Phil Tooley takes a look at the game and its context
Barnet 3 Chesterfield 0 National League Match #25
Amongst all of the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, let’s all remember that before being stung at The Hive, Town were on their best points gathering run for over 55 years. Let’s also note that this fifth NL defeat of the season was at the home of the team in fifth place, with the three points taking the Bees to six wins and two draws in eight. The previous four defeats were, sadly, all against lower ranked opponents, so at least we can say we lost to a good team.
Let’s also remember that the home hat-trick hero was a man that, for a variety of reasons, was the most talked about opposition player in Chesterfield and its associated social media channels in the days leading up to the match, and his goals mean he’s now scored in his last four games.
Let’s also look back at the last NL loss, at The Shay. My ‘Take’ on that match recalls that the Spireites’ only effort of note was a Jamie Grimes header and that just one corner was registered.
At North London, the team notched up nine corners and, with the score at either 0-0 or 0-1, the sharp end of the team was as profligate as it’s been all season, with great openings and great chances sadly going begging at a frustrating rate.
Fragile Top is an anagram of profligate, and that pretty much sums up the day. Hopefully, the DT’s Liam Norcliffe will publish the ‘XG’ Expected Goals statistic in the next day or two. I bet it won’t be 3-0!
Does any of that guff make the defeat any easier to take? Of course not, but as it says at the top of the page, this column seeks to put things into context, and another element of perspective is that’s it’s our first away defeat in the NL by a three-goal margin in three years, since losing at Meadow Lane by the same scoreline (BTW next game? Beat Wrexham).
The game started at a breakneck speed, good old fashioned end to end with Barnet’s pace all over the park causing problems whilst the likes of Quigley, Dobra, Colclough, Akinola and King all got into solid positions and Palmer was unable to convert the visitors’ best chance of the first half.
The Bees had seen Covolan make a number of reaction saves, particularly from corners, which tended to be delivered to the near post at chest height and it was one of those that undid the Spireites, with Nicke Kabamba finishing it off from close-range. Corners = Achilles Heel.
Another gilt-edged effort, for Quigs, went begging but all hope of some reward realistically drained away when a King-Banks combination from a right-back positioned throw saw Kabamba, the man given his senior debut by Paul Cook back in the pair’s Pompey days, muscle in and drill home. Very, very disappointing and uncharacteristic (the mistake, not the muscle).
His third marked his first hat-trick at this level or above and he became the first three-goal scorer against Chesterfield since Frank Nouble’s treble in a shocker of a show at Newport County, a 4-1 defeat, back in August 2017.
Credit to club historian Stuart Basson for working out that the five years and 155 days since that Nouble ball-keeping day exactly equalled the five years and 155 days between Billy’s Ashcroft and Rafferty’s respective hat-tricks for Wrexham and Portsmouth in 1976 and 1982, the longest (peace time) gaps between conceded trebles. All I can say is that I hope he took leap years into consideration!
No midweek game, massive midweek to come. EFL transfer deadline day on Tuesday (remember it’s not an incoming deadline for NL clubs). Kabby Hokey-Cokey to come, your scorer in or your scorer out? Will the squad be shaken all about?
As Paul Cook confirmed post-match, there’s a release clause that, if triggered and any bidder can acquire the striker, should he accept the relevant terms and if he does move on, reinforcing that area is of paramount importance. Chuck in midweek games for Notts and Woking and by Wednesday morning, things could have changed a fair bit.
Unfortunately, the match at Barnet’s Edgware home was as good an illustration of the needs in the attacking area as you could wish for (or not wish for more accurately). Nine corners, squillions of crosses, too many misses, no goals. Frustrating.
The defeat and its nature understandably brings plenty of material to the debating table. Keeper, defensive combinations, midfield muscle, attacking frailties, how did that not go in? As the gaffer frequently says, ‘that’s football’, and we go again next weekend at belligerent Boreham Wood, winners of just one of their last six home NL fixtures. Will Evans, Zak Brunt and Nathan Ashmore in the mix, so plenty to look forward to.
Finally, remember, we’re at 2.08 points and 2.0 goals per game this season. I’d take that level of disaster every single season.
Phil’s Positive: The prawn curry I had when we got back home after being held up by an M1 blockage hit the right spot, unlike some of Town’s players a few hours earlier.
The Spireites’ next game is on Saturday, February 4, 2023, when we make an almost identical trip down to Boreham Wood; 1866 Sport will be live at the stadium from 2pm.
Chesterfield (4-3-3 to start): Covolan; King, Palmer, Grimes, Clements; Jones (Banks 46), Oldaker (Asante 75), Akinola; Dobra, Colclough (Mandeville 82), Quigley. Subs (not used): Williams, Uchegbulam.
Goals: Kabamba 33, 77, 86 (Barnet)
Referee: Elliott Swallow
Bookings: Jones, Dobra (Chesterfield), Kanu, Wynter (Barnet)
Attendance: 2,277 (640 from Chesterfield)
Netcoms IT 1866 Sport Man of the Match: Bailey Clements (chosen by Josh Marsh)
