Chesterfield 1 Stockport County 2 ( Vanarama National League ) 17 October 2020

 

 

 All Photos in this Report taken by hedgegrower.

 

 

 

Stockport County swept to the top of the National League with a 2-1 win against an exceedingly combative Chesterfield side at their Derbyshire home last night.

The victory was County`s fourth on the bounce and well deserved being wrought from a situation that was right out of the Chesterfield/ County playbook- both teams wanting it and giving everything , and then some, to get it!

In charge of the `then some` for Spireites was the redoubtable Tom Denton. Every team that plays against him comes away with some degree of angst about him…but most would have him in theirs` in a heartbeat.

 

County attacking- Denton defending !

 

 

 

For County it was the angst bit, as far as old Tom was concerned yesterday, and I stopped tallying up the Denton` body count`.at 2 ( Keane and Minihan). But ultimately , as pneumatically impactful as he was, the Chesterfield number 24 could not stop the County juggernaut, as buoyed by more inspirational substitutions from James Gannon, and digging deep into reserves of determination and skill they did enough to win the game, take all the points, and take their place at the top of the National League .

County had led fairly early on via another superb strike from the amazing Mark Kitching.

 

Kitching- in excellent form !

 

 

 

The lead might have been doubled on 24 minutes had Liam Hogan`s goal bound effort gone in, but instead Jon Smith`s arm got in the way, and when Referee Miller looked the other way it stayed 1-0.

Thus from a situation where it looked distinctly like County were building up for another comfy win, bolstered by a typically muscular performance from the gigantic Denton, Chesterfield struck back with a goal from Jordan Cropper. Spireites were also aided by a run of free kicks in dangerous positions, and whilst I do buy that some of them were down to Referee Andrew Miller`s judgement, we do need to tighten up a tad as per JG`s play book on the subject as some of them were kosher!

It was 1-1 at half time, and well into a second half  in which County mostly held sway without finding a way to get past Kyle Letheren in the home goal, until that is JG added the essential additional ingredient via a clutch of brilliant late substitutions which saw one of same, Alex Reid ,secure the win with one of a welter of efforts that kept Letheren as busy as he had been all season thus far!

Back at kick off time( a ridiculous 5.20 to accommodate BT TV) there were a couple of changes in the County line up, Stott and Kitching coming in for Reid and JJ, as the game got underway with County in their luminous yellow attire, Chesterfield in blue and white.

 

Stott -slotted in again nicely !

 

 

Straight away there were signs that the changes were working as Stott and Kitching combined to really good effect down the left where, joined by Bennett (mostly) and Rooney there seemed to be good County potential.

 

 

Rooney- in the mix early !

 

Indeed, Stott almost put Bennett in within a minute, and Kitching spent the first 5 minutes thoroughly wrecking the right side of the home back line.

Meanwhile Hinchliffe was not being troubled, taking one easy catch and watching as Palmer and Hogan cut an early rummage by Denton off.

Some real threat did look on , after 10 minutes via a cheapish free kick on the edge of the County box, but the yellow shirted blues wall did its job and the threat was no longer- Minihan and Bennett turning deep defence into lively attack, missing out as blue shirts tracked back quickly and in numbers.

 

Bennett foiled.

 

 

 

Bennett then took a neat pass from the marauding Kitching , but could only drag his shot wide, and the ex Hartlepool wing back hit our hosts again 2 minutes later , as a harassed Jordan Cropper was forced to concede a corner under pressure from the County man. Letheren flapped prodigiously at this but recovered sufficiently to handle Maynard`s follow up header.

 

Maynard wanted it !

 

 

 

The pressure was pretty much relentless now from County and Stott was still contributing, his pass inside seeing CJ test the keeper with a decent effort.

Chesterfield then won another free kick in a decent position, but the initial danger passed as Palmer then Minihan did good work to ensure Denton was held in check.

That said, the home side had the ball in the net on 18 minutes, but this was ruled out for a foul en-route by Denton.

It took County just 60 seconds to shrug that small indignity off with a goal and it was that Bennett/ Kitching link up bit that did the trick, the former laying the ball deftly off to the latter who sent a shot of pure gold screaming past the keeper into the net….1-0!

 

Kitching makes it 1-0

 

 

 

Kitching was unstoppable, and as a consequence was drawing fouls from the harassed home rear guard, and one free kick saw Rooney create no end of panic . It also looked to me that County had a good claim for a penalty turned down as Hogan`s effort came out off Will Evans` arm on the line. `No penalty` was Mr Miller`s response, and the moments anguish was added to when Letheren held onto Sam Minihan`s  follow up shot.

 

" Pen Ref!" well, most in yellow thought so !

 

 

 

 

Chesterfield had been playing second fiddle pretty much so far, but had persevered seeking Denton`s head with searching high balls from either flank, but thus far he was being policed well by Palmer and others , and the occasionally promising Spireites attack would be undone by some ` muscular indiscretion` by him.

That said, the policy did declare a dividend for our hosts as old Tom bought the cheapest of free kicks on the edge of the County box 35 minutes in. I was not unduly   alarmed as one…two thrusts from Denton and company were repulsed by the County back line but the third effort beat Hinchliffe and Chesterfield had drawn level.

