A Review By John Taylor

After the disappointment of the Colchester postponement, we were swiftly back in action with the Tuesday visit to the frozen wastes of Hartlepool. Steve Payne was back in the side for what proved to be his last Spireites outing before a return to Moss Rose. His swansong proved not to be an unforgettable experience as a lacklustre Town side did reasonably well before the break against a well-marshalled and effective Pool side. The second period was a different matter, however, as the Monkeyhangers netted twice from sloppy Town defending and our only effort on goal was a long-range, scuffed Uhlenbeek shot that was hardly worthy of the term.

Police intervention meant we had a blank Saturday, but Sunday saw the eagerly awaited home clash with our dear neighbours from Hillsborough. Disappointingly, we did not get a full house for the biggest game of the season, but the Town support was very vocal and certainly gave the match some real atmosphere. The game was largely scrappy until just before the break, when Glynn Hurst beat the Owls defence to net, only to be ruled offside (harshly) by the linesman. Shortly afterwards, we'd forgotten the setback as Hurst struck again with a side-footed finish after Hudson set him up with a 1-2 off a defender.

The second half saw Town step up a gear and Hurst added a second, reacting quicker than the ponderous Wednesday rearguard to Evatt's lofted pass to poke the ball over a hesitant Tidman. The comfort-zone was not occupied for long, however, as Wednesday came back with a direct move down the middle with Ndumbu-Nsungu brushing aside Blatherwick and Muggleton to net with aplomb. At this stage there was a nagging worry that we'd let them back in, but this feeling was swiftly dispelled as Chris Brandon rifled a third with his left foot from a seemingly impossible angle. Hudson almost made it four with an excellent 30 yard shot which Tidman managed to turn aside and full time came with Spireite grins from ear to ear and Owls fans silently trooping off in embarrassed silence, not helped by Quinn's dismissal for gross stupidity. Wednesday once more were truly awful, just as at Hillsborough in December, so local bragging rites were ours again and Monday morning's work was, for once, anticipated with some glee.

The following Saturday saw the return trip to Merseyside at a good time with Tranmere anticipating their cup quarter final with Millwall in midweek. Derek Niven returned to the fold for this one, this time as a proper Town player. We started well and after Muggleton had saved from Dadi, we took the lead with Hurst converting from close range after Evatt knocked back O'Hare's free kick. We looked very comfortable until after the break when Uhlenbeek made a schoolboy blunder to present Hume with an easy goal much to everyone's annoyance. Soon afterwards, Rovers attacked on the right, Blatherwick stumbled and Hume had his second. So from being in the driving seat we were losing and defeat looked on the cards. We were, however, well up for this and Uhlenbeek made some amends for his howler with a good ball into the Tranmere box, which Jones, amazingly, steered into his own net for an amusing and well-deserved equaliser. The drama was not over with, however, and as the clock ticked down, Brandon advanced down the left to put in an excellent cross over Achterberg for Hurst to head the winner at the back post. Town fans went justifiably wild at this and we were starting to look comfortable in the fight against the drop.

We should have known better as Tuesday saw Brighton in Town on a run of poor away form. The game was marred by a howling gale, some poor refereeing which allowed a robust and arrogant Seagulls side free reign and we responded by playing very poorly. An early goal in the second half by Butters with a header put the Sussex outfit in the box seat after poor Town defending and a late screamer from debutant Iwelumo sealed their win. This was very depressing stuff and reminded everyone why we dislike Brighton so much. They even kicked Hudson out of the game, to miss at least 3 weeks' football.

The vital 6-pointer at Meadow Lane was next with a healthy following from Town for another gale-ruined encounter. This was a game that we could not afford to lose and at half time we were looking fine without ever posing a serious threat to the County goal. The second half was another tale though with the Pies taking an early lead from Fenton's header, again following a corner, which was wickedly delivered. Moments later it got truly awful as Glynn Hurst just lost it for no apparent reason. He kicked Pipe following a minor foul, then nutted him and finally slapped him before walking off the pitch without waiting to see the red card. It was almost as if he was wanting to make relegation a certainty with this childish, unprofessional display. Allott's 25-yard effort straight at Arphexad was all we could muster against County's sustained pressure and defeat looked a foregone conclusion. Incredibly though, with under 15 minutes left we managed to pull level with O'Hare's long free kick into the box headed on by Blatherwick for Richardson to welly into his own net, under very little pressure. So, we gained a point that was so vital and just about right on the day. The Hurst incident left a very sour taste, however.

