FL2: Chesterfield v Torquay 11 Dec 2010

Looking at all the snow around Chesterfield, I think the club did a great job in getting the game on. Fairly even first 15-20 minutes then Chesterfield worked out our game plan...ie:we didn't have one. We just pumped it aimlessly up field, and they played good on the floor football. In fact it was wave after wave of attacks on their part which led to their goal!

Second half we were slightly better, but never looked like scoring. An interesting month coming up methinks!

Well I thought it was almost tropical in the first half. The hairs on my arms stood to attention after 42 minutes so I donned the trusty hoody at half time.

Ah, yes the Camera. The less the said the better about that I think. Just after passing Oxford on the M40 I had a strange sinking feeling and my worst fears were confirmed when I hastily delved into my bag to see that I hadn't put the friggin' battery back into the camera after charging it. Rodney, you plonker.

The B2Net stadium is a nice enough ground. They've made an effort to try and make it a little bit different. Although as a nice touch "The Village Bar" is still their most prominent advertising hoarding in the home end as it was in Saltergate. The ground is a little out of town but sandwiched into between a giant Tesco Extra (complete with a flickering neon signage evoking images of a Nevada Truck Stop) and a terraced house residential area which boasts the excellent Derby Tup pub and the superb North Sea Fish and Chip shop as well as some very convenient and free parking a stone's throw from the ground.

I don't whether they fully planned it that way but without the proximity of the local amenities the new stadium would be just another Shrewsbury, devoid of any link to the local community or local businesses. Well done to Chesterfield. Their meat and potato pie in the ground was worth a good 8.5 out of 10.

As for the game. They're a good side. Jack Lester has always been a very good player and they're strong in midfield. They targeted O'Kane, denied him the usual space and applied pressure to Wroe and Oastler affecting the supply to him. Hemmings I think would've made the difference and he may well have exposed their poor right back more than Danny Stevens did. I thought the back four did pretty well and Bevan made one very good save, but could've come for the ball a few more times. i don't he can be blamed for the goal. It was a decent cross in that horrible area between the goalkeeper and the defenders. Lester got a good touch and there it was. Then Zebroski shot just over and a Nico free kick brought a decent save from the mötley Crüe drummer masquerading as a League 2 goalkeeper.

Apart from the Bevan second half save from Jordan Bowery Chesterfield didn't really look like scoring anymore and we played quite well in the last twenty minutes. Zebroski had a couple of shots, once he shot over and the other he cut back inside and shot weakly with his left foot.

In summing up they just did enough to win and we didn't do enough to force a draw although a Chesterfield bloke in the Chippy thought "we should've got summat out of that game". A lovely chippy though. Big vats of Mushy Peas, Gravy and curry sauce on the go with enough battered cod to feed the 4,800 odd in the B2net stadium without needing a miracle. Most of the chippys in london are either shite or posh affairs to make the upper middle classes feel like they're slumming it for the evening. That still didn't stop our designated driver of the day asking for Red Snapper. I don't think it's reached Derbyshire yet despite the best efforts of Gordon Ramsay or Nigella. In the pub they had a fantastic dark ale on tap called Old Dalby made by Belvoir Brewery from Melton Mowbray. 5.1%, a fantastic flavour and as smooth as whipped cream. I will have dreams about drinking that beer with some of Melton's famous pork pies. Anything to aid me in my battle against Anorexia

Nick, I apologise for the bloke two rows behind you. It's usual that he goes crimson with rage after 5 minutes and over-reacts to every possible foul. We're still (including his father) trying to work out why he wakes up feeling such injustice.

Anyway, a few photos taken from the Blackberry and my tiny android phone.

The Motley Crew drummer is called Nicky Sixx.
Nice to see we`re not the only ones with those silly looking white programme boxes!

Is the English one being moved from Preston?

He's the bass guitarist Aussie.

These old Torquay BGS types get everywhere, don't they? The article below - written by Steve Bond - appeared in yesterday's Chesterfield programme. Steve lived there for many years and was at the match yesterday in his current guise of press photographer. I suspect you may see the results in Monday's Herald Express:

I got talking to the legend that is Paul Bastard before the match. He was still wearing his shorts because of the winning streak we were on...at least he can wear longer trousers, and no doubt warmer ones for a while now!

He did say something interesting though. He told me he had been at plainmoor the previous weekend and there was nothing wrong with the pitch at all...contraversial or what!