Four big talking points from Chesterfield's comeback draw at Dagenham and Redbridge

Chesterfield lost Laurence Maguire to injury and found themselves two-nil down after 23 minutes following strikes from Angelo Balanta and George Saunders at Victoria Road on Saturday.

But a first goal for the club from Jamie Grimes on 50 minutes halved the deficit before Kabongo Tshimanga grabbed his 12th goal in 14 games just two minutes later to level the score.

Grimes was sent off after receiving a second yellow card with six minutes remaining but Town returned to Derbyshire with a valuable point in the bag.

A GOOD WEEK

To get seven points from Boreham Wood, Eastleigh and Dagenham with an injury-ravaged squad is a strong return and one we all would have taken beforehand.

Considering the injury list, manager James Rowe said it might be the best seven point haul in the league this week and it is hard to disagree.

This draw means the Blues drop a place to third but the gap to top spot remains just one point.

It is the FA Cup next up so there is no league game for two weeks which will hopefully allow them to get one or two players back fit.

Since that horrible second-half at Woking at the end of September Chesterfield have responded with a six-match unbeaten run including four victories which tells you everything you need to know about the character and mentality of this team.

SPIRITED COMEBACK

This looked like being a long afternoon and a game too far for the walking wounded Spireites when they fell two-nil down after 23 minutes and having lost Maguire to injury in the opening stages.

The hosts were cutting through Town too easily and looked like scoring every time they went forward in the first half an hour. They were attacking at speed and bulldozing their way through to goal and they could have scored three or four.

I asked Rowe what the problem was and he said it was a combination of not having his club captain (Curtis Weston), team captain (Gavin Gunning) and vice-captain (Laurence Maguire) on the pitch, along with the other injured players, having to play Alex Whittle out of position at left-sided centre-half and Jim Kellermann and Manny Oyeleke playing their third games in a week after injury. It was a fair explanation!

Chesterfield managed to get a foothold in the game ten minutes before the break and finished the half the better side. Tshimanga almost slid in a low cross from Saidou Khan at the far post and then had a shot blocked from inside the area, Stefan Payne’s glancing header went inches past the post and Grimes tried to force the ball in from a set-piece.

Half-time came at the wrong time and you wondered whether Dagenham would come back out and regain control.

But the visitors did not let them and within seven minutes of the re-start they were level. First, Grimes thumped in a header from a great free-kick delivery from Jeff King and then two minutes later King grabbed his second assist by setting up Tshimanga for the equaliser.

The match had been turned on its head and it was the Spireites who were pushing for a third and they nearly got it from what would be a goal of the season contender from the excellent Whittle who let fly from distance, forcing home goalkeeper Elliott Justham to tip over.

But then the game turned again as Grimes was shown a second yellow card with six minutes remaining.

Chesterfield still posed a threat with substitute Liam Mandeville looking threatening, but the last big chance fell to Dagenham’s Callum Reynolds in injury-time but his touch let him down.

Overall, the Daggers could have been out of sight after half an hour, but Town were the better team for the next 60 minutes and could have won it themselves. A draw was probably a fair result.

SOMETHING IN THE AIR

On paper a draw away at Dagenham would not jump out at you as a significant result but when you consider the circumstances it feels like one of those games we might look back on at the end of the season as a standout moment. Two-nil down away from home, more injuries than A&E on Friday night, the comeback, going down to ten men – it feels like a ‘small big’ moment in a long old season. At full-time Rowe gathered his players together for a huddle in the middle of the pitch before they walked over to massive applause from the 439 travelling Spireites. There is something in the air and it could be quite special.

BRING YOUR BOOTS!

The injury curse continued when Maguire was stretchered off in the opening minutes. At first it was feared he had done his achilles and he looked in a lot of pain as he had his hands on his head. Word after the game was that he had pulled his calf and the ‘best case scenario’ is that he will be out for five or six weeks. He left the ground on crutches.

As well as Maguire and possibly Gavin Gunning who may need surgery on a broken nose and fractured eye socket, Town will be without Grimes for the next league game against Weymouth on November 13 after his sending off here. He will be able to play in the FA Cup against Southend. If you are a centre-half with not much to do in two weeks’ time then get in touch with Mr Rowe because you might get a game!

TEAM

3-4-1-2: Loach; Kerr, Grimes, Maguire (Miller, 8); King, Oyeleke, Kellermann, Whittle; Khan (McCourt, 77); Payne (Mandeville, 65), Tshimanga. Unused subs: Minter, Tyson.