SPIREITES LATE SHOW SEES OFF WANDERERS

Chesterfield 3 Dorking Wanderers 1 Vanarama National League December 10th 2022 Dorking were defeated by a 3-1 scoreline for the second time this week away from home as two late goals saw Chesterfield edge out victory at The Technique Stadium. Kabongo Tshimanga's penalty scored in first half stoppage time separated the sides at the interval after a fairly even first half, but a well worked team goal started and finished by James McShane got Wanderers back on terms approaching the hour mark. It looked set to finish all square, but Paul Cook's second half substitutions paid dividends late on as they gave the home side the sufficient boost to go on and grab the win, Armando Dobra and Joe Quigley scoring goals within the space of two minutes of each other to secure maximum points. Marc White made three changes to the side which started in the midweek defeat at Halifax Town, setting his side up in a 4-5-1 formation with Isaac Philpot coming in at left back. Dan Gallagher had been deployed in midfield on Tuesday night but returned to partner Ed Harris in the middle of the defence, Joe Cook unavailable for selection this afternoon against his parent club. Bobby-Joe Taylor and Jimmy Muitt were the other two changes, replacing Nicky Wheeler and Jasper Pattenden out wide. With a few other games called off in the National League due to frozen pitches, today's game went ahead despite the cold conditions as the ground team protected the pitch surface with a thermal covering overnight. Reminiscent of the early exchanges from the opening day of the campaign at Meadowbank, the side in blue took control of possession and moved the ball around at a steady pace, coming alive in the channels. They carved out early chances as Armando Dobra had an effort pushed wide by Walsh and a header blocked by Ed Harris, before Walsh was called into action again closing down the angle and blocking Tshimanga's shot from the left side of the box. The Chesterfield front-man would test Walsh to a greater degree shortly afterwards; latching on to Darren Oldaker's measured through ball and forcing the stopper to palm away his powerful strike at goal. Wanderers were hit with a double injury blow inside the opening half hour as Luke Moore and Barry Fuller both sustained what appeared to be innocuous knocks challenging for the ball and going down afterwards. The duo were replaced by Jack Jebb and Archie Procter respectively, Procter switching sides with Philpot in the full back areas. Despite this disruption, Wanderers had sufficiently weathered the early push back from the home side and around the half-hour point took hold of posession and began to carve out their own opportunities in the final third; McShane and Bobby-Joe shifting the ball forwards in a quick break and teeing up Muitt to strike from the edge of the area, comfortably saved. Bobby-Joe would then see his effort deflect for McShane in the air towards the back post, but 'Macca' couldn't direct it back towards goal. Seager's tenacious battling up top instigated a mix up between keeper Ross Fitzsimons and his centre half, McShane able to gather the ball and find Jebb, who tried a curler aiming for the top right corner 20 yards out, but over measured it. Walsh produced a brilliant reaction save to deny Asante at point blank range as he swivelled and got a shot off following a corner ball, but just into the three minutes of added on time at the end of the first half, Wanderers did suffer a setback and go into the interval behind. Asante played the ball through to Tshimanga at the edge of the box, and as the striker backed into the area the referee adjudged Ed Harris to have dragged the Chesterfield No9 to ground, penalty awarded. Tshimanga stepped up himself, and drove the kick the opposite way to Walsh's dive, finding the bottom right corner of goal. Half-Time: Chesterfield 1 Dorking Wanderers 0 Paul Cook's men began brightly after the restart; Walsh getting an outstretched arm to a Liam Mandeville strike, prior to Gallagher making a couple of crucial interceptions in the air as dangerous balls arrived into the box. His centre back partner Harris would suffer a knock going for the ball in the midst of the Chesterfield pressure, and became the third Wanderers player of the afternoon to be replaced as Alfie Egan came off the bench, the change also reverting Wanderers back to their familiar 3-5-2 shape. Very shortly after the change though, Wanderers managed to get back on terms, and it was a brilliantly worked team goal which secured the equaliser. McShane began the move spraying the ball out with precision for Bobby-Joe to latch on to inside the left channel. Playing the ball across the box, Seager then astutely flicked it back to the arriving 'Macca' who placed the ball home confidently to net his 14th of the season so far. Midway through the second half Paul Cook made a double change introducing Tim Akinola and Jesurun Uchegbulam for Ollie Banks and Akwasi Asante, and the pair would be key in adding urgency to The Spirerites attack throughout the latter stages; Akinola looking to get forward every time he got on the ball from a central area and Uchegbulam offering up an immediate threat cutting in from the left flank. Manedville was still proving to be an influence as he had been all game in the attacking line, trapping the ball nicely and firing a shot just past the post. Gallagher continued to lead the Wanderers rear guard effort, he and Procter getting in timely blocks to deny consecutive efforts from Uchegbulam and Oldaker. Joe Quigley came on for Tshimanga in the final change for Chesterfield with ten minutes remaining, and ultimately the combination of changes provided enough of a spark to break Wanderers down, as two goals in as many minutes put the game beyond Marc White's team. Quick in shifting play around the area, Oldaker gathered the ball and sent full back Jeff King away down the right, and his delivery across the six yard box was tapped home by Dobra. Then, from the opposite channel, Mandeville drove forward and delivered a ball which Quigley managed to turn on and fashion just enough contact with to poke it past Walsh from close range. Wanderers pushed to restore competitiveness in the scoreline through five minutes of added on time, but couldn't do so, and the home side held out to move themselves back up to 3rd place in the league standings. Wanderers by contrast moved down to 18th, but with the same near equal points gap between the relegation zone and the play-off places they came into the game with. Marc White very much took the positives when speaking post-match; pleased with the response from Tuesday night as his sided competed better all over the pitch and were unlucky to have not come away with a point, particularly in light of the three enforced changes within the first hour of the contest. After three successive games on the road, Wanderers return home to Meadowbank for league action on Tuesday night as Maidstone United are the visitors for a 19:45 kick off under the lights. Dan Stobbart Chesterfield FC (4-2-3-1): 1 Ross Fitzsimons, 20 Jeff King, 5 Jamie Grimes, 21 Ash Palmer, 3 Branden Horton; 26 Darren Oldaker, 28 Ollie Banks (4 Tim Akinola 68'); 7 Liam Mandeville, 19 Akwasi Asante (18 Jesurun Uchegbulam 68'), 17 Armando Dobra; 9 Kabongo Tshimanga (27 Joe Quigley 78')

Unused Subs: 11 Jack Clarke, 12 Tyrone Williams Goals: Tshimanga pen 45+2', Dobra 84', Quigley 86' No Yellow Cards Dorking Wanderers (4-5-1): 1 Joe Walsh, 22 Barry Fuller (35 Archie Procter 27'), 5 Ed Harris (29 Alfie Egan 56'), 20 Dan Gallagher, 2 Isaac Philpot; 7 Jimmy Muitt, 18 Luke Moore (23 Jack Jebb 12'), 6 Niall McManus, 11 James McShane, 3 Bobby-Joe Taylor; 9 Ryan Seager Unused Subs: 4 Sami El-Abd, 16 Nicky Wheeler Goal: McShane 58' Yellow Cards: Jebb 43', McShane 44', Philpot 45+1', Muitt 83' Referee: Aaron Jackson Att: 6205 (79 Wanderers Fans) Man Of The Match: Liam Mandeville (Official Home Selection)