingham 28 7.93 4th Gareth Bater Watford 29 7.90 5th Steve Briggs Preston 28 7.89 26th Patrice Diawara Dover 29 7.55 Man of the Matchos Player Club Apps MoM-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Martin Gerritsen Birmingham 28 6 2nd Michael Lamont Dover 25 (4) 6 3rd Mahmoud Abu Greisha Birmingham 31 5 4th Otari Makovskiy Huddersfield 28 5 5th Darren Allan Wrexham 24 5 </pre>
09-12-2006, 07:09 PM
Revenge is a dish best served with haggis and stinky cheese. (AAC) Post #45
In the FA Cup 5th Round, we faced fellow Division 1 team Watford, a challenge, especially without either Lamont or Craig. In the 17th it was rarely used Jimmy McKay who did enough, picking up a loose back pass, and tucking home past a helpless keeper. We shut down the game after that, and got the best single game of the season from Chevalier. Diawara and Thomson continued to impress in their roles.
Robertson headed home from a corner against Birmingham back in league play, and we were content to shut the game down again and wait for the 1-0 win.
Bolton beat us 1-0 in a game I can barely remember.
The biggest question about the follow-up 1-0 against Port Vale, is how we didn’t score more. We out shot the team pretty much guaranteed of going down 21 to 1, but no-one but Thomson could find a way to score. The midfielder has become a fantastic threat on set pieces with his strength in the air.
David Main, who had been having a generally quiet season, had been the spark against Port Vale, and he did the same against Portsmouth. He set up two, as Craig, Thomson, and Lamont scored for a 3-1 win.
Away at Millwall, and a goal by Craig in the 41st was enough for us to shut down the attack and win 1-0.
This win took us into our important FA Cup Quarterfinal match-up against English giants Manchester United. The game started up incredibly fast with Thomas scoring for United in the 3rd. Craig out-jumped the keeper to head home a freekick in the 5th to tie it back up. Robertson shocked everyone by burying a direct freekick to give us a 2-1 lead, but Thomas scored within 10 minutes to take the game back to 2-2. The 2nd half was much calmer, but a flurry of activity came at the end, Craig hitting a crossbar, Stewart of United hitting ours, and Paterson forcing a great save with the last kick of the day. The replay was set for eleven days later.
Back in league play against Boro, and again, a 1-0 win was good enough for us. This time it was Stewart scoring in the 1st half, before the team went defensive to keep Boro out of our area.
In the replay at Old Trafford, it was our turn to have a quick start. Diawara headed home in the 4th, and then drew a penalty 10 minutes later that Craig buried. We attempted to shut the game down after that, but Manchester was too strong in the 2nd half. Talbot scored in the 56th, and the Manchester united got their own penalty to tie it up in the 57th. Then came one of the best highlights of Dover since I started here. Craig picked up a loose ball from a United goalkick, turned and hit a wicked swerving shot from 20 yards that found the corner for a 3-2 lead. United tried to force their way back, but this was too much even for them, and we advanced to face Sunderland in the Semis.
A let-down was expected after that and Crystal Palace gave us some of our own medicine by squeaking past us 1-0.
We bounced back well with a 3-1 win over Coventry back in league play. The game saw us play Lamont and Craig at the same time for the first time all season as Thomson was injured, and we went ahead and switched to a 4-4-2. MacDonald, Main, and Craig scored before Coventry even put their one shot on target.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ********************************************* English First Division - Wednesday 6th April********************************************* Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Watford 40 13 5 2 35 20 9 5 6 32 24 76 2nd Dover 39 11 4 4 24 9 11 3 6 25 15 73 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Aston Villa 40 13 4 3 37 24 8 6 6 27 21 73 4th Middlesbrough 40 12 5 4 36 26 9 4 6 35 30 72 5th Bristol C 40 13 5 1 34 16 7 4 10 18 22 69 6th Bolton 39 11 4 4 27 16 9 3 8 23 22 67 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7th Wrexham 40 13 4 4 44 24 6 4 9 31 32 65 Goalsos Player Club Apps Gls-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Daniel Black West Ham 35 (2) 23 2nd Khalid El Addouly Birmingham 40 21 3rd Luke Hill Aston Villa 29 20 4th Tim Bennett Middlesbrough 39 19 5th Phil Miller Wrexham 37 19 9th Michael Lamont Dover 26 (9) 18 Assistsos Player Club Apps Asts-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Phil Gale West Ham 32 15 2nd Scott Watson Watford 38 (2) 14 3rd Christian Berntsson Coventry 37 14 4th Phil King Middlesbrough 37 13 5th Ehud Deri Birmingham 32 13 19th Mark O'Neill Dover 15 8 24th David Main Dover 37 8 Average Ratingos Player Club Apps Av R-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Mahmoud Abu Greisha Birmingham 39 7.90 2nd Darren Allan Wrexham 32 7.88 3rd Gareth Bater Watford 37 7.84 4th Martin Gerritsen Birmingham 35 7.83 5th Steve Briggs Preston 37 7.78 28th Patrice Diawara Dover 37 7.49 Man of the Matchos Player Club Apps MoM-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Martin Gerritsen Birmingham 35 7 2nd Daniel Black West Ham 35 (2) 6 3rd Otari Makovskiy Huddersfield 35 6 4th Gary Hill Coventry 33 6 5th Michael Lamont Dover 26 (9) 6 </pre>