After this we had the chance to put distance between us and the bottom four with two successive home games to finish the month. The first was the rearranged Tuesday fixture with Colchester, featuring ex-Spireite, Jamie Cade. This game turned out to be a virtual re-run of the game against Hartlepool in October with Town playing badly before the break, trailing 1-0, this time to a stunning free kick by Halford. The half-time team talk must have done the business, though, as we started the second half in much brighter fashion. Five minutes in we equalised with a splendid goal, fashioned down the right by Allott and Brandon for Hurst to head in at the back post off the crossbar. We continued to tear into the U's defence and Hurst had an excellent opportunity to seal it when well set up by Brandon. Frustratingly, the frontman shot tamely at keeper Brown and our best chance was gone.

After a few substitutions, the game got a little scrappy and we became edgy, whilst the Essex side stepped up a gear. With 9 minutes left, the visitors won their 4^th successive match at Saltergate after Muggleton blocked Fagan's effort and substitute Andrews headed in the rebound with a bewildered Uhlenbeek merely ducking to allow him a free header. So, the nighttime jinx struck again with just 1 point gained in the last 10 night games in the league-an embarrassingly unimpressive haul.

The final game of the month took on monumental proportions with Nicky Law's Grimsby in town for another relegation crunch match. New signings Jamie Fullarton and the little French youth were on the bench whilst Mark De Bolla was still injured so had to wait for his big return. The game itself had so many talking points that it was unbelievable. The central figure in all of this was referee Frazer Stretton, who was lucky not to be lynched.

There was no hint of the drama to come as the game started in modest fashion and we took an 18^th minute lead, again scoring from an O'Hare set-piece. Hurst was the recipient this time, getting the merest ghost of a touch with a single hair to deceive keeper Fettis. With 10 minutes of the half left, we handed Grimsby an equaliser after a free kick 30 yards out. We allowed Anderson to wander past half-hearted challenges from Innes, Allott and Niven to unleash a 20-yarder that bounced into Muggleton's net. Six minutes later they were ahead. The linesman gave us a throw-in in the left-back position with O'Hare off the pitch injured. We took up position to take it, but the referee, 25 yards away, overruled the linesman with 3 players out of position. The Mariners swiftly took the throw and duly netted via debutant Lawrence, to absolute anger from players and fans alike. Crucially, Innes was booked for mouthing off at Mr Stretton.

The second half saw a sterling Spireite comeback with Reeves scoring his first goal in open play since October 2002, from an Uhlenbeek cross then netting from a penalty after Crowe brought down Brandon. Dogged, no-nonsense play then saw us looking safe and playing out for a win until 4 minutes from the end. A swift Mariners foray into our half saw Niven wrongly penalised for a fine challenge 30 yards out. As a Grimsby player rushed towards the ball, Innes brainlessly kicked it away and was dismissed, resulting in the kick being advanced 10 yards. We tried to organise ourselves and Blatherwick sensibly went back onto the line to guard the left hand corner of the goal. For whatever reason, he changed his mind and moved, so Barnard merely dinked the free kick right in the spot that Blathers had vacated for an undeserved equaliser. The anger from the home fans was verging on the mad side of vocal, yet before we had time to blink we were behind as we lost the ball from the restart and Grimsby brushed aside feeble challenges for Rankin to slide in an apparent winner to much ecstasy on the Cross Street terraces. Now it was the Mariners' turn to lose their composure as we mounted a desperate attack in injury time. Again, Crowe upended Brandon in the box and Mr Stretton awarded the spot-kick. Again Reeves took it and, with the pressure on, smashed his shot into the roof of the net. Mansaram repeated Innes's first half abuse of the hapless referee with interest and Mr Stretton sent him down the tunnel for the proverbial early bath. So, a bizarre 4-4 draw was made even weirder when we learnt that the crowd was 4444. Most of us, I think, went home more angry than relieved, but the point was vital in that it kept us out of the bottom 4 and above Grimsby. All margin for error has now evaporated from the run-in, however.

In summary, March was a month when we lost our heads a little after a fine start. We showed some resilience in fighting back, but this stage of the season is one for cool heads and professionalism, especially when provoked. Off the field, the transfer activity was very positive. Back on it, the suspensions, particularly Hurst's 3-match ban could cost us dear and the injuries to Hudson and O'Hare could also be critical. We must come out in April with professionalism allied to safety-first tactics. We cannot afford to be throwing away the sort of goals in April that we did in March, particularly with the turnaround being exhibited by several of our rivals at the bottom. It's in our hands, but do we have the bottle to do it?