Match Preview: Weymouth v Chesterfield – Saturday 12th February 2022 – 15:00
Weymouth are back at the Bob Lucas Stadium tomorrow afternoon, with high-fliers Chesterfield the visitors, in the Vanarama National League clash.
THE TERRAS
A disappointing result last Saturday for Weymouth as David Oldfield’s side fell to a 3-0 defeat away to King’s Lynn Town at the Walks. But given the strides the team has made as a whole in the previous games, there will be a sense of optimism that the team can put Saturday behind them and move forward with the same attitude and fight shown in the games previous to that, as Weymouth look to string some results together in the fight for survival. But a tough test awaits the Terras tomorrow afternoon, with one of the league heavyweights looking to continue their fight for promotion and won’t want to slip up in their pursuit.
The thoughts of manager David Oldfield ahead of tomorrow’s clash:
“Preparations have gone well this week. The players have worked hard and had a week of as many sessions as possible.
Chesterfield are doing very well and have the returning manager to give them a boost. A big challenge for us and one we are looking forward to.”
LAST SIX
KING’S LYNN TOWN 3-0 TERRAS
YEOVIL 1-1 TERRAS
TERRAS 0-1 ALDERSHOT TOWN
TERRAS 1-2 DAG & RED
BOREHAM WOOD 1-1 TERRAS
DARTFORD 1-0 TERRAS
Weymouth currently sit 21st in the table with 17 points from 26 games
THE SPIREITES
Chesterfield have a new manager following the departure of James Rowe, as Paul Cook returns to the club. His first game in charge comes against Weymouth this Saturday, with his task to promote Chesterfield back into the Football League. The club currently sit second in the league table with a game in hand on league leaders Stockport County, who are a point ahead of the Spireites. Chesterfield have the second best away record in the league with eight wins in their fourteen away matches so far and come into this game four games without defeat. Their previous defeat came away to Maidenhead United on the 18th January where they fell to a 3-2 defeat. Their previous fixture saw a top of the table clash as they travelled to Stockport where they let a two goal lead slip, following goals from Tshimanga and Asante in the first half. Jeff King was sent off early in the second half and Stockport fired home twice to draw the game. Chesterfield will be looking to get back to winning ways to keep themselves firmly on the tail of Stockport in the title race.
Player To Watch: Kabongo Tshimanga
The league’s top scorer Kabongo Tshimanga has scored a stunning 24 goals so far this season plus a further goal in the FA Cup. Chesterfield were keen to keep hold of Kabongo despite reported interest from clubs in the leagues above and he will be a big plus for their push for promotion. There is no doubt that he is the main threat in attack, and someone that the Weymouth defence have to prevent having lots of chances in tomorrow’s match.
LAST SIX
STOCKPORT 2-2 CHESTERFIELD
CHESTERFIELD 2-1 DAG & RED
EASTLEIGH 0-1 CHESTERFIELD
CHESTERFIELD 0-0 ALDERSHOT TOWN
MAIDENHEAD UNITED 3-2 CHESTERFIELD
BARNET 1-4 CHESTERFIELD
Chesterfield currently sit 2nd in the table with 54 points from 26 games.
@TerraStatman’s Facts of the Match
Chest-pain
Just a trio of games to date against the Technique Stadium based outfit, but with all three of those games resulting in all the points being awarded to the Derbyshire side. In our first ever meeting in November last season, a 1-2 loss with a Sean Shields strike, as was the return fixture in March when our former player Tom Whelan scored the only goal of the game for the Spireites. This season however we fell to a 4-0 defeat with the league’s top goal scorer Kabongo Tshimanga taking the matchball home following a hat-trick when our Ollie Harfield was given his marching orders for a rare transgression. (Tshimanga has now scored 24 goals in just 26 league games this season).
Derby-sparsity
It’s not just games against Chesterfield that are a rarity but also any games from the county of Derbyshire with only two other opponents of note in the last few decades. There was a forgettable 6-0 drubbing at the hands of Alfreton Town six years back and, before that, we battled Ilkeston Town over five seasons in the Southern League.
Technique Terras
The stellar list of more notable players who have turned out for both teams is…
Carl Airey, John Armstrong, Thomas Broad, Shaun Carey, Kyle Critchell, Fred Farn, Ross Fitzsimons, Barry Hutchinson, Kirk Jackson, Hugh Kelly, Dave Massart, Luke Nightingale, John Turner, Ryan Williams, Josef Yarney.
The most notable name above is probably that of Barry Hutchinson. He only played one season for The Terras back in 1964/65 but what a season he had. Purchased from Derby County for £6,000(over £100,000 in today’s money) he went on to plunder 36 goals in 40 league appearances to help secure a first Southern league title for the team.
His astonishing ratio for the team is only bettered by Andy Anderson in the late 1940s in the Western league following World War II when arguably we should have been playing in the more competitive Southern league.
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