Chesterfield beat Boreham Wood to seal EFL return

After the end of the game, when the supporters who had entered the field returned to their seats, Chesterfield was declared the winner of the National League.

Chesterfield secured their long-anticipated advancement to the English Football League after an effortless triumph against Boreham Wood, thereby attaining the National League championship too.

Jamie Grimes scored two goals and Liam Mandeville scored straight after half-time to help the Spireites maintain their lead of 21 points over their closest rivals, Barnet. Barnet also won their match, beating Dorking 6-0, but now only have 18 points left to play for.

The goalkeeper for Chesterfield, Harry Tyrer, had to make a fantastic save at the beginning of the game. Tom Whelan had taken a free kick, but the goalkeeper was able to stop it. Despite the early scare, the hosts were able to take the lead in the 28th minute when their captain, Grimes, headed the ball into the net. This happened after Mandeville's corner, which was taken from just outside the penalty area.

Just seconds into the second half, Mandeville scored the second goal, with Dobra's help, in a 2-0 lead. A 9,907-strong crowd had the pleasure of witnessing Chesterfield's 100th league goal of the season when Grimes made use of Dobra's set-up to score his second goal of the game, impressively.

Wood was having a difficult time and was unable to make any progress. As the extra five minutes came to an end, they were able to start celebrating.

Paul Cook's team became the leader on the 16th of September and have remained in that position ever since, having a very powerful and dominant performance throughout the campaign, which allowed them to become champions with five games remaining, thus allowing them to return to the EFL after being away for six seasons.

Compared to the competition between Wrexham and Notts County in the fifth tier of last year's championship, this season's tournament has been completely one-sided.

Chesterfield, a club that had been part of the Football League for 97 years until 2018, had a significant lead of 22 points at the top on February 6th. However, they later experienced a period of three games without a win, which was the longest period of the season in which they failed to secure a victory.

The team finished a run of games with a victory of 2-0 against Barnet on the 27th of February. This put them far ahead by 20 points of the other teams trying to catch up, and it seemed almost guaranteed they would be promoted even with two months left of the season. However, there have been some instances of the team dropping points against Halifax and Oldham, so fans of the Spireites may need to wait a bit longer before they can celebrate fully.

Grigg Reignites In Blazing Form

Manager Cook's decision to come back to the club in 2022 will be justified by their comeback to League Two.

The ex-boss of Portsmouth and Wigan led the team to win the League Two championship and secure a spot in the League One playoffs for his initial term as the coach from 2012 to 2015.

It came as quite a shock when he made a comeback in February 2022, merely two months after getting fired as the Ipswich manager in League One.

Chesterfield came in third place in the previous season, however, they nearly surprised everyone in the promotion final at Wembley Stadium. They managed to take the lead twice against Notts, a team that had a 23-point lead over them during the regular season, but they eventually lost on penalties.

For three seasons in a row, they experienced disappointment in the playoffs. To improve, they made some