 

Foul ( on hidden Hinchliffe) in build up ?

 

 

 

1-1

 

 

 

 

This put wind in the home sails, and they upped the ante in the last 10 minutes of the half, with County having to defend too many free kicks for comfort. One of these inevitably reached Denton who headed the ball into the net, only for it to be ruled out for offside.

County just needed to get possession, as they had done so well earlier, put foot on ball and cool it a bit, and they did regroup well late on in the half- Kitching winning two corners with typically incisive work. No luck came County`s way however from these, both Keano and Palmer missing out in front of goal, and the teams went in with the score still 1-1.

 

Kitching- flying !

 

The re-start saw Kitching reprising his first half form, but Keano`s shot on the end of this went wide, but Denton was still causing County moments of anxiety, but they were tackling these moments collectively and no one team member ducked getting in Denton`s space at all and I saw Rooney , Minihan and CJ all doing good work in this respect.

 

There were perhaps 7 or 8 minutes in which the home side might have fancied that the wind was with them, but these minutes passed as County kept their nerve . Rawson perhaps had the best chance to make something for the Derbyshire side in this period, but his shot on 53 minutes went straight at Hinchliffe and the County keeper made no mistake with it.

The long searching balls aimed at Denton kept coming , but gradually County worked their way back on top , their keen and alert reactions feasting on a welter of headers from the 6 foot 7 man that were not picked up by any one in blue.

County still wanted this….but Maynard`s header was deflected for a corner that keeper Letheren dealt with well, and Rooney`s latest free kick ( County were getting these more regularly now as the harassed blue back line`s discipline creaked and groaned)was cleared.

 

County go close !

 

And Denton was now back defending, and he is no slouch at that either as Keano found out for the first time taking a fair old whack when seeking to shoot, after CJ had won a corner.

 

Go on, sort whos who in that lot !

 

 

 

It was a tasty affair was this and whilst County looked `the more likely to ` Chesterfield still had their moments- Hinchliffe holding onto a Denton header well as the home side broke at speed following another frustrated County corner.

But County were not giving this away at all and Minihan, who continues to amaze me with his skill and energy at both ends ( his defending has come on a ton this season!), pushed Chesterfield back, CJ inches away with his shot from Sam`s pass.

 

County press- Letheren holds the fort !

 

 

 

Weston then got a word from the referee, after a foul on Hogan , Maguires diving header from the resultant free kick saving the day for now for Spireites.

We were into the last 20 minutes now and JG played a typically left field attacking ploy bringing Reid on for Stott.

 

Reid on and wants watching....

 

 

Straight off , Reid was in it to win it, forcing a corner, but this came to nothing, as did one at the other end where Denton had forced Minihan to leave the field for attention with an archetypal bit of muscularity.

That action sorted, and Sam back on board, County went again , Bennett testing the keeper with a tasty effort on 80 minutes, and Reid forcing Evans to foul him to stop him.

 

Evans`  `stop him` moment.

 

 

 

 

Kitching and Bennett were still  to the fore following that last action, but more positivity from JG saw Kitching and Minihan ( two prime movers ) give way to Thomas and JJ.

 

2 on Bennett still !

 

 

 

 

 

That was 84 minutes in, just one minute later….dividend…………as County took the game!

It came via a County attack of blistering intensity, and my eyes ached in their sockets as I tried to keep up with who had just been so close to winning it for County. I saw Palmer go close with a header, Bennett and CJ twang the woodwork with follow ups….would it ever go in? Well….yes…..but the woodwork was involved again as Reid`s header from close in finally did the trick!

 

Reid lines up header...

....and its 2-1

and the celebrations....

 

 

 

 

That was  well deserved, but County did not rest on their laurels, and were unlucky not to make it 3-1 not long after, as Cropper ( allegedly) kept Rooney`s effort from going in on the line- for one moment only in my life, I found myself longing for VAR!

 

VAR anyone ?

 

 

 

 

 

No matter, County pressed on, as the brothers Jennings combined to send Reid in. He was blocked , but it was good work!

Reid and company.

 

 

 

 

Chesterfield meanwhile wanted back in this game and it was all hands on deck for JG`s men as a result…Rooney and Palmer doing particularly well with crucial defensive work under pressure. Keano now operating at the back, was earning mentions in dispatches too , and he took a fearsome whack from Denton into added time that laid him out for quite a while.

Denton got no joy from Hinchliffe and Cropper failed to hit the target deep in added time,  Maynard doing well to stop a break by substitute Alex Kiwomya, and thus ended the game that must have thoroughly entertained the BT TV audience.

So sad that virtually no one was there in person to witness it!

Well done County – a decent victory that !

Onward and upward!

 

Chesterfield line up:-

Letheren, Cropper, Sharman, Evans. Maguire, Buchanan ( Kiwomya 82) , Weston ( Butterfield 69), Smith, Manderville, Rawson ( Tyson 58), Denton.

Subs not used : Wharton, Tyler Denton.

 

Stockport County  line up :-

Hinchliffe , Minihan ( Thomas 84), Hogan, Palmer, Stott ( Reid 72), Kitching ( J Jennings 84), Keane, Maynard, Rooney, Bennett, C Jennings.

Subs not used:- Barnes, Croasdale.

hedgegrower