National League
Tuesday 13th August 2019
According to the bookmakers/experts, one of these sides is expected to challenge for promotion and the other is expected to be embroiled in a relegation battle.
The moral of the story? The bookmakers/experts are right - they've just got expectations for these two teams the wrong way round!
This was a desperately disappointing performance by the Spireites who, as a result, have slumped into the relegation zone. They lack depth in their squad (absolutely evident by what they had on the substitutes bench) and for large parts tonight, they lacked quality and had no idea how to break down their opponents.
For Woking, who have never previously played Chesterfield, this will be one of those 'I was there' moments - a fantastic, great, memorable result, etc.
They got three points because they executed a game-plan to absolute perfection; changing to a 4-5-1 formation, soaking up early pressure to make the home fans frustrated, playing on the counter-attack, bagging the opener and then defending resolutely.
Dave Tarpey's free-kick, which turned out to be the winner, was an absolute stunner that will live long in the memory whilst Ibrahim Meite (the lone frontman) put a brilliant shift in. Tyreke Johnson also caused problems down the left-hand side and was a real danger throughout.
Some Spireites fans on the bus back into town afterwards were questioning whether John Sheridan should be relieved of his duties.
As bad as this performance was, there are a few things worth remembering:
- John Sheridan is a good manager with a good track record.
- It's very early in the season - after four games last year, for example, the Spireites were top of the table, and look how that turned out!
- There is an injury crisis at present with several players out injured who would walk straight into this team.
Aside from all the negatives, there were a couple of sparks in Chesterfield's performance tonight.
Liam Mandeville may have drifted in and out of proceedings, something he needs to work on, but at least he had the bravery to take shots on - even if, most of the time, his efforts were wayward and/or didn't properly trouble the goalkeeper.
Also, Scott Boden might not be the prettiest, but he's a threat in this league and any defender that comes up against him is going to have a tough time.
So it isn't quite all 'doom and gloom' - even though the Spireites really, really, really need to get promoted this year.
If they don't, then they'll lose funding for their youth set-up from the Football League (which is what happens when you get relegated from League Two and don't return there in two seasons).
It's happened to Boston, Lincoln, Grimsby, York City and Hartlepool, amongst others in recent years, and with youth team graduates currently in and around Chesterfield's first team, this appears to be an academy set-up which is working and producing players.
Therefore, it'd be a travesty if it were to collapse by virtue of a ruling that's been in place for as long as I can remember.
A special mention for the Spireites' hospitality tonight.
I was lucky enough to be in the press box for the first time in a long old while at the Proact Stadium and the free grub went down very well.
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