Phil Tooley takes a look at the game and its context
Chesterfield 2 Liverpool U21 2
Liverpool take bonus point after an 11-10 win on penalties
Vertu Trophy Group H
So Town lose 7-1 at Crewe, get beaten 11-10 on penalties againstLiverpool U21s but make it through to the knock-out stage of the tournament despite a minus five goal difference after three games, the worst of the four teams in the group. And just for good measure, the shoot-out meant Vertu-ally nothing as Alex winning at Burton dictated that, with or without the bonus point, Chesterfield were through. The Football League Trophy is as bonkers as EFL2!
Draw on Thursday afternoon (2.30pm), the Spireites will be away in the first midweek of December at one of these clubs; Salford City, Tranmere Rovers, Doncaster Rovers, Lincoln City, Bolton Wanderers, Harrogate Town or Port Vale. For novelty value, Bolton looks the best bet, but can’t say any of them sound mouthwatering!
Dull first half, Ryan Boot keeps us in it, better second half, score two when on top, always a good thing, but then two errors allow the young reds into the contest, £1m from Derby County man Kaide Gordon scoring both goals after stray passes from the home team gave ex-Spireite Rob Page’s side their first goals and points of the competition.
When Howard announced on the final whistle that there was to be a shoot-out for a bonus point, despite the result at Burton meaning whoever earned it, the table would stay the same, you could hear an audible groan around the stadium. But the fact that it went right down to the keepers and beyond, the longest such contest Chesterfield have ever been involved in (beating 11 each in an 8-7 League Cup shoot-out defeat at Hillsborough in 2010) became a no-pressure fun event.
Boot saved Liverpool’s fifth penalty, diving right to deny 21-year-old Tommy Pilling, who’s been at Liverpool since he was five. His opposite number, Fabian Mrozek, a team-mate of Joe Quigley during a loan spell at Forest Green Rovers last season, who’d seen Bailey Hobson’s deflected shot squirm under his body to give Chesterfield the lead, didn’t save any of the Spireites’ 12 12-yarders, but saw Dilan Markanday and, with his second kick, John Fleck, both hit the underside of the bar. One thing to note, Will Dickson scored his pen having missed at the stadium last season for Manchester City U21s in the same competition.
There was precious little the Polish gloves-man could do to keep Dylan Duffy’s powerful box-edge shot out two minutes after Hobson’s opener. The left-footed Irishman’s hammered effort was converted with aplomb with his wrong right foot. Great goal, 2-0, job done. Not.
That should have been that, but our enemy, that pesky soft underbelly, affected passes by Jamie Grimes and Boot allowing England U20 international Gordon, who’s scored for Liverpool in the FA Cup, played in the Europa League and the Premier League as well as scoring in the Championship in a loan spell with Norwich City, to bag his first professional brace.
The visitors also featured Calvin Ramsay – who cost £6.5m from Aberdeen – and 24-year-old Rhys Williams who’s played 19 times for Liverpool’s first team in the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, six times in the Champions League and in the Championship on loan with Swansea City. Last season he played in most of Morecambe’s first-team matches in a long loan spell there, whilst sub Kyle Kelly is a six times full international for St Kitts & Nevis. The team in red had some more than decent players.
So the team is through, who’d have thought that after the inauspicious start, and around £35,000 banked: £20,000 for participating, £10,000 for beating Burton Albion and £5,000 for the Liverpool draw, with £20,000 to the winners of the first knock-out round.
But we all know the only game of real consequence this week is the trip to the banks of the River Humber in downtown Cleethorpes. Grimsby Town, one point and four places better off than Paul Cook’s Spireites, have won one, drawn one and lost two of their last four L2 games, the draw coming last Saturday after they were 2-0 up at Barrow.
Leading scorer is Jaze Kabia, with seven in all competitions. The 25-year-old Irishman played in Ireland and then Scotland before appearing in England for the first time last season, helping Truro City win promotion to the National League, scoring 16 goals in their successful campaign. He joined the Mariners in the summer, scored in each of his first three games, and he also scored the winner at Sheffield Wednesday in the Carabao Cup. Name sound familiar? His dad Jason, from Sutton in Ashfield, played for Lincoln City before moving to Ireland, but it’sJason’s brother, Jim Kabia, who was a Spireite in the early 1970s before becoming a Boston United legend.
Grimsby will be without one of their normal subs, striker Jude Soonsup-Bell, who played as a youngster with Chelsea and Spurs before switching to Spain to play for Cordoba, moving to the Mariners in the summer. He’s absent due to being called up for international duty with Thailand for their games with Singapore and Sri Lanka.
Last win there, December 2021, National League, a late winner from Kabby Tshimanga. Same again? Yup!
Phil’s Positive: Donacien at centre back, excellent, plus Sheckleford looked steady out of his normal position.
Next Match: Back to EFL2 action at Grimsby Town on Saturday, November 15, 3pm kick-off. All the build-up from 2 o’clock on the 1866 Sport App, then onto the commentary platform for the game itself, with After the Whistle back on the App.
Chesterfield (4-2-3-1 to start): Boot; Tanton (Daley-Campbell 77), Donacien, Grimes, Sheckleford; Naylor (Fleck 46), Mandeville (Cook 68); Hobson (Markanday 77), Darcy, Duffy (Berry 77); Dickson. Subs (not used): Gordon, Bonis.
Goals: Hobson 62, Duffy 64 (Chesterfield), Gordon 76, 90+2 (Liverpool)
Penalties: Liverpool started the shoot-out; Gordon scored, Kelly scored, Laffey scored, Davison scored, Pilling saved, Sonni-Lambie scored, Pinnington scored, Pitt scored, Williams scored, Lucky scored, Mrozek scored, Gordon scored (11).
Chesterfield; Fleck scored, Berry scored, Cook scored, Markanday hit bar, Darcy scored, Dickson scored, Sheckleford scored, Grimes scored, Daley-Campbell scored, Donacien scored, Boot scored, Fleck hit bar (10).
Referee: Ross Joyce
Bookings: Ramsay, Williams (Liverpool)
Attendance: 2,631
1866 Sport Banner Jones Man of the Match: Janoi Donacien (chosen by Jamie Hewitt)
