The Debrief: Chester give reason to believe after late drama at rain-soaked Merthyr Town
The Blues moved level with the play-off places with another late show
A few weeks ago there were some lingering concerns in the back of some minds that Chester might get drawn into a relegation scrap.
After three losses in succession rounded out a pretty grim January, with defeats against Peterborough Sports, Marine and Radcliffe, there seemed little reason to be hopeful when it came to what the outcome of this season would be.
All season the Blues had been in touching distance of the play-off places in the National League North but not been able to string a run meaningful enough to put themselves firmly in the picture, and with the games in hand for their rivals mounting up it kind of felt like a rather pointless endeavour in looking up the table and working out the play-off permutations.
But here we are, heading towards mid-March, with Chester level on points with the top seven and some of the games in hand for those around them having been eaten up and not yielded the kind of return that was expected, while the Blues have surpassed expectation.
On Saturday it was Fin Shrimpton in the 98th-minute to deliver a 2-1 success over play-off-chasing Darlington. On Tuesday, Shrimpton opened the scoring with the in-form midfielder’s seventh goal in eight games, then it was the spring-booted Dylan Mottley-Henry who rose to nod home a 97th-minute winner for a 2-1 success at third-placed Merthyr Town.
It made it five wins from six, with Chester the in-form team in the National League North over the last six games, a return of 15 points from a possible 18. That is promotion form at a time when there are eight games of the regular season left for the Blues.
It was also a game where Connell Rawlinson had to recall youngster Oskar Rosenblatt from his loan spell at Prescot Cables due to thin numbers in the squad.
Michael Kelly and Connor Woods both missed out through injury, while Pat Jones completed his move away from the Deva to Scunthorpe United. It was the first game post Kevin Roberts’ retirement, too. Four players who have been important for Chester, yet the result was the Blues’ first win in South Wales since they beat Cardiff City back in 1997.
The play-offs? We couldn’t, could we? Maybe we won’t, maybe it fizzles out, but the fact that there is something to energise the fan base for the remaining games means morale is boosted, which means people are more inclined to come on down and support, which means more money in the coffers for the club, which means improved sentiment when the time comes for Boost the Budget for the next manager. Making a fist of the rest of this season is so very important, and Chester are doing that.
PERFECT START
Chester had won three from four in the final stretch of Calum McIntyre’s time as manager, but the Darlington and Merthyr games perhaps looked like they would damage the look of that record given the rather fragile confidence in the squad, not to mention the lack of a fit recognised striker.
But Rawlinson has been brave. He prefers a back three with wing-backs, although a shape change was introduced against Merthyr, and he has sought to bring his own brand of football to the team with the players at his disposal. He has shown himself to be a good coach and motivator, and while he won’t be getting the Chester job on a permanent basis, this is a good audition for him to remain as part of the coaching set-up, whether at first team or youth team level.
It was another organised and disciplined performance, and Tom Davies made it five wins from the five games he has played for Chester, his arrival on loan from National League South side Salisbury City being completely transformational when it comes to this side. His impact has been enormous, and with him wanting to move back to the North West for next season, he is likely playing himself into consideration for a deal for the next manager.
DYNAMIC DUO
When Shrimpton arrived from Scunthorpe United in the summer he came with rave reviews from Iron fans, with the overwhelming sentiment being positive and that Chester were getting a gem.
He didn’t get the game time he would have wanted in the early part of the season and it looked as if he would be heading for an early exit, but my goodness, his importance to this Chester team right now is huge.
He is progressive with the ball, tenacious without it, and he has found the knack in front of goal to help the Blues overcome their lack of having a recognised striker (Mottley-Henry is a winger who is playing as a striker through necessity). He brings the tempo, and you can see the confidence coursing through his veins, and that can be infectious, which it now seems to be.
Then there is Mottley-Henry. He’s had a rather nomadic career but has found a home at the Deva. He’s been forced to play the central striker role this season for large parts, and he’s done a good job.