09-13-2006, 11:54 PM
Revenge is a dish best served with haggis and stinky cheese. (AAC) Post #46
Our next game was the FA Cup semi-final at the neutral ground of Villa Park against Premier side Sunderland. Craig forced a good save in the 9th minute that would have given us a great start. Sunderland’s Samaras hit a shot wide in the 16th and their left midfielder forced a reaction save from Chevalier on a narrow angle in the 21st. Craig again tested Sunderland’s keeper Kallaste, this time with a low shot, but he saved well. We were beginning to control the middle of the pitch and after Delauney shot wide, Stewart set up Craig with a delicate chip over the top that Craig let bounce and then rifled in with a half-volley to give us the lead. We tried to close up shop and play defensively, which nearly cut Sunderland right off their game. In the 2nd half, they came close with a header that Chevalier had to save smartly, and then struck the bottom of the post with a freekick that went straight through our wall. Ultimately, it was a rock solid performance from Dover, and the 1-0 win put us through to the final. We would have to play Premiership giants Chelsea, who would be trying to claim a cup after falling to Fulham in the League Cup final.
Back in league play and we got a vital home win over Sheffield United. Stewart continued to play out of his boots, and scored a brilliant solo goal in the 35th with a long run and shot. Craig converted a pk in the 53rd, and Dover closed up the attack and just tried to hold on to the win. Sheffield did well to pressure and got a freekick goal, came close with several other freekicks, and had a player head just over in the 90th minute. The 2-1 win on Wednesday the 13th of April was the start of a tough stretch of 5 games, crammed into only 10 days.
The high volume of games meant that Vahirua was seeing much more playing time than earlier in the season, and with Craig playing like a man possessed, the two connected just before halftime of the game against 1st place Watford, and Craig buried a volley for a 1-0 lead. Again, Dover went defensive and Watford was well out of it. A boring 2nd half followed with only Vahirua threatening once.
Next up was promotion challengers Aston Villa. Villa got a lucky goal in the 7th minute, and this time it was Dover’s turn to try and break down a team looking to hold onto for a 1-0 lead. We threw everything forward, with Craig and Lamont playing together, and Paterson thrown on in the 66th to add a little more fresh legs. It was this substitute that seemed to be key as the 21-year old forced save after save until finally in the 83rd he struck a vicious shot to give us a needed 1-1 draw.
Two days later and we were in action again versus Wrexham. Despite the opposition having a player sent off in the 18th, Dover couldn’t find any heroics and had to settle for a 0-0 draw. At this stage of the season, any points could be vital, especially with the few games we were making up on the rest of the league.
On the following Saturday, our luck ran out against a Preston side still fighting for a chance at a playoff spot. The scored early, and we couldn’t do anything to counter. With wins from Aston Villa and Watford, Dover was clinging to 2nd place.
We needed a win at home over Crewe, but couldn’t find the net despite excellent play from Craig. It was a well fought game, with Chevalier and Thomson our key men to hold it to 0-0. Losses on the road by Aston Villa and Watford meant we just held onto 2nd place. We now had to worry about hard-charging Millwall, who had beaten Watford.
In the last game of the league season, Dover were away at West Ham, while Watford played at home to Sheffield United. The key match would between 4th place Aston Villa and 3rd place Millwall at Villa Park. A draw in that game would give Dover 2nd place no matter our result. A win by Aston Villa would mean Dover needed a draw to finish even on points (and our goal differential was enough to give us 2nd place). A Millwall win meant Dover needed a win to avoid play-offs. We were guaranteed at least that already.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts----------------------1st P Watford 45 14 5 3 36 21 11 5 7 39 29 85 2nd Pl Dover 45 12 7 4 27 11 12 3 7 26 16 82 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Pl Millwall 45 17 4 2 43 19 5 11 6 29 31 81 4th Pl Aston Villa 45 14 4 4 41 28 9 7 7 32 26 80 5th Pl Bristol C 45 15 5 2 38 17 8 4 11 19 23 78 6th Middlesbrough 45 12 6 5 38 29 9 6 7 39 35 75 </pre>
09-15-2006, 04:11 PM
Revenge is a dish best served with haggis and stinky cheese. (AAC) Post #48
News of Aston Villa going up 1-0 trickled into to us just as Craig scored a header to give us a 1-0 lead over West Ham. We attempted to make sure we could hang onto the lead by shutting down our attacking style, but West Ham’s record breaking goal-scorer Daniel Black got his 31st goal of the season just before half-time. Aston Villa went into halftime of their game with a 2-0 lead. In the 2nd half of our game, our squad looked for a win, particularly with the knowledge that Watford was losing to Sheffield. If Dover could manage a win now, the league title was ours. In the end, it was West Ham’s keeper McGreevy who kept us from the title, making about 7 great saves to deny us.
