Dennis enlists ref's help in argument over Spireites' '˜dubious' third goal

Kristian Dennis enlisted the help of the referee to claim his first Football League goal this afternoon.
Kristian DennisKristian Dennis
Kristian Dennis

The striker, signed by Chesterfield from non-league in the summer, made his first start for the Spireites and capped it by getting a slight touch on a Dion Donohue shot to make it 3-1.

That’s the way the scoreline stayed as Town ended Northampton’s 31-match unbeaten streak.

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Donohue was keen to put his name on the goal but Dennis was adamant he got the last touch.

“It hit my right foot. As Dion shot I’ve stuck my boot out and luckily it went in,” he said.

“I’ve had a look to the linesman just in case he’s got his flag up, I didn’t know whether to celebrate or not just in case.

“Dion said everyone was texting saying it was his, but I’ve spoken to the ref and he says it’s mine. The ref is always right, I’ll stick with him.

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“I’ve got a group on text message and everyone is saying ‘it’s not his, it’s not his’ but I’m going to have to tell them it is.”

Dennis had made six appearances as a substitute up until the visit of Northampton Town this afternoon and admitted he’d had to be patient.

“It can be frustrating at times, when the team is losing and you think you can come on and change something. I’ve just been patient and waited and hopefully taken my chance to show the gaffer what I can do,” he said.

“I heard yesterday I would be in the team. We did shape in training and I was involved up front. I was thankful to get the start and hopefully the gaffer has been impressed and will give me another run next week at Bury and hopefully I’ll get another goal.”

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Chesterfield knew they would be up against it, taking on a side who hadn’t tasted defeat in the league since last December.

But 26-year-old Dennis was confident.

He said: “I had a good feeling. I was excited to start and thought we could be the ones to disrupt their run and we have done.

“It shows how good we’ve played to beat a team who were 31 unbeaten.”

The brand new strike partnership between Dennis and loanee Connor Wilkinson bore instant fruit for Danny Wilson, and Dennis was more than satisfied with their first outing together.

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“Three goals between us, you can’t really argue if your strikers score three between them and you win the game,” he said.

“Connor is good with his feet, very good technically, he’s an all-round good player to play with.

“For the first goal I made the run and I felt I was offside by the time it was played, so I let it go but didn’t know Connor was behind me - luckily he was and it was a great finish to put us on our way.”