James Rowe was pleased with his side’s gutsy performance after beating Solihull Moors 1-0, despite going down to ten men.
He said: “I thought we showed a bit if everything. They started better than us, they got in a couple of times. Other than that, we controlled it. Thirteen shots to two in the first half.
“We really dominated it; we should have scored more than one. The second half was a bit of a war, but we overcame it.
“We said at half time, clean sheet and we win the game and that’s what we did. We restricted them to two or three opportunities in the second half.
“It’s a pleasing win again and I’m delighted for the clean sheet. I thought it was a good advert for the National League and we deserved the win.”
The clean sheet meant a fifth successive shutout and only one goal conceded since Rowe became manager.
The gaffer was very impressed with the defensive display, saying: “It’s unbelievable. If you keep clean sheets, you’ve got a chance to win games and we are doing that.
“A 1-0 victory today – I’ll take that considering the break we’ve had. To keep a clean sheet against them after the break is an outstanding achievement.”
Tom Whelan scored his first goal for Chesterfield and the manager expressed his delight at the midfielder’s performance.
“It’s a really good finish because he knows where the goal is,” Rowe said. “It means he’s turned and put it in. A really good finish.
“I thought that’s what his effort deserved today. He had great energy and linked up with the front two well. He deserved that goal.”
The Spireites finished the game with ten men after George Carline was shown two yellow cards. Rowe admitted that he felt the decision was harsh.
“I thought there was a few harsh bookings,” he said. “I said ‘don’t go sending someone off for a second yellow when you could have a word’.
“I think it was one of those occasions. I thought he (the referee) could have had a word with him, but I thought their player fell over quite easily, to be honest.”
To watch the full post-match interview, please click on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s91b0bgvvIQ