Chesterfield dig deep to complete comeback against Altrincham - big talking points

Two goals inside four minutes at the start of the second-half from Tyrone Williams and Kabongo Tshimanga cancelled out Toby Mullarkey’s opener at the J.Davidson Stadium.

Let’s take a look at some of the big talking points from the game...

ALTY CURSE

There is something about Altrincham that always causes something to go wrong for the Spireites.

Last season they lost 1-0 to a ridiculous divot goal, and the year before they lost in the 89th minute, resulting in John Pemberton leaving the club.

So at 1-0 down at half-time having lost Akwasi Asante and Armando Dobra to injury I was sat there thinking ‘what is it about this place?!’

Thankfully, it worked out just fine in the end in terms of the scoreline as the Blues recorded their first away win of the campaign.

Now we face an anxious wait to find out the news on Asante and Dobra. The Asante one didn’t look too bad, but Dobra looked in a lot of pain and had his head in his hands as he was lying on the turf.

Chesterfield have a good squad, but between them Asante and Dobra have four goals and four assists already this season so it will be a blow if they are both out for a period of time.

COMEBACK

The Spireites were not at their fluent best but it was a case of ‘job done’ in the end.

They started brightly, and played well in spells throughout, but it was a different type of performance to what we have seen on home soil.

The Robins played their part, they pressed and harried Town effectively and caused the visitors problems. The excellent Ryan Colclough, who always turns up against Chesterfield, was at the heart of most good things for the hosts.

As much as Paul Cook’s men had not been at their brilliant best, I don’t think they deserved to be losing at half-time, but they soon swung the game around with two goals inside four minutes at the start of the second-half.

Williams headed in King’s free-kick for his first goal for the club, before the centre-back leapt highest again in the air to meet Branden Horton’s cross, Tshimanga claiming the last touch before the ball went in the net for his second in as many games.

Williams, in his post-match interview, joked that Tshimanga was a ‘goal thief,’ with the defender adamant the striker had pinched his second of the afternoon off him.

With Williams getting off the mark that takes the number of different Chesterfield goalscorers this season to seven (Asante, Dobra, Mandeville, Banks, King, Tshimanga, Williams)

JEZZA

The game started to fizzle out a bit from the midway point of the second-half but one bright spark for Town, as well as seeing out the game, was the impact Jesurun Uchegbulam made off the bench after replacing the injured Dobra.

He was quick, strong, aggressive and direct and you could see the Alty defence were wary of him. He is still raw, there’s work to be done on his end product and defensive side of things, but if Dobra is to be out for a while then the summer signing from Matlock Town put himself in the frame for a start at Oldham this Saturday.

BACK TO THE TOP

This win for Chesterfield, along with a defeat for Solihull Moors at Notts County, meant the Spireites returned to the top of the league again.

That is now four wins and two draws from the first six games, scoring 12 goals, so there is plenty to be happy about at the moment.

TEAM

Covolan; King, Williams, Grimes, Horton; Oldaker, Banks; Mandeville, Dobra (Uchegbulam, 45), Asante (Tshimanga, 10/Jones, 90), Quigley. Unused subs: Maguire, Cooper.