Providing an insight to the upcoming clash against Barnet, Sam Plummer brings you up to scratch with everything you need to know.
Chesterfield report for duty back in the Vanarama National League by travelling to North London in order to face Barnet.
In making the 140-mile trip to The Hive, the Spireites will return for a second weekend in London having taken on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge during last week’s Emirates FA Cup third round. A historic occasion that saw striker Akwasi Asante score in front of the near-6,000 Chesterfield fans against the reigning champions of the UEFA Champions League.
Back to the fixture against Barnet and James Rowe will be looking to apply some much needed pressure on FC Halifax Town, who sit at the top of the table with a four-point lead, albeit having played three games more than the Spireites.
Team | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals For | Goal Against | Points |
Barnet FC | 7 | 6 | 8 | 25 | 32 | 27 |
The Bees currently sit 12 points above the relegation zone after finishing at the root of the table last season. Only saved by the fact that there were no relegations last time around, the North Londoners side have pulled their socks up so far this season. Sat in 15th place, Dean Brennan’s men have earned a healthy gap away from their rivals who are struggling at the foot of the table.
In comparison to the eight clubs below them in the league, Barnet have the third best goalscoring record (25), with only Altrincham and Aldershot Town offering a better display in front of goal. Given the abysmal nature of the last campaign, Brennan’s men have to take pleasure in the fact that their exploits in front of goal are only 12 away from matching the record for the whole of last season.
The goalscoring record provides a much healthier viewing for Barnet fans, although their goals have been evenly spread across the team. Striker Adam Marriott leads the charge with four goals to his name, with Joe Widdowson and Mitch Brundle following up with three goals each. Collectively, the Bees have witness 12 different goalscorers, with no one individual being able to provide consistent contributions for the bottom half side.
As for their efforts to prevent goals and the Bees also have the joint third best defensive record out of all the sides who currently occupy a place in the bottom half of the table. Whilst only King’s Lynn had a leakier defence during the 2021/22 campaign, only Eastleigh and Wealdstone have kept a better defensive record than Barnet so far this season.
Head-to-head record
Since the 2010/11 season, the two clubs have had relatively similar fates: by dropping out of the Football League and having struggled to offer a fierce fight for promotion. Whilst Chesterfield are showing spirit and determination to reach the promised land this season, Barnet remain well off the pace for any kind of return to the Football League.
Given their similar recent histories, the two sides have faced each other on 13 occasions. In those, the Spireites have won seven times, having won three of the six fixtures which have been previously played at The Hive.
The most recent visit to North London enabled the Spireites to return to Derbyshire with all three points after a 2-0 victory. In a comfortable win, Tom Whelan opened the scoring after 10 minutes, before Adi Yussuf secured the win with a goal of his own two minutes after the restart for the second half.
In the meeting earlier on this season, Chesterfield came away with a 4-2 win. The game was a hectic encounter as Barnet scored two goals right before half time to rule out the Kabongo Tshimanga brace that had been scored in the opening nine minutes. As Tshimanga went on to grab a hat-trick in the second half, the win was all but sealed 13 minutes from time when Gavin Gunning added his name to the scoresheet, silencing an earlier rampant Barnet side.
The highlight of the recent run of fixtures between these two for the Spireites came in December 2020 when Chesterfield demolished the North London side 6-0 at the Technique Stadium. An undoubtedly impressive display as Asante secured a hat-trick of his own on the day.
Last Five Games
Barnet FC | Results | Chesterfield FC | Results |
Altrincham FC (H) | 1-1 (D) | Chelsea FC (H) Emirates FA Cup Third Round | 5-1 (L) |
Boreham Wood (A) | 0-0 (D) | FC Halifax Town (H) | 1-1 (D) |
Boreham Wood (H) Buildbase FA Trophy Third Round | 2-3 (L) | Grimsby Town (A) | 0-1 (W) |
Yeovil Town (A) | 1-0 (L) | Salford City FC (A) FA Cup Second Round | 0-2 (W) |
Maidenhead United (H) | 3-0 (W) | Altrincham FC (H) | 2-2 (D) |
As displayed above, Barnet have won one of their last five outings, coming in a 3-0 win over Maidenhead United. Besides that, very little has been able to decide the fixtures involving the Bees with two losses being collected, both by a one-goal margin. In this recent run, the side bowed out of the FA Trophy after a marginal defeat to fellow promotion hopefuls in Boreham Wood.