September 2020
Leasing.com Trophy Northern Section Group B
Chesterfield 1-2 Newcastle United U23
Oldaker 66 (pen)
We started September with the visit of Newcastle's U23 side to the Proact for our opener in the Leasing.com Trophy. The squad was much rotated in this one, with Dylan Wharton making his professional debut between the sticks, and Max Hunt and Tom Harrison coming in to rest Yarney and Maguire.
The game started scrappily, and on 25 minutes Newcastle took the lead. We failed to deal with a corner from the left hand side, and the ball eventually fell to Ludwig Francillette who finished past Wharton.
That was the only talking point of a drab first half, and we had to wait until the 66th minute until any further action. A free kick delivered by Oldaker was towards Jack McKay who was pulled down in the box, and the referee gave a penalty. Darren Oldaker stepped up and his low drive beat Freddie Woodman, marking his first goal for the club.
However, Newcastle took the points in the 90th minute. Again we failed to deal with a set piece, and could only clear the ball as far as Kelland Watts who slotted his effort past Wharton into the far corner
Sky Bet League Two
Chesterfield 4-0 Plymouth Argyle
Mandeville 21
Spyrou 25
Jakubiak 75, 90+4
We then had a welcome 10 day break before welcoming 9th place Plymouth Argyle to the Proact. After 3 defeats on the bounce, we were keen to return to winning ways to see a return of our early season form in the league.
We started brightly, and took the lead on 21 minutes. Josef Yarney found himself with the ball out wide following a throw in, and played a fantastic ball to the far post where Liam Mandeville nodded home the opener.
4 minutes later we were 2 goals to the good. Wes McDonald's long ball released Spyrou, and August's player of the month powered the ball into the bottom left corner.
We had to wait until the 75th minute for the third. Mandeville played a teasing ball across goal from the right wing, onto the head of Jakubiak who restored his place atop the club's goalscoring charts.
And we weren't done there. 4 minutes later, Jakubiak picked up a clearance from Pemberton on the halfway line, turned his marker and took the ball all the way to the edge of the box where he fired a low effort past Cooper to round off the scoring with an early goal of the season contender.
A brilliant result and team performance to end our run of three defeats.
Sky Bet League Two
Stevenage 2-0 Chesterfield
Next up in September was a visit to the Lamex to face 14th place Stevenage.
On 5 minutes though, Stevenage took the lead. The ball was cleared to the edge of the box where Elliott List unleashed a phenomenal volley to find the top corner.
On 18 minutes they had made it 2. A cross from Terence Vancooten found Kurtis Guthrie in the middle who headed past Coddington to make it 2-0
We missed numerous chances throughout the game, however it was a really poor attacking display and we came away with nothing, seeing ourselves drop down to 3rd
Sky Bet League Two
Aldershot Town 3-3 Chesterfield
Maguire 24
Spyrou 66
Walker 80 (OG)
Next up was a trip to Aldershot to face the side that we were promoted alongside last season. The Shots have also had a fair start to the league, and are currently occupying 12th place. Having lost to Aldershot in both of our fixtures last season, I was keen for us to get a win in this one.
The game started brightly for both sides. Conlon got free for Aldershot in the opening minutes, only to be denied by Coddington, and up the other end, Spyrou's fierce shot was parried by Walker, and Jakubiak couldn't quite reach the rebound before it was cleared away.
On 24 minutes we took the lead. A corner by Liam Mandeville was met at the back post by Laurence Maguire whose powerful header found the back of the net.
We had to wait until the 66th minute to make it 2-0. Good sustained pressure around the Aldershot box saw Liam Mandeville put through one on one with Walker. His shot was saved, but the rebound fell to Anthony Spyrou who had the simple task of finding the open net from point blank range.
3 minutes later, Aldershot pulled one back. Nathan Tella's deep cross finding Jacob Berkeley-Agyepong who netted at the back post. His third goal against us in as many matches.
On 76 minutes the Shots drew level. Ryan Taylor found space on the edge of the box and Coddington could only palm his fierce effort into the back of the net.
However with 10 minutes to go we restored our lead. A long ball from Spyrou set Jakubiak free, and he worked his way into the box before trying a shot from an impossible angle, which hit Shots keeper Mitch Walker and rebounded into the back of the net.
