Phil Tooley takes a look at the game and its context
Chesterfield 0 Mansfield Town 2
Carabao Cup R1
Chin up; last the Spireites won their first two league games to clean sheets and got knocked-out of the League Cup at the first hurdle (against Leeds United), Paul Cook’s side became the 2013/14 EFL2 champions. Rinse and repeat.
Unlucky 13 for Chesterfield. That’s 13 consecutive first round defeats, an all time competition record I’m told (not checked it personally, but I can’t believe it’s not right), so it’s hardly breaking new ground that we’ve been dumped out of the tournament at this stage. We’ve been dumped out by loads of locals in that time, Rams, Wednesday and Blades, but whichever way I try to disguise it, none hurt as much as this one. Ouch.
And it hurts even more because, in the first half, we saw some real #Cookball, slick and quick, but all of that expansive play came with the scoreboard beaming out 0-1 after a fine burst forwards following a home chance saw Rhys Oates bag very early for the Stags.
Then, up stepped the red wall, Mansfield keeper Liam Roberts, who was a Middlesbrough player alongside Zach Hemming for a couple of years. The 30-year-old will rarely have played as well in his career. In the first half, he made a string of saves, some from shots you’d have bet on Chesterfield scoring from, and the half-time chat in the stands was all about Spireites attacking, dominating and the keeper denying.
That opening half saw the home full-backs pushing up even more than normal whilst Dilan Markanday and Armando Dobra dropped a tad deeper which enabled them to run at defenders. Ex-Spireite Jordan Bowery was booked after 30 seconds for downing Dobra. Incidentally, 11 yellows for Chesterfield’s opponents in the last two games shows how some teams plan to stop Cook’s side.
But our opponents are managed by an experienced man. Nigel Clough clearly adapted his team’s approach after the break, spreading the game out, denying Chesterfield the space to play their passing game and gradually turning the tide to ensure the team in yellow and blue matched their scoreboard advantage with impressive on-the-park authority. Whilst there was still time to get back into the game after their second goal, scored by sub Will Evans (not our former player), the Spireites never really seemed to recover after that loose ball, immediate concession blow.
All bar the scoreboard was on the right side of the track. XG, expected goals, that’s some sort of algorithm that works out, based on shots, saves, crosses, in-box touches and the like, said the score should have been Chesterfield 1.63 Mansfield 0.96. PCs team had 71% possession, 9-3 on corners, 562 passes at 83% accuracy to 228 at 63%, 34 crosses to 12. I could go on, but it would be pointless, the Spireites’ name (as usual) will not be in the second round draw.
Atmosphere in the first half was incredible, our highest home crowd in this competition since playing Liverpool after the first-leg 4-4 at Anfield in 1992, when 10,632 saw Trevor Hebberd put Chesterfield in front only for Hutchinson, Redknapp, Walters and Rush to turn things around for the Reds.
Bristol Rovers next up. They’ve played on Whittington Moor three times, lost three times. This season, after relegation, they’ve played three times and lost three times. But they’re managed by a man from Mansfield, former Stag Darrell Clarke. After losing 2-0 at home to Cambridge United in the cup on Tuesday, Clarke gathered his players in a huddle, on the pitch, and gave them what looked to be a public dressing down. Social media reaction by Pirates fans indicates they are far from happy with their current lot.
Cups are great, those of us old enough to remember Man City and West Ham in 2006 will confirm that, but it’s league football that determines the agenda of any football club, the higher up the pyramid, the better players, the better revenues.
Getting back to EFL1 was the main objective and remains the main objective for Chesterfield this season and the next few days with Bristol Rovers at home and Gillingham away, two clubs the bookies had in their top-five for promotion at the start of the campaign, will help Paul Cook and Spireites supporters to gauge exactly where we stand at this juncture.
Finally, fingers crossed that first time starter Matt Dibley-Dias (ankle) and first-time appearance maker Luke Butterfield (foot) are not too badly hurt – we definitely don’t want another treatment room queue like last season.
Phil’s Positive: First half minutes 2 to 45+2, play like that every week and we’re in for a very good season.
Next Match: Saturday at home to Bristol Rovers, an early kick-off to remember at 12.30pm. All of the build-up on 1866 Sport from 11.30, then onto the commentary platform (find details on Chesterfield FC website), with half-time and After the Whistle remaining on the 1866 Sport App, online and on smart speaker. Make sure you’ve got the most up to date App, worth a check. For post-match reaction from the Stags match from Paul Cook and Tom Naylor, listen to the Mansfield edition of After the Whistle on the club’s podcast channels.
Chesterfield (4-2-3-1 to start): Hemming; Daley-Campbell, Dunkley, McFadzean, Gordon; Dibley-Dias (Naylor 39), Stirk; Markanday (Butterfield 76), Darcy (Mandeville 76), Dobra (Duffy 68); Grigg (Bonis 68). Unused Subs: Boot, Sheckleford, Lewis, Grimes.
Goals: Oates 2, Evans 59 (Mansfield)
Referee: Adam Herczeg
Bookings: Naylor (Chesterfield), Bowery, Cargill, Lewis, McDonnell (Mansfield)
Attendance: 9,502 (1,061 from Mansfield)
1866 Sport Banner Jones Man of the Match: Ronan Darcy (chosen by Josh Marsh)
