When the Express pulled into its overnight stop last time out we had experienced a bit of a blip in form resulting in us being dragged within touching distance of the teams just outside of the playoff places.
We have four months to cover so lets get straight into it!
August 2030
Match 24 - Daegu (H) 1-1
We start our playoff push against top of the table Daegu. 8 points currently separated the two teams and this was a chance missed to close the gap.
Cho Jae-Hee with the goal from a corner in the first half.
Match 25 - Seoul E-Land (A) 0-0
More dropped points, this time away at strugglers Seoul E-Land. A bore draw and lots to work on.
Match 26 - Suwon FC (H) 2-0
A much better performance sees us pick up 3 points for the first time this episode.
Suwon are another team fighting at the bottom of the league, so I was please we killed the game off early with goals from Park Sang-Jun and Cho Sang-Hoon in the first 20 minutes.
Match 27 - Gwangju (H) 0-1
This is another top of the table clash as Gwangju sit a place above us in 2nd and is another chance missed to close the gap.
We fell to defeat in the second half after dominating for the first half and the start of the second but we yet again could not convert our chances.
Only one win in four with only 3 goals scored was not the start we needed for this important part of the season and will need to improve to secure ourselves that invaluable play off spot.
September 2030
Match 28 - Anyang (H) 2-0
This was a massive result as Anyang were chasing us down in 4th place. First half goals through Jae-Hee and Jong-In secured us the victory in this 6 pointer.
Match 29 - Asan FC (A) 4-0
It appears we have found our form again as we score 4 against Asan. Lee Jong-In with a hatrick from the right wing and Hwang Kim also getting on the scoresheet.
Match 30 - Daejeon (H) 2-0
Another strong performance against a playoff hopeful as Park Sang-Jun grabbed himself a brace to secure our third victory in a row.
Should by now mention the defence who have not conceded this month. Resolute stuff from the back 5.
Match 31 - Bucheon 1995 (A) 2-0
If I could have picked any team to play to secure a perfect month it would have been Bucheon.
Rooted to the bottom of the league i will admit it took longer than expected to get the break though. It was Jong-In who broke the deadlock in the 65th minute.
A late Cho Sang-Hoon goal secured the three points and the perfect month to boot.
Well, well, well! Just as i thought we may be tiring towards the end of the season we produce a perfect month with 10 goals scored and 0 conceded. Hell of a time to produce that string of results and performances and we were duly rewarded.
Playoffs secured!!!
A personal accolade was received too as Lee Jong-In was rewarded for his 5 goals in 4 games with the player of the month award.
We also had our youth intake but sadly there was nothing to write home about.
October 2030
With the bare minimum of 4th place secured and 1st place very unlikely i was keen to try and catch 2nd place to go straight into the playoff final.
Match 32 - Ansan (H) 0-0
Old habits die hard and we went back to our wasteful worst with chance after chance missed. We also had two goals disallowed. However it is our 5th clean sheet in a row.
Match 33 - Daegu (A) 0-1
This result confirmed 2nd could be our highest finish and ended out fantastic defensive record. Daegu have had our number all season today was no different.
Match 34 - Seoul E-Land (H) 4-0
We were back to our imperious best with the front two grabbing all 4 goals. Park Sang-Jun with a deserved hattrick and Hwang Kim with a fantastic solo goal.
A great way to end the month.
That hattrick secured Park Sang-Jun the Player of the month award. The second month in a row one of our players has scooped this award.
November 2030
Sadly Gwangju had secured the illusive 2nd spot so we will be playing in the playoff semi finals.
Match 35 - Suwon FC (A) 1-1
A really poor result as we drop points to bottom of the league Suwon. We sent ahead in the 12 minute through Cho Sang-Hoon and dominated all the way through only to concede in the 90th minute.
Match 36 - Gwangju (A) 1-2
In our final game of the regular season we faced 2nd placed Gwangju hoping to get one over on the Playoff Finalists and gain a massive confidence boost.
Gwangju had other ideas as the went 2-0 up inside 20 minutes. We fought back in the second half and Park Sang-Jun gave us hope of a come back but sadly it wasn't to be.
Final Table
We finished a comfortable 8 points clear of 5th and 7 points off of top spot.
Playoff Draw
We face FC Anyang for a place in the playoff final against Gwangju which we will cover extensively in our final episode of our turn on The Far East Express.
Cheers
Panda