A Review By John Taylor

After a less than thrilling pre-season following the close season comings and goings, the real business got going with the visit of Brentford, scarily early on the first Saturday of the month. The general mood amongst Town fans was more confident than in recent pre-seasons with a consensus of our finishing mid-table rather than just above the relegation trapdoor.

As ever, despite a lousy summer this year, the opening day brought blazing sunshine, giving the players an extra challenge to cope with. We had Alex Bailey making his league debut and Shane Nicholson (surprisingly well treated by supporters after his comments when he left us before) making his return, whilst Wayne Allison's Town debut was his 750^th senior game.

The Bees included in their side famous names Deon Burton and John Salako and both sides started the game brightly in the opening minutes, but we soon took the lead. Niven's excellent cross-field ball found Evatt beyond the far post and he centred well for Allison to net on his debut. He was soon out of the game, however, picking up an injury in a right wing chase. Caleb Folan replaced him on 37 minutes. Brentford came close after a brilliant tackle by Hudson was wrongly punished by the referee who had earlier set the Londoners up by getting in the way, resulting in a shot smacking the bar.

The second half continued in similarly entertaining vein and we increased our lead with a Folan header from Allott's fine cross on 64 minutes. The Bees, who won numerous corners on the day, then pulled one back from one of our corners in a swift move that Derek Niven three times attempted to thwart. Rhodes steered the ball assuredly into Muggleton's net, setting up a tense last 20 minutes. The visitors piled on considerable pressure, but we finally overcame it in injury time when a glorious run and shot by substitute N'Toya landed the ball in the Brentford net to give us a morale boosting early win, 13 games earlier than last season.

Could we consolidate this at the newly named Galpharm Stadium against old boys Rob Edwards, Tony Carss and Chris Brandon (now very unpopular following his less than honest departure to the Terriers in the Summer)? We started well and created two glorious opportunities before the break with Folan and Innes missing when very well placed. Huddersfield, though lively, did not look overly threatening and the half finished goalless. The second period was robust, but not dirty, and both sides approached well but lacked a cutting edge. The introduction of Brandon as substitute late in the game to a chorus of boos from the sizeable away following pepped the home side up a little but Muggleton's double save from Abbott was all they had to show of note. With 4 minutes left we thought we'd done it as Allott netted at the second attempt after keeper Senior saved his initial effort. The ref, however, denied us as the Lancastrian was adjudged to have handled: a very poor decision indeed.

Saturday saw us away again, at Tranmere, scene of much joy in March with our late winner. The fixture looked tough as Brian Little's men finished strongly last season and had added Calvin Zola and Jason McAteer since then, whilst retaining the services of Eugene Dadi, who caused us such difficulties in his 3 games against us. The opening period saw De Bolla very lively and Tranmere defending well whilst the home side got stronger as the half progressed. Our defensive unit looked resolute and effective and looked to be doing the business until just before the break when a move down the right brought the stalemate to an end. Mark Innes was at fault as a ball over his head had him leaving Hall on the wing and running back to the centre, which gave Hall ample opportunity to cross under no pressure. His measured ball found Dadi, inevitably, at the back post where his firm header beat Muggleton.

Shortly after the break we created our best opening when Achterberg saved well from Blatherwick's header. From then on we created little and Rovers always looked to have an extra gear, whilst never quite killing us off with a second goal as we defended manfully. Adam Smith came on and looked skilful on the ball with the few opportunities he had, but was rarely supported well enough to do Tranmere any damage. The game petered out to a 1-0 defeat, which left us a touch flat, but there were some positives in the game to be taken away. I think any of us would have taken 4 points from the first 3 games, before the season kicked off.

Next up was Colchester United with a 100% start to the season, but due a Saltergate defeat after drubbing us considerably in recent times. Starting the game was Charlton loanee Jamal Campbell-Ryce who looked very pacy and keen, if somewhat raw. After a brisk start, we took the lead on just 7 minutes when De Bolla set up N'Toya on the right of the U's box. He turned his marker and fired just inside the far upright for an excellent goal. This set us up for a spirited passage of play with some splendid passing and movement that had the Essex outfit struggling. They punished us for sloppiness as the game was heading to half time though, when a left wing cross wasn't dealt with by a hesitant Muggleton and after former-Spireite Jamie Cade's knock-down and a scramble on the ground, Johnson forced the ball home. The mood at the break was somewhat subdued and the setback would be a test of our new-found confidence after the resumption.

We were not found wanting in this respect as we regained the lead after just 10 minutes, with Tcham N'Toya latching on to Evatt's knock-down from a left wing corner to smash in a brisk low shot. 4 minutes later, Colchester's task looked rather more difficult as substitute Hunt, on his league debut was dismissed for a wild challenge on N'Toya, having been on the pitch only about 30 seconds. His rashness was a reflection of the mood of the visiting manager, Parkinson, who seemed hyped up all afternoon and even visited the Town technical area for a bit of a confrontation with Mr McFarland. It was all good, entertaining stuff. We should have added to the 2 goals as the game wore on as several chances were created and spurned. At the end, though, a 2-1 win was gratefully received by the enthusiastic crowd and Colchester's 4-game winning streak in North Derbyshire was at an end.

Millmoor was the scene of the next action as the league took a back seat to league cup activity. Given the Millers dire results against us over the last 25 years and this being a proper cup game, I was not confident for this one. Millmoor was transformer from our last visit with the away end having been ruined by the addition of seats. As a standing end it was fine, but seats gave a poor view and diminished that comfortably familiar feel of the place.

