Phil Tooley takes a look at the game and its context
Maidstone United 1 Chesterfield 2 National League Match #10
For the twelfth Spireites scorer, Paul Cook he sent to me …..
A D-J who’s diff-rent gra-vy
Eleven on assist list
Ten games unbeaten
Nine goals on home soil
Eight ever presents
Seven wins to savour
Six effective road trips
Five caaa-rd King
Four wins at Technique
Three goals from Kabby
Two cards rescinded
And the Spire-ites on top of the tree.
Bit of poetic licence to start with, but I bet you’re singing it!
What a match? Nope, what a final ten minutes! The opening 80 was a tad (well, more than a tad TBH) frustrating, with Lucas Covolan’s first half show keeping Town in the hunt for points. Proof that the laws of the game have been amended to allow shirt pulling on Joe Quigley but not by Joe Quigley. And preparation of our excuses for dropping a couple of points being formulated, with the pitch, referee, Maidstone’s best performance of the season and the price of fish all being potential justifications.
Then, like it says on all fireworks, light the blue touch paper.….. that enabled the spectacular show to begin. The Blues’ blue touch paper came in the form of Kabby and Jez and they were the catalysts to unleash a couple of rockets, though for a few minutes, Spireites’ perception of the game would be shaped by the damp squib that preceded the grand finale.
In his first appearance in the matchday squad of the month, Kabby’s smile was back, even before Jeff King spotted DJ Different Gravy’s run as he prepared to throw in, and Oldaker first timed it to Tshimanga who was in a position you just knew he’d score from. Three goals in 176 minutes on the park, that’s the equivalent of 1.5 a game. Welcome back!
Computer says 83, job done. Then the screen freezes and Maidstone’s own saviour sub, James Alabi, heads home from a free-kick, a rapid re-boot required, but precious little time for it to happen. Blooming Manager of the Month Award!
I was positioned in a press area heavy on scaffolding, right above where Jez Uchegbulam performed some last gasp magic to whip the ball in. Mandy’s shot was blocked but The White Pele picked it up, looked up to shoot, Stones wall in front, so it was glided perfectly to Oldaker, just inside the box, and the game was really won this time.
Scaffolding rocking, Town fans going bonkers (me included), Robbo even more nuts, Sweeper Keeper (whose show was the foundation for three points) puts in a 100-yard dash to join in the celebrations, what a banger. Every amber-clad player was laying prone on the deck having lost out on a deserved point, every blue man knew just what that moment meant in a season that looks set to go to the wire.
On the long drive home, I was trying desperately to think of a last-gasp won it, blown it, won it match, and I couldn’t, so it needed a check-up and the most recent closest match was back in September 2001, ironically against Wrexham. Marcus Ebdon and Luke Beckett put us 2-0 up at Saltergate before the Red Dragons pulled one back on 81 and Sir Alex’s lad Darren Ferguson equalised on 87 to seemingly earn a point. But Rob Edwards popped up to win it in stoppage time in a game watched by just 3,538 people, that’s around 4.500 less than saw the same fixture a few weeks ago in a contest two levels below that 2001 game.
Congratulations to everyone involved in enabling Chesterfield to start a season with ten unbeaten games for the first time in the club’s history, whilst managing to score at least two goals in the first six away games of a campaign is also new territory.
At the heart of the progress is the team, or more accurately the squad. Covolan was the 1866 Sport Man of the Match, the seventh different winner, scorers and assistors all over the park, substitutes playing major roles and with King’s fifth yellow meaning he’ll miss out next week, we’ll probably be able to see the patient Ryheem Sheckleford debut against his previous club, Maidenhead United.
King’s five cards means he’s the second NL player to be suspended in such a way this season. Zico Asare, ironically of Maidenhead, missed their fixture this weekend, a home defeat at the hands of Gateshead, after pipping Jeff to the unwanted post.
After what seems an age of losing points to late goals, this victory tastes particularly sweet, despite the turgid opening 80, but ironically, it was the late leveller by Maidstone that elevated this contest to the level of an ‘I was there’ match. Not much #Cookball on show, but plenty of #Cookballs.
Phil’s Positive: Winning an away game after a below par performance and, having thought the game was won in the closing stages, being pegged back and gutted, before the 94th minute exhilaration unleashed by DJ Different Gravy.
The Spireites’ next game is at home to Maidenhead United (away record this season LLLL, no travelling goals scored, along with Derby County, the only teams in England’s top seven divisions yet to score in an away league game) on Saturday, October 1, kick-off 3pm. Give my granddaughter Pippa a wave, she’ll be a mascot, a few days before her 8th birthday. Can’t get, or even going? Full match build-up on 1866 Sport Live starts at 2pm, so listen via the App, Smart Speaker or online.
Team v Maidstone (4-2-3-1 to start): Covolan; King, Williams, Grimes, Horton; Oldaker, Banks; Mandeville, Asante (Tshimanga 70), Miller (Uchegbulam 76); Quigley.
Subs (not used): Maguire, Akinola, Cooper
Goals: Tshimanga 83, Oldaker 90+4 (Chesterfield), Alabi 88 (Maidstone)
Referee: Aaron Bannister
Booked: Williams, King – his fifth booking, suspended for one game (Chesterfield), Deacon, Corne (Maidstone)
Attendance: 2,627 (385 from Chesterfield)
Netcoms IT 1866 Sport Man of the Match: Lucas Covolan (chosen by Josh Marsh)
