Phil Tooley takes a look at the game and its context
Chesterfield 3 Bristol Rovers 1
League Two Game #3
Strictly between you and me, I’m dedicating this match to the late dancing judge Len Goodman. He was a ham, egg and chips man, nothing too fancy, but he didn’t mind a bit of bling and he was always happy to award a SE-VAN.
The 3-1 win over Bristol Rovers was, like Len’s choice of snap, pretty bog-standard, no frilly lettuce on the side, though there were a few bits of sparkle that lit up the stadium. Armando Dobra pirouetted stylishly a couple of times, but from keeper to striker, this was a Spireites seven out of ten show.
No stomping, staccato John Sergeant performances in there, but no Alesha Dixon Cha Cha Cha magic either. Early days in the competition, sevens all round will get the job done, and on this occasion, it was enough to put Paul Cook at the top of the leaderboard, but with a ticking off from Craig Revel-Horwood, who was wearing a striking dark lilac number, and he clearly marked the gaffer’s card.
Indeed, the lilac clad man in the middle was the centre of attention on a few occasions, none more so than when he had to judge the style of the hold involving Joel Senior and the quick-stepping Dobra, who was clearly stepping quicker than the man in a Pirates outfit. Illegal hold, denied Dobs a ten out of ten moment so Senior, with the vast majority of the audience voting for an ejection, was jettisoned from the competition.
Dylan Duffy was in pole position to take advantage of the error. His initial footwork let him down, but fortunately a second chance immediately came his way and the subsequent perfect execution enabled Tom Naylor, at the far end of the floor, to jeté perfectly and hustle his way to the glitter ball and top-hat it into the target.
All set for a celebratory show dance after the break, but with an opponent that had team members who’d performed at the highest level in Germany, The Netherlands, Scotland, Ireland, England and even in the European Champions competition, coming out on top was never guaranteed.
Pirates upped the tempo, Spireites lost a bit of direction and Isaac Hutchinson, who has previously performed at Blackpool, for Southend, but lost out to two terrific scores by a certain Armand Gnanduillet, took the opportunity presented to him when Zach Hemming’s movement was perfect, but he didn’t quite get into the optimum hold position. All to play for.
Rovers man in orange, Luke Southwood, showed great style, movement and timing, his hand-diving kept his team in with a shout until Chesterfield found the right rhythm towards the end of the show. Moments after counting in four to try and beat the opposition, a Kyle McFadzean chassé away from his marker enabled him to glance in one of the fab-four Adam Lewis’s perfect delivery to put Spireites score on the board.
Another Fab-four member, Liam Mandeville, then invited Dobra to dance in at the far-post to finish with aplomb to guarantee progression to the Gillingham event on Tuesday with Chesterfield exactly where they want to be. With plenty of room for improvement.
I’m hoping for another seven in Kent. Six goals in the league this season, six different scorers. That last happened in 2006 (Niven, Larkin, Shaw, Hall, Allison, Folan). Never have seven different Spireites scored the first seven of a season, even though in 1989, eight different men scored the first eight goals, but two of them were own-goals, so let’s hope either Grigg, Dunkley, Darcy, Mandeville, Stirk or the full-backs are on target with the opening goal in a win at Priestfield.
Gareth Ainsworth’s Gills brought in the vastly experienced Sam Vokes in the summer, who is yet to feature, but Bradley Dack and Jonny Williams provide fantastic experience in the middle. At 31, both of those players are ten years younger than keeper Glenn Morris, who has started all of the league games so far. Two draws and a win have come their way in EFL2 and they only lost on penalties in the Carabao Cup to AFC Wimbledon, now a League One side of course.
We’re due a bit of luck there after last season seeing Dilan Markanday have a perfectly good goal chalked off and Chey Dunkley unfairly sent-off, something that the officials later apologised for!
Last WWWW start? 1984/85 Division Four championship season.
Phil’s Positive: Showed tenacity when it wasn’t all going to plan and confirmed just how important Danny Webb’s set-play drills are. And top of the league, albeit in alphabetical order!
Next Match: Not long to wait for the long trip to Kent, Tuesday, August 19 at Gillingham, 7.45pm kick-off. All of the build-up on 1866 Sport from 7 o’clock, 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. For post-match reaction from the Bristol Rovers win from Danny Webb, Kyle McFadzean, Armando Dobra, Ronan Darcy and Ryan Stirk, listen to the Rovers edition of After the Whistle on the club’s podcast channels.
Chesterfield (4-2-3-1 to start): Hemming; Daley-Campbell (Mandeville 83), Dunkley, McFadzean, Gordon (Lewis 83); Naylor (Fleck 83), Stirk; Markanday, Duffy (Darcy 64), Dobra; Bonis (Grigg 83). Unused Subs: Boot, Sheckleford.
Goals: Naylor 41, McFadzean 84, Dobra 89 (Chesterfield), Hutchinson 68 (Bristol Rovers)
Referee: Sam Mulhall
Bookings: Naylor, Daley-Campbell, McFadzean (Chesterfield), Mola, Sparkes, Sotiriou (Bristol Rovers)
Chesterfield manager Paul Cook was booked
Sent-off: Senior (39 mins, denying goalscoring opportunity)
Attendance: 8,013 (715 from Bristol Rovers)
1866 Sport Banner Jones Man of the Match: Armando Dobra (chosen by Josh Marsh)