We thought that our marvellous run against the Millers might continue as we dominated early on and took the lead from Mark Allott's slightly mis-hit effort past former Spireite Mike Pollitt. Despite some tricky work by De Bolla, we couldn't add to it and Proctor levelled matters with a header from a harshly awarded free kick. The referee, in fact, gave us very little all night and we ended up on the losing side when Barker hit a late winner after a slip by O'Hare and an ineffective challenge by Innes who appeared to be struggling with form somewhat at this early stage of the season. Oddly enough, the Rotherham fans, usually so critical of us were full of praise on Radio Sheffield's phone-in and Miller's boss Ronnie Moore was equally fulsome in his appreciation of our qualities. I'd rather play badly and beat them though and get roundly slagged off on the airwaves!

The final Saturday of the month saw us again in Yorkshire at my least-favourite ground, Valley Parade. Again, we had a pretty good following and responded by a perky start to the game, though failing to make a significant breakthrough. Also, for the third time in the month we conceded a goal shortly before half-time, this time to a trademark free-kick by the experienced and rugged Dean Windass. Muggleton was left very flat-footed as the ball beat the wall and landed in the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

Soon after the resumption, the Bantams extended their lead as a wonderful back-heel by Adebola unlocked our defence and Windass netted his second of the afternoon with aplomb. We continued to have a lot of the ball but failed to trouble the City rearguard and with 25 minutes to go, I was feeling deflated at losing to such an ordinary side as there appeared to be no sign of a goal from the Town. Mr McFarland had other ideas, however, as he sent on fit again Allison and Folan for De Bolla and N'Toya within a few minutes of each other. Gradually, Allison began to unhinge the Bantams' back line and teasing crosses from the improving Campbell-Ryce were looking dangerous. With just 13 minutes left we had a lifeline as Nicholson's free-kick found the impressive Evatt at the far post where he was unceremoniously dumped on the ground by Bower. Nicholson himself stepped up to convert the penalty with confidence. Game on!

Within seconds we were level and Campbell-Ryce's left wing cross was won by Allison, flicking on to Evatt beyond the far post. His fierce cross-shot was stabbed in in the centre by Folan to ecstatic scenes on the away end. Many City fans were seen slinking out of the ground at this point. With a few minutes left, it got better as Jamal teased the City defence again and his swirling centre-cum-shot was parried onto the woodwork by keeper Henderson for Folan to follow up and net. This was not Town-we don't do this, but we held out with Evatt picking up an injury time injury in denying Windass a hat-trick. Ex-Bantams' boss Roy McFarland must have loved this victory as he also got one up on his former ally Colin Todd, now the City manager.

Bank Holiday Monday saw us without a fixture as the police virtually forced the move of the Port Vale game to Tuesday night with an odd 7-30 kick-off. Like us, Vale came into the match with a good record and had scored in each of their previous 32 games. Fortunately, they were missing leading scorers, Brooker and Armstrong, which helped our cause somewhat. A giant "X" in the sky over the ground had several fans in the centre stand predicting a draw for the game, but Town had other ideas as we attacked with some purpose, though the final ball always seemed lacking. When Vale came back, O'Hare (back in for the injured Evatt) and Blatherwick mopped up the threat effectively. A lively first half ended goalless with fans generally positive over the half-time refreshments.

Early on after the break, we forced a left wing corner and the manager decided on a switch. Off came Folan to warm applause and on came new fans' favourite N'Toya. As he trotted towards the box, Bailey's precise corner was met by the ex-Troyes striker to plant the ball firmly past the excellent Goodlad into the visitors' net. What a great substitution again and the goal was followed by the now trademark somersault in celebration. Four minutes later, Vale were in trouble as Smith brought down N'Toya just outside the box as the Vale rearguard were beaten for pace. Out came the red card and Smith went for the early shower. They don't take baths in this modern age! Soon afterwards, N'Toya's attempted overhead effort caught Pilkington in the face and the defender needed treatment for the bloody nose.

With the Potteries outfit down to 9 men, they played their best football of the night and twice former Stoke man Muggleton came to our rescue, though once was tidying up his own error. Pilkington eventually gave up the effort and was replaced and the Vale threat was well stemmed after that. Despite much effort we did not get the second, but kept the clean sheet for another well-earned victory. Hull's defeat by Bradford City meant we ended the month in the heady heights of second place.

So, what a start to the season with forwards scoring goals, including an amazing 5 from substitutes, competition for places, gritty defending and effervescence in midfield. Even the attendances were starting to look better with over 5000 for the Port Vale game. It took us until late November last year to haul the number of points we've now got, so it's looking good. Being Spireites, we won't get carried away though as we remember what happened 2 years ago. We are playing better football this year, however. On the less positive side, Carl Muggleton has struggled a little, though made some telling contributions whilst Mark Innes did not find any sort of form until Vale when he performed admirably. The thinness of the squad will doubtless cause difficulties with injuries and suspensions as the season progresses, though stupid bookings were down in August. The exception was Folan for shirt removal against Brentford, but we'll excuse him on this occasion. Off the field, the month saw the oddly premature departure of youngsters Ben Cressey and Stephen Warne whilst Aussie defender Aaron Downes joined on a short contract following a promising pre-season trial.

There is some genuine belief about the place now and we need to keep this going as teams will now treat us with a little more respect than of late. Let us hope that the less hectic September keeps the run going and the smiles about North Derbyshire's football fans become a more regular feature than in recent seasons. Bring on the MK Dons!