Thornhill F.C. – The First Win
Today is an historic day. Saturday the 8th September 2007 saw Thornhill F.C. win their first game ever in the Blue Square South division. Star man Evo was suspended following a rash sending off in the previosu game, he also received a two week fine for his actions. Facing the prospects of a game without the star player I kept with the same radical formation as in previous games and let the AssMan choose the team.
This was a great game which saw Thornhill record a 3-1 triumph over St. Albans. While following this result the team reamains bottom of the division this may just be the sign of some improvements. Let us hope that players like Jordan Ashley and Jamie Bell can continue in this new found form. This is where I want the post-match Press Conferences that we will get in FM09, they will provide me with a platform to hail my team as future superstars, which they will be.
Interestingly enough Evo wasn’t playing in that game, though he was playing in my next game, a 6-2 hammering of Havant and Waterlooville. This was a big win which went a fair way to improving my Goal Difference which was shocking.
With a gate of 464, a big win and players such as Evo and Jamie Bell getting on the score sheet it looked like things were on the up for Thornhill F.C. I thought this was the case and took the team down the local for a few drinks to celebrate our famous victory and to encourage them to greater things in the next few games. However this was not to be, two 2-1 defeats followed the Havant match, things weren’t looking at all good for the club.
I decide to try and get some good players into the club, I ask the board to find me a parent club. I hoped that I would get a Premiership club who would send me some promising youth players to improve my fortunes. Even better than that I got my local neighbours Cardiff City.
I throw in my signing from City, left back Matt Smith into the fray against Bromley, we earn a credible 1-1 draw putting the team on 7 points in the league, still stuck rock bottom but now level with Dorchester. They are only above me due to their better goal difference, -2 compared to my -17. Obviously the defence is a worry for the club, but since adopting the crazy formation I talked about last time I have been conceeding less.
My next big test is against Boreham Wood in the FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round. I have never played with a team at this early stage of the FA Cup, the team perform well but after a 0-0 draw we lose 1-0 in the replay. With the board expecting me to reach the Fourth Qualifying Round this obviously puts me in dangerous territory. Looking at the Job Security listing I see that I am ‘Insecure’ in my position as manager of Thornhill F.C.
My first match after learning that my position is not secure is against Weston-super-mare a small seaside town somewhere in Southern England. The pre-match media comments on low team confidence following a poor run of form. The AssMan tells the boys some bull-crap to try and psyche them up. We play the game and get a goal on the 50th minute, however ten minutes later a very possible off-side goal is allowed by the referee.
Despite this I am pleased enough with the performance, while we may remain bottom of the table at this point there are signs that the players are getting a bit better with some solid 7 and 8s appearing in the player ratings.
Disaster strikes post-match as I learn that Lee Woodward, one of my strikers and left-wingers has a hip injury. I send him to a specialist and will miss him for a couple of months. I tell the press that while I will certainly miss his skills, players such as Brian Foster will be able to cover for him.
It seems however that Woodward and Foster aren’t needed, on a wet October Saturday at Thornhill Park my young star Evo scores a hat-trick against Newport County leading us to a 4-2 victory and a climb to one from bottom in the league.
Things are looking up..I hope!
Tags: The First Win, Thornhill F.C.