Millwall scored in the 2nd half to end that game at 2-1. Watford lost theirs, but still finished top of the table.
Dover squeezed their way to 2nd place, despite failing to win a game in their last 5 league matches, but the draws proved vital. Once again, our defense conceded the least goals of the league.
The last match of the season would be the FA Cup final against Chelsea.
Welcome to the FA Cup final between Premiership side Chelsea and Division One Dover. This is a contest between a team that expects to be in this position every year, and a club that no-one had even heard of just a few short years ago. Eric, what do you think about this match-up?
Well, Max, I have to say that Chelsea are deserved favorites... heavy favorites to beat this Division One side, and I agree fully. This Dover team is an excellent defensive team, but they just lack the scoring power that they would need to knock off Chelsea today. My prediction? Chelsea to score early... and if Dover can't hold their form, this could be a long day for them...
There you go. I'm thinking this will be a narrow contest, if no early goals come in this one... a late winner from either side just before extra time....
...
I wish I could say that we upset Chelsea in a brilliant performance in the final, but that was not the case. Chelsea was too strong and got an opening goal in the 8th minute from their Dutch attacking midfielder Wijngaarde, and despite good games from Chevalier, Robertson, Thomson, Craig, and after we switched to the 4-4-2, Lamont, Chelsea were too powerful in the their 5-3-2 formation. It briefly looked like we had tied it up in the 41st, but MacDonald’s strike was ruled out for offside. The 2nd half was just more of the same as Chevalier had to make several good saves, while we only managed 2 shots all game. Wijngaarde sealed the win for Chelsea in the 72nd, and our hopes of an upset were well over.
One side-effect of the runner-up position is the high probability of Dover earning a UEFA Cup position for the following year.
Promotion to the Premiership, FA Cup finalists, and a European place next year… not bad at all.
Signed, Pascal McIntosh, English Division One Manager of the Year… runner-up.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts----------------------1st C Watford 46 14 5 4 36 22 11 5 7 39 29 85 2nd P Dover 46 12 7 4 27 11 12 4 7 27 17 83 ----------------------3rd Aston Villa 46 15 4 4 43 29 9 7 7 32 26 83 4th Millwall 46 17 4 2 43 19 5 11 7 30 33 81 5th Bristol C 46 15 5 3 38 18 8 4 11 19 23 78 6th P Bolton 46 13 5 5 33 21 10 3 10 29 29 77 Goalsos Player Club Apps Gls-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Daniel Black West Ham 41 (2) 31 2nd Khalid El Addouly Birmingham 46 26 3rd Luke Hill Aston Villa 35 24 4th Lawrence Okoye Leicester 43 (1) 22 5th Martin Gerritsen Birmingham 41 21 12th Michael Lamont Dover 26 (15) 18 Assistsos Player Club Apps Asts-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Phil Gale West Ham 38 19 2nd Christian Berntsson Coventry 43 18 3rd Scott Watson Watford 44 (2) 15 4th Ehud Deri Birmingham 37 15 5th Richard Williams Sheff Wed 40 14 30th Mark O'Neill Dover 21 8 Average Ratingos Player Club Apps Av R-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Mahmoud Abu Greisha Birmingham 42 7.93 2nd Darren Allan Wrexham 37 7.89 3rd Gareth Bater Watford 43 7.81 4th Steve Briggs Preston 43 7.74 5th Luke Hill Aston Villa 35 7.74 26th Patrice Diawara Dover 43 7.51 Man of the Matchos Player Club Apps MoM-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Daniel Black West Ham 41 (2) 8 2nd Martin Gerritsen Birmingham 41 8 3rd Otari Makovskiy Huddersfield 40 7 4th Mahmoud Abu Greisha Birmingham 42 6 5th Gareth Bater Watford 43 6 11th Michael Lamont Dover 26 (15) 6 29th Mark Robertson Dover 39 4 </pre>
09-19-2006, 11:48 PM
Revenge is a dish best served with haggis and stinky cheese. (AAC) Post #50
os Player Club Apps Gls-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Michael Lamont Dover 16 10 2nd Khalid El Addouly Birmingham 15 9 3rd Daniel Black West Ham 10 (2) 9 4th Chris Webster Wrexham 15 8 5th Gary Hill Coventry 14 8 Assists
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