Chesterfield's title hopes all but over as Spireites lack cutting edge in defeat to Altrincham

Matty Kosylo struck a strange winner on 48 minutes on a disappointing evening for the Spireites at Moss Lane.

TITLE OVER

If it wasn’t already over, it is now. This defeat and another victory for Stockport means the Hatters are now 10 points clear of the Spireites and they have a game in hand. Attention now turns to trying to secure a top three finish to guarantee a place in the play-off semi-finals. All of the teams below Chesterfield are not far behind and they have all played fewer matches. Town have a lot of work to do and they will need to massively improve on this performance if they are to avoid the play-off elimination round. They are stuttering at just the wrong time.

CUTTING EDGE

There was none. The Blues had a lot of possession but they failed to test Alty stopper Tony Thompson until the last few minutes. Too many times the final cross or pass was poor and, even more worryingly, they looked devoid of ideas at times.

It’s not like they created bundles of chances but just didn’t take any. They created very little and that is a concern.

This was only the second time this season they have failed to score away from home so we shouldn’t be too harsh, but they need to find a spark from somewhere to get their season going again.

FREAKISH GOAL

The goal that won it was bizarre. Kosylo took aim from distance and the ball hit a divot and bounced over the diving Scott Loach. It summed up the night. Chesterfield didn’t deserve to lose because they were untroubled for the most part, but they definitely didn’t deserve to win either.

DEADLINE

Chesterfield are screaming out for a couple of new faces before the end of Thursday’s deadline. They desperately need a striker, possibly even two, to give Akwasi Asante and Joe Quigley some help. The balance of the team is not quite right at the moment and they need to take this opportunity to rectify it. New arrivals would give everyone a lift going into another big game away at Notts County on Saturday.

KELLERS BANNED

Jim Kellermann collected his 10th yellow card of the season so that’s him now suspended for the next two matches. The Spireites have the experienced Curtis Weston to come in for him but it’s another player down and they are already extremely stretched. Only one uninjured player, Fraser Kerr, was left out of the matchday 16 which shows how thin the squad is.

ROWLEY RETURNS

The 22-year-old made his first Chesterfield start in 10 months since Woking away in May 2021. He had been knocking on the door in the last few weeks with some lively performances off the bench. He did okay here in a 60-minute run-out. Cook deployed him on the right wing and he showed glimpses of his direct dribbling but, like his teammates, there was no end product. For me, Rowley looks more at home on the left where he can cut-in and get shots off.

TEAM

Loach; King, Grimes, Maguire, Whittle; Kellermann (Weston 79,) Khan; Mandeville, Asante, Rowley (Miller, 63); Quigley (Whelan, 66). Unused subs: Gunning, Williams.