I’m always wary when your manager says that we are going to
win the next game, it’s usually a case of coming down to Earth with a bump and
so it proved at Leyton Orient. The thing was, in the press box most of the Orient
commentary team thought that Chesterfield were the best opponents they had seen
at Brisbane Road, however since we were defeated it’s probably worth sticking your
money on the O’s to go up.
Getting vertigo on the camera gantry at Brisbane Road
In effect Chesterfield ‘s demise mirrors that of Leyton
Orient only we appear to be a season or so behind them, when they dropped out
of the league due to having an eccentric Italian owner who kept on sacking the
manager, they found it a real struggle in their first season in the National League.
Slowly under Justin Edinburgh they have turned things around and now sit pretty
on top of the table by playing some half decent football, unlike the majority
of the sides in this division, although agreement in the press box was
unanimously that there isn’t a single team that you’d call a consistently good
side in the National League.
At Orient the new stand certainly is impressive
On the pitch, I personally though Chesterfield made things
too easy for Orient at the start of the game not putting in enough tackles and
making it alarmingly simple for the home side to go through our midfield and
score before ten minutes were on the clock. Once Martin Allen made a tactical
switch and put Alex Kiwomya on the right, Chesterfield suddenly looked the
better side and scored an excellent goal. The key moment for me was once Kiwomya went
off with a hamstring problem Chesterfield stopped moving the ball as well as
they had done and Orient took the initiative. The home side’s second goal came
from a corner that was never cleared properly, even though the opportunity to
put the ball out of play was missed by the Blues a good Orient cross still
could have been defended, but slackness cost us and the game was effectively sealed
at 2-1 to the home side. Despite some controversy, for my money the third goal
was a correct penalty decision, although needlessly conceded by Joe Rowley.
So, onto the Christmas fixtures where Chesterfield must gain
wins to take us away from the dreaded drop, in a throwback to times past, we
play the same side Solihull Moors twice in 6 days home and away sandwiching in
a fixture against Hartlepool. Solihull are 6th in the National League
and put up a very good televised display against Blackpool in the FA Cup, it
pains me to say it, but they won’t be easy fixtures especially with our ever-growing
injury list.
Chesterfield faithful queue up to get in the old stand