He leaps like a salmon, and his endeavour and commitment are often faultless. Players playing well down the final stretch of a season is no new phenomenon, and the form you get now isn’t guaranteed to be the one you get the following season, with Darren Stephenson a recent example of that, but Mottley-Henry can do no more right now than just keep leading the line, and his confidence is high, which hasn’t been the norm for forward players this season at Chester.
The hope is that within the next week we should know who the new Chester manager for next season will be. Shrimpton and Mottley-Henry have done their cases to be handed new deals no harm at all. In the case of the former, his run of form of late will not have gone unnoticed.
WHAT THE MANAGER SAID
Speaking to Chester FC TV, Rawlinson said: “It doesn’t really get any better than that, to be completely honest with you.
“Obviously, you’re looking to have one of them a season and one every other season. So to get two in the first two starts, but it’s not only the time we scored.
“On Saturday and tonight, I keep banging the drum with the lads, just saying to them: you have to cripple opposition into submitting. Towards the end there, they had two or three lads on the floor stretching their hamstrings and stuff.
“You have to win the running game first. You have to be able to beat your man up and down the pitch consistently over 90 minutes.
“That’s a big thing for me, the hard work, the aggression, the toughness that you have to have to be a footballer.
“I said some before the game there, the type of stuff that you need if you want to be a winner.
“All the footballing side, all the pretty side of it, that is a given. But the rest of it, it’s the dark side of the game.
“The running, the hard work you have to put in when you can’t do it and you’re tired, that’s the only way to become a winner, unfortunately.
“Credit to Merthyr, they are a good side. They’ve shown that today. They’re really well coached. They play some lovely football.
“It reminds me a little bit of the TNS days when I used to play in Wales, really, really well coached.”
“But we worked really hard for the win today. I thought we matched them, we had some good chances in the first half.
“I think we struggled a little bit in the first half without getting pressure on from our front lads, without letting their full-backs get out.
“We switched to a diamond, spoke to them at half-time about how to press and how to cover both full-back and centre-back, stop them getting a switch and allow them to travel a lot of yards up the pitch.
“It worked in the second half and I thought we got a lot more control in the game.”
“We looked really dangerous on the break. In transition, we kept the ball really well. We switched it to our full-backs, which are our spare players.
“All in all, they took the information at half-time and I thought we were well-deserving of the three points in the end.
“You have to have nine or ten players play well in a game of football to have a chance of winning it.
“For me to pick any individual today after that performance would be cruel on the rest of them.”
“I’m so proud that they took on the mantle of running really, really hard and being really committed to everything they do.
“You’ve got to support the play quickly. You’ve also got to make them recovery runs to get back as well and help the team out.
“They took to it really well and that’s the most pleasing thing for me, the effort and the commitment to what we want to do.
“We’ll have more time over the coming weeks to work on the playing style. I think it’s shown tonight that they look a little bit more comfortable on the ball. Making the pitch a lot bigger, giving them more time to operate on the ball.
“Obviously, the first two games couldn’t have gone any better.”
“We knew it was going to be a tough start. We knew the first three games were really, really tough against opposition that are above us in the league, that are in play-off positions. Good teams, good players, good coaches.
“We’re glad to get a few days’ rest now. We’ll get back in Friday, look at Kiddy (Kidderminster Harriers) over the next few days, try and come up with a game plan again to try and stifle them.”
“We’ll get back on the training ground Friday and come up with some sort of plan to try and go and get three points there.”
Ive actually enjoyed watching the last 2 matches with Connell.
Hopefully the new manager keeps him close and proving his doubters wrong!
UTS!!!
Really pleased for Rawlinson and the squad, where I sit in the East Stand he had his doubters some blaming Rawlinson for our poor defensive errors and tactics.
I know early doors, but his 3 games have been a pleasure to watch, it’s probably been the best decision made with Calum leaving before the end of the season.
Players now playing for Rawlinson, not so many square pegs in round holes, they all seem to know their job in hand.
Will just have to see where we lie in the division when all the teams around us play their games in hand.
One thing for sure Rawlinson doing his credibility as a coach no harm at all, maybe the New Manager will take note.
Think by last nights reaction the players want a shot at the playoffs 💙💙