2 minutes later we were level again. A catastrophic back pass from Josef Yarney giving Joe Hardy the simple task of touching the ball past the stranded Coddington.
We nearly lost the game in injury time, an uncharacteristically careless pass from Joe Rowley across the back 4 easily intercepted by Hardy, who was denied by an excellent save from Coddington
A really disappointing point. Having led twice, initially by 2 goals, we can definitely consider this as points dropped rather than a point gained, and the final equaliser was very much avoidable. We are now 3 points off Colchester on top with a game in hand.
Sky Bet League Two
Chesterfield 3-0 Scunthorpe United
Yarney 13, 27
Jakubiak 59
Our penultimate game of September was the visit of 21st place Scunthorpe to the Proact. This being our game in hand, we knew a win would see us top of the league, albeit on goal difference, and would open up the gap between us and Walsall in 3rd place, which is currently a single point.
We applied pressure early on, with Carvalho working Spyrou an opportunity in the box, however his shot was tipped over by Watson. From the resulting corner, Oldaker found Maguire at the near post, whose flick on to the back gave Yarney an unmissable chance inside the 6 yard box to put us in front.
We kept the pressure up and on 27 minutes it told. Another corner from Oldaker this time didn't need any help from Maguire. It went direct to the back post where Yarney buried his second of the game.
We took the 2 goal lead into half time, but I was keen to get another one, having thrown away a 2 goal lead in the last game.
Just before the hour we got it. A long ball forward by Oldaker was well beyond Jakubiak, however neither Burgess nor McGahey at the back for the Irons could decide what to do with it. Jakubiak made the decision for them, and buried the ball in the back of the net.
The game would finish 3-0. We are 4 points clear of Oldham in 3rd and back on top of the league, on the same points tally as Colchester, but with a 9 goal advantage over them.
Sky Bet League Two
Chesterfield 1-0 Grimsby Town
Jakubiak 2
Our last game of the September schedule was at home against league bottom side Grimsby. A win in this one would mean that we would end the month top of the league, a quarter of the way through the season.
It took less than 90 seconds for us to take the lead. Jakubiak looked second best, but just beat Waterfall to Oldaker's long ball, before slotting it past James McKeown at his near post for his 10th of the season.
We looked unsurprisingly the better team throughout the half, however James McKeown was putting in a strong performance between the sticks for the Mariners. First he denied an effort from Spyrou that looked destined for the bottom corner, and minutes later denied him again, before getting up to save Mandeville's effort from the rebound. A last ditch block from Waterfall just before the break was the only thing preventing Jakubiak making it 2-0.
After the break, Yarney headed narrowly wide from a free kick, and on a rare break for the visitors, Jake Hessenthaler put the ball just over the bar from a counter attack
In injury time, we nearly threw our lead away. A Grimsby corner was headed on target but saved by Coddington. Penalty area pinball ensued, with numerous shots blocked and saved, however the ball eventually went behind for a goal kick and the final whistle blew.
Not the prettiest win of the season, but three points nonetheless. To make matters even better, Daniel Gardner scored an 88th minute equaliser for Leyton Orient away at Colchester, so we are now 2 points clear at the top of the league.
End of month position: 1st
Month review:
For the first time in my Chesterfield career, we have managed to hold top spot to the end of a month. Not as good a month as August, with only 10 points gained from a possible 15, however the wins have been very positive. The draw to Aldershot was disappointing, and felt like a loss considering we had been 2-0 up and cruising, however I'm relieved that we haven't made a habit of throwing leads away and successfully killed off the game against Scunthorpe the following match. Our sole league defeat was also a disappointment, whilst Stevenage scored 2 very good goals, we weren't clinical enough in front of goal and were punished for it. In all honestly, I am not overly concerned about the Leasing.com Trophy, and I'm happy to use it as development opportunities and game time for some of the younger players. If the EFL won't take that competition seriously neither will I - but that's a subject for a whole other thread. Jakubiak has a healthy 10 goals from 15 games, double the 5 he managed in 35 at Gillingham last year, and is the league's top scorer. Off the field, Alassane Meite has gone out on a season long loan to Vanarama National League side Yeovil to get some more experience, and youngsters Sam Fearn (GK) and Brandon Bradbury (MC) have been promoted to the senior squad to continue their development.