Phil Tooley takes a look at the game and its context
Newport County 2 Chesterfield 1
League Two Game #27
It was all a bit 1066 and all that. The King and his troops near the summit of Senlac Hill, whilst down the bottom, a group of chaps from the next door country chancing their arm against an elite force that had just repelled raiders from Norway at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Then, bosh, and Harold admitted. ‘I didn’t see that coming!’ and the English were conquered.
Team sheet. Wow. Is that our best 18 since the return to the EFL? Looked that way, certainly the bench strength was incredible. Newport County, bottom of the FL with no W for Wales in it; beaten 4-1, 3-0, 2-1 and 1-0 in the previous four meetings against Spireites, one home win all season (though it was their previous game at Rodney Parade against Crewe), to be honest, it all looked pretty routine before a ball was kicked.
As the teams came out, the home crowd lifted the decibels and they kept the noise at an insane level throughout, easily the best home support at any Chesterfield away game this season. Hugely positive.
Scrappy start, Chesterfield didn’t look like promotion contenders, Newport didn’t look like relegation strugglers, but a couple of bits of quality from James Berry set up Freddie Ladapo and Liam Mandeville, great chances, not taken. Would the Blues rue those moments?
The Exiles also had two solid chances, both involving some less than impressive defending by the visitors, and at the break it was goalless, little to choose between the sides, but Spireites two chances were the brightest of them all. Take one of those and the game would change.
Chances to clear an attack weren’t taken, County corner. Storm Ingrid never reached the predicted Yellow Warning level, but it was blustery, and that helped swing in a right wing corner for Harrison Biggins, son of Wayne, aka ‘Bertie’ to head home his first goal for Newport. Noise level rises to a Spinal Tap 11.
Keeper big boot, loose header away, nowhere near enough closing down, 20 yard snap shot from Michael Spellman, 2-0, roof lifted. Not good enough for a team of Chesterfield’s pedigree, both goals were preventable.
County lost their previous game at Gillingham despite being 2-1 up on 90 minutes, and you could feel the nerves and anxiety around the stadium after Dilan Markanday whacked home on 85 minutes, leaving Town with five plus seven extra minutes to pull a rabbit from the hat, but alas, no MKD Mk II meant a rather sobering defeat and a drop in the table to ninth.
With just three points from the last five games, the four point gap to the play-offs and six to the top three, those gaps feel huge and with Town having played a game more than six of the eight teams above them, that makes things even tougher.
We all can see the quality in the squad, it’s clear, but as Paul Cook has said many times, ‘the only consistency is the inconsistency’ and with 19 to go, 57 points to play for, that inconsistency needs to become a thing of the past and the undoubted quality of the players needs to be witnessed a lot more.
Salford City next up. Unbeaten since November, seven wins and two draws in nine, second in the table, Manchester City FA Cup money to come next month. The only thing to hang onto at the moment is that Cookie has a fantastic record in head to head meetings with Karl Robinson; W7 D3 L1, the one loss in their first ever meeting CFC 0 MKD 1 in 2014.
The loss in South Wales was Spireites first in an away League game since the Colchester United debacle on October 4. The next EFL game after that? A 2-0 win over Salford City.
The trip to Greater Manchester has what feels like great significance for the season. Are we in the race or are we set to become an also ran?
Whatever the formation the gaffer chooses, one, two or three in attack, chances have to be taken, the defence has to clear the ball when necessary and not faff around with fancy flicks or back heels, and the midfield needs to stamp their authority in the engine room.
Newport needs to be consigned to the ‘occasional one-off’ pile, as was the case post Colchester, but just at the moment, any sort of win will be taken otherwise the expanding gap will become a chasm and with Salford and then Walsall in the queue, two more without a Big W would be extremely hard to swallow.
We’ve come a long way since the Wembley play-off defeat, no question. Last season saw the team have the most successful first season back in the EFL (Wrexham apart) since automatic promotion, fantastic. But Spireites have been used to steady and consistent progress post-Covid and whilst there’s no divine right to growth, the cards in our hands should be winning trick after trick, we want to be the Ace of Clubs, and we still can be.
However, to achieve all of that, we need the level of togetherness that I witnessed at Rodney Parade amongst the players and supporters of the team in amber and black. They celebrated moving up to next to bottom full of positivity, full of hope.
Chesterfield can achieve their seasonal aims, but only if everyone is pointing in the same direction. It’s been frustrating for sure, but don’t give up hope, no-one in the dressing room will be.
Phil’s Positive: I’ll have to pick at the bones for along time to find anything positive about the game, but having Markanday and Dobra back in the squad is a big thing.
Next Match: Tough gig at Salford City on Tuesday, January 27, kick-off at 7.45pm. Listen to the build-up and on 1866 Sport from 7pm with commentary being on the subscription platform, then back on the App for After the Whistle. Hear from Paul Cook and Dilan Markanday in the After the Whistle podcast from after the Newport game.
Chesterfield (4-3-3 to start): Hemming; Curtis, McFadzean, Swinkels, Pearce; Mandeville (Markanday 75), Braybrooke, Stirk (Naylor 80); Berry (Duffy 75), Ladapo (Bonis 66), Grigg (Dobra 75). Subs (not used); Daley-Campbell, Dickson.
Referee: Declan Brown
Bookings: Smith, Biggins, Glennon (Newport)
Attendance: 4,355 (458 from Chesterfield)
1866 Sport Man of the Match: James Berry (chosen by Josh Marsh)
