Phil Tooley takes a look at the game and its context
Gillingham 1 Chesterfield 0
League Two Game #4
Teams garner adjectives to describe their style. Direct. Hard-Working. Fearless. Strong. Tippy-Tappy. Cloggers. Naïve. Bottlers. Dirty. Cheats. (You can try and match to teams you know!). But are Chesterfield this season destined to pick up the worst adjective of all? Unlucky!
Swindon Town, 1-0 up, stonewall penalty, not given. One-in-50 worldy from a centre half to equalise. The visitors’ only shot on target. Unlucky.
Salford City, 1-0 up, dominant, 66% possession, Town pushing for a late second, attacking corner, rapid break, level. Unlucky, albeit with a tinge of naïve.
Gillingham, home centre-half booked on 20 seconds after being skinned, three strikes on wood, was one over? Five superb Gills blocks, 67% possession, 30 in-box touches to 11, five corners to one, was Markanday off-side? Was Dunkley’s second booking even a foul? A whole new degree of unlucky.
The team needs to ditch the Beverley Knight soundtrack and turn on Kylie, no more Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda, we need to be so lucky, lucky, lucky. We need some Daft Punk to simply Get Lucky.
I’m a great believer in making your own luck, the gaffer often quotes ‘the more you practice, the luckier you get,’ and it was clear for most of the game at Priestfield that there’s been practice in abundance and luck is going to creep out of the woodwork at some time soon.
That said, there were some creaky moments when normally solid and reliable men inexplicably erred, particularly in the opening quarter of an hour. Wayward passes and loose balls, ironically these mistakes rode their luck and came to nowt.
The Gill’s goal was a cracker / a shocker* (*delete as necessary) depending on your viewpoint. For me, a cracker. A left sided free-kick, defensive midfielder Robbie McKenzie lining up in the ‘D’ and as Jack Nolan delivered, the scorer was certainly in the mood for scoring, peeling off for a precisely timed and rounded run to arrive unmarked at the back stick to head home. Coaches in Chesterfield colours will no doubt be livid that the run was not tracked, but that goal was a triumph for practising, no luck involved.
Early goal, even at that stage, the Spireites were on it. No problem. DJ’s early free-kick saw nearly all of the ball go over nearly all of the line and Will Grigg’s follow up somehow blocked on the line. After the goal, Armando struck the foot of the post and throughout, crosses in, particularly from the impressive Vontae Daley-Campbell were delicious but someone had forgotten to pack the Glacés, so the absence of cherries on the top became a frustrating constant. (NB I hate cherries, but would have scoffed a bag full had one of the myriad of chances snuck in).
Home skip Max Ehmer picked up yellow #2 on the hour. Was that our stroke of luck? No. Nailed on goal, Naylor hits the bar, cherry on top free crosses and shots galore, Gillingham’s blocking and tackling was magnificent. They certainly played for their manager.
The last-gasp dismissal of Dunkley (he’ll miss the Grimsby Town game) confirmed the presence of black cats, a single magpie, broken mirrors and an indoors open umbrella. It was the August 31 (13 backwards), but Chesterfield’s performance shows they can mix it up with the best of the section.
Hopefully there’ll be an out of work striker arriving to fill the gap vacate by cult-hero Joe Quigley, and some of the walking wounded will be back before we know it, but even with what we’ve seen to date, a little sharpening of the cutting edge will enable the team to open up more defences.
We’ve already seen a tightening of things in the rearguard, just three concessions in four games is the equivalent of 35 goals against across a season; Town’s 1969/70 side holds the record of fewest goals in the conceded column, 32, so that’s moved in the right direction, a little rebalancing and the points tally will start to tick a little faster. Daft Punk featuring Kylie Minogue is only a moment away!
Whilst their presence was measured only in minutes, congratulations to teenager Jensen Metcalfe on his Football League debut, and particularly to Tyrone Williams (29), who after a ten-year career in non-league with the likes of Kidderminster, Sutton Coldfield, Chasetown, Redditch, Romulus, Stourbridge, Hednesford, Solihull Moors and of course Chesterfield, he can now call himself a Football League player. I’m delighted for him.
A drive to Lincoln City, managed by Michael Skubala, former England Futsal head coach, for the Bristol Street Motors Trophy game on Tuesday, The Red Imps’ first in the competition this season. Tendayi Darikwa is their most familiar player to Spireites supporters.
They’ve beaten Burton, Mansfield and Stevenage to date in EFL1, so will be a tough nut to crack, though who will play for them and who will play for us is a guessing game of the highest order. City won the competition in 2018, so both teams know the positive benefits of the tournament in which Chesterfield already have two points after the shoot-out ‘win’ over the youngsters of Manchester City.
Last match there in this competition? Lincoln 4 Chesterfield 1, a shocker, but in a season that saw the Spireites promoted from League Two. Let’s have a bit of Patience; I’d Take That again!
Phil’s Positive: The performance. The better side against the early doors table toppers.
Next Match: Lincoln City (A), Tuesday, September 3, BSM Trophy, KO 7pm. Full commentary for subscribers on the new commentary platform (find details on Chesterfield FC website). Build-up from 6.30pm, half-time and post-match remains on the 1866 Sport App. The game is on Sky TV.
Chesterfield (4-2-3-1 to start): Boot; Daley-Campbell (Jacobs 76), Naylor, Dunkley, Gordon; Banks (Williams 90), Oldaker; Markanday (Metcalfe 80), Dobra, Berry; Grigg (Drummond 80). Subs (not used): Thompson, Jones, Grimes
Goal: McKenzie 8 (Gillingham)
Referee: Charles Breakspear
Bookings: Naylor, Metcalfe (Chesterfield), Clark, Ogie (Gillingham)
A member of Gillingham’s technical staff was also booked.
Red Cards: Dunkley (Chesterfield, two yellows, second after 90+4), Ehmer (Gillingham, two yellows, second after 60)
Attendance: 6,954 (330 from Chesterfield)
Banner Jones 1866 Sport Man of the Match: Vontae Daley-Campbell (chosen by Nick Johnson)
