Tooley’s Take

Phil Tooley takes a look at the game and its context

Shrewsbury Town 0 Chesterfield 1

League Two Game #21

Arguably the most important resident of our weekend hosts has been Charles Darwen, author of ‘On The Origin of Species’, who was born in Shrewsbury in 1809. He was clearly a bright lad who’d learned from his grandfather Erasmus Darwin and his great uncle Robert Waring Darwin, who were both educated at Chesterfield Grammar School (they were there a few years before me). Clearly a bit of our town rubbed off on young Chuck.

Charles studied and wrote about the survival of the fittest, natural selection and all that, evolution in short. If you don’t adapt, you perish. If you trace Chesterfield Football Club’s lineage back to, let’s say September, clearly the team was fit, but PC wasn’t able to make a natural selection due to elements of the whole not quite working, especially in the rear quarters, major continence issues, leaks all over the place.

Soon after September, his creation was mauled in an unfair fight in a sortie to deepest, darkest Essex. More like that and Spireites would never reach the top of the food chain. Change or perish.

Tweaky stuff, ease on with evolution, cherish the ball not perish without it, and like Darwin’s theory, things take time to evolve, but in footy there’s precious little time, but by November the ability to scrap in a tough fight with fish based opponents was witnessed and in December, a significant sliver was located in Cambridge, where Razzie, Bobby and Charlie Darwin were all students, the ability to fight to the end and win some reward when you possibly didn’t deserve it.

So on to Shrewsbury, who’d grown used to not taking a backward step on their own field, and they came into the contest with high hopes, not having lost at home in five. Spireites had to evolve to function on a very narrow playing field, and that took some time as the Shrews gnawed at Chesterfield’s rear quarters time and again. But the leaky bit of the visitors’ anatomy has evolved into a tougher shell, still with weaknesses, but as a whole, tough times have led to a bit more pragmatism, potential killer blows are being repelled more often. The willingness to bite legs and pick up a ticking off and more has added steel.

Regular readers will know that, after a Saturday game, I generally pen this stuff in bed on a Sunday morning, with a cup of Twinings, listening to some soothing classical music. By chance, just as I come towards the hour mark of the battle, there’s a bit of Strauss on, waltzing music, and Chesterfield’s goal was pure Spireites DNA. Naylor, Darcy andMandeville moving freely, beautifully, enabling Lewis Gordon to invite Lee Bonis to dance around his markers and hit the spot (again). The goal was sublime and was followed by more solid defending and more attacks that, on another day, could have made for a slightly more comfortable ending.

Home keeper in the box for a last-gasp free-kick is never something you want to see, memories of Tranmere Rovers, but there’s new, extra fight in Paul Cook’s mix now and having evolved into a meaner, more solid unit, we’d all love to see that combined with what we witnessed in the first 40 against Barnet. Now, that would be a combo that would soon rise to the top of the food chain.

A WW run for the first time in L2 since August, a first assist of the season for Gordon. One goal for Bonis pre-Colchester, nine since, Janoi Donacien on the cusp of a return, Will Grigg and James Berry looking sharp off the bench, and we’ll need to see 11 plus subs be as sharp as possible against Notts on Boxing Day, but Town go into that game with plenty of spirit, knowing how to fight, with a new found confidence.

County have racked up seven wins and three draws in their last 11 and with Alassana Jatta and Matthew Dennis having 19 goals between them, the game will be a real litmus test and our first against our rivals since Martin Paterson took over the manager’s role.

Five of the next six fixtures are against top-11 sides, the other is at Oldham Athletic, who have the section’s meanest defence having conceded just 17 times. So a series of rapid tests for the evolving Spireites, come through that little run with more smiles than frowns, and 2026 could still be pretty special.

Stay fit, be good, enjoy Christmas and hopefully Santa will bring points galore that will make this season’s seasonal greetings somewhat special.

Phil’s Positive: What’s not to like about a backs to the wall 1-0 away win? Backs to the wall = back to back wins, a solid positive!

Next Match: Boxing Day, that’s Friday, December 26 and our old rivals Notts County are in town (Beats Solihull Moors) for a 3pm kick-off.Listen to the build-up and After the Whistle on 1866 Sport from 2pm with commentary being on the subscription platform. Hear from Gary Roberts, Zach Hemming, Vontae Daley-Campbell and Lewis Gordon in After the Whistle podcast from after the Shrewsbury win.

Chesterfield (4–2–3–1 to start): Hemming; Tanton (Daley-Campbell 77),McFadzean, Dunkley, Gordon; Naylor, Stirk; Mandeville, Darcy (Dickson 90), Duffy (Berry 69); Bonis (Grigg 77). Subs (not used); Boot, Lewis, Butterfield.