Sunday 15th May 2022
National League
at the Technique Stadium
Chesterfield (0) 0
Woking (0) 0
Attendance: 9,013 (inc. 187 away fans)
A recent slump in form meant that the Spireites, who were amongst the favourites to clinch automatic promotion back to the Football League not so long ago, went into their last scheduled fixture of the season still needing a point to scrape into the last play off berth.
If they were to lose, then Dagenham & Redbridge could push them out of the end of season knockout lottery and condemn Paul Cook's side to another season as a non-league club.
The 9,000 plus crowd shows the potential that this Derbyshire club still has, despite everything else... and to be fair their attendance stats have held up quite impressively all season.
But turnstile clicks alone don't win prizes, and in truth, the fact that many of those present today celebrated so enthusiastically about scraping a squeaky bum time goalless draw, at home against Woking, on the very last day of a campaign during which Chesterfield had such high expectations, probably says more about their current standing in the grand scheme of things than the number of bums they're putting on seats.
Of course, the recent wobble and downturn in results since Paul Cook returned in February, to the club he had last managed seven years ago, following the departure of James Rowe by mutual consent after he had been "suspended pending an investigation into allegations of misconduct", will be forgotten about, in Chesterfield can now win their next three games on the trot and claw their way out of the National League.
The aftermath of Rowe's departure and the sordid details of that purported 'misconduct' continues to linger over the heads of all concerned, even though he has now taken up another managerial post at AFC Fylde in the National League North. If you're so inclined then you'll have to find the minutiae of those events elsewhere, If you're here looking for a smut angle, then you came to the wrong place.
Elsewhere, the aforementioned Dagenham & Redbridge, faced the unenviable task of going toe to toe with second placed Wrexham who needed a win to keep their own bid for automatic promotion alive, by overcoming Stockport County to claim the National League title.
You can't assume anything in football, especially when you invariably have to factor in that the final day always throws up a few outlandish coupon boosting results.
So as the Daggers went in goalless at the interval against their visitors from North Wales, the Spireites faithful were crossing their fingers, that Wrexham could do the business on their behalf in East London, as their own team drew a blank against fifteenth placed Woking.
It was the visitors who showed their attacking intentions first, but Nicke Kabamba's attempted overhead kick in the hosts area, was so spectacularly mistimed and unconvincingly executed that it almost justified being given a comedy sketch show of its own.
Danny Rowe and Jim Kellerman were both thwarted when two half-decent chances went begging and the industrious Jeff King had a shot blocked by a Cardinals defender.
Saidou Khan turned the ball against the woodwork after being picked out by a good delivery from King.
But although they were in the ascendancy possession wide, Chesterfield weren't having everything their own way and Scott Loach was calledupon to keep out Max Kretzschmar's effort from ten yards out, with a good save. At the very least Woking demonstrated numerous times that they weren't only here to make the numbers up or go through the motions.
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| 187 Woking fans |
King again made inroads into the final third on the right, but his shot across the face of the goal went wide of the left hand post.
So at the halfway stage, though it was obviously a nail-biting time for those of a Spireite persuasion, as things stood, they were still on course to grind out the point they required and a safety net of news coming through from Dagenham.
HT: Chesterfield 0 v Woking 0
Nerves became visibly fraught in the stands as Woking had a goal disallowed, when Inih Effiong was ruled to have pulled Tyrone Williams shirt in the build up. "Six and two-thirds!" muttered a nearby Chesterfield fan, adding "But I'll take it all day long."
The former Worksop Town, North Ferriby United and Alfreton Town (amongst others) striker, Tom Denton, had a chance to break the deadlock, but headed a really good chance over the bar.
Meanwhile word was spreading around the collected masses that both Junior Morias and Paul McCallum had thrust a double edged Dagger into the heart of Wrexham's promotion aspirations to give Dagenham a commanding two-goal lead.
Craig Ross kept out Rowe, before denying Liam Mandeville who pounced onto the loose ball first, but couldn't force it past the stubborn Woking keeper.
Khan forced Ross into having to make another impressive save as the Spireites looked to ease the ever growing pressure that events elsewhere were by now ramping up to the max.
Woking substitute Soloman Nwabuokei attempted a snap shot at the home sides goal that was deflected behind for a corner.
And as the visitors were preparing to take the resulting flag-kick, another score flash came through... Dagenham & Redbridge had scored a third goal to put their game beyond the reach of Wrexham, who would now have to settle for a place tin he play-off semi-final. Possibly against Chesterfield!
The roar of approval from the nervy hordes, as the corner amounted to nothing, was tantamount to a huge outpouring of collective relief, as were the celebrations at the final whistle, when the abject humiliation of witnessing a complete capitulation of a whole seasons worth of work, in a poor end of season run of results had been avoided... just.
FT: Spireites 0 v Cardinals 0
Paul Cook, the Chesterfield manager (not the former Sex Pistols drummer, although local fans must be wondering which one of them was actually recently appointed) isn't entirely held in the highest regard around these parts at the moment. But if his team can smash and grab their way through an eliminator, a semi-final and a cup final in the next few weeks, then I'm sure that all of his misdemeanours will be forgotten about.
That quest to reverse the Spireites current run of piss-poor form begins at FC Halifax Town on Tuesday 24th May and the winner of that game will travel to Solihull Moors on Sunday 29th. Elsewhere, Grimsby Town travel to Notts County on Monday 24th, to decide who will travel to Wrexham for the other semi-final on Saturday 28th.
