Mark who?
You know, sometimes you have to take a bit of pride in this team of ours. Rubbish on Tuesday, chucked into all sorts of uncertainty by the events of Wedsnesday to Friday, to put any sort of performance in today was a tall order. To put any sort of performance in against an in-form Chesterfield was a really big ask.
We started ok, trying to retain possession against a Chesterfield team who played that sort of is-it-4-3-3-or-is-it-4-5-1 formation that is, like, so last season and who started by funnelling everyone behind the ball and keeping it tight whilst they saw what they were up against. They had a shot, which was well well well wide, but as it represented 50% of their first half attempts on goal, I'll mention it. Mills did his chipped, looped ball over the top too much and their defence could outmuscle Warne and Le Fondre easily enough, but when Harrison linked it and Law went out wide instead of drifting into the middle we opened them up quite well. Their keeper made some good, good saves and we started to look like we were getting on top.
Then Law showed why he's playing at this level and not higher. Simple ball in, slightly miscontrolled it, let it drift to their midfielder. And then stopped, just let him stroll away from him. The first mistake you could forgive; the second was unacceptable. One top pass later and Talbot was a yard past Green, who dived in rashly, brought him down. Definitely a foul, looked in the box from where I was, but ref says free kick. Linesman tells him it was a pen. Lowry slams it into the roof of the net. Good strike. Unjust in the context of the match.
Small had a one on one which he did poorly with and Warrington did well with.
We made a couple of chances, but you sort of felt that the week might just land on us with a bump. Le Fondre got shoved over in the box, which the ref ignored and it was half time. How were we behind?
If they got another, we were sunk. They knew that and shoved Small up front, where he played as a second out and out cheat alongside Lester in a 4-4-2. Sorry, I meant striker, it's just the Chesterfield forwards spent much time falling over and spreading arms wide appealing for fouls that I got the two roles mixed up. They wasted a good free kick opportunity, when Lester fell over clutching his face after a high foot wafted in the same post-code as him. Warrington made one or two smart saves and they looked, for 15 minutes, a bit more "with it" than us. But, we sort of dug in and didn't sink and then we started to play again.
Mills released Law, who got an absolute walloping from their defender. Law shaped to cross, instead pulled it back along the floor, Le Fondre dummied it, and Harrison from a yard behind the pen spot drilled it in. And we were on top again, although it was sort of "next goal winner" stuff, because if they'd got another (and they looked like they could) it was curtains.
But we got another!! Nice interchange in the midfield someone looped the ball over the defence, Le Fondre twirled on his marker's shoulder, got free and expertly finished. Top top finishing, from a bloke who's got most of Reid's pace, a fair bit of his control, but work-rate, effort, ability and a real team ethic. He's looking vastly good.
That knocked them back a bit and we took control. The third was slightly more than we deserved (because the teams weren't two goals apart, really) but was still a top effort. Taylor turned and slipped his man and launched a 30 yard drive past Lee. It rocketed off the post, looped back to Ellison and he, running in fast, finished a chance it was possible to miss. 87% of all Chesterfield's fans chose to leave at this point. Thick and thin, lads, thick and thin...
Ellison could have had another, but he drove over. By the end the Spiretes had about as many fans in the ground as we had managers. Every Miller stayed, though, and gave the team a deserved ovation. To put in a performance like that, after a week like that, was tremendous. Top of the league, you know. Capable of staying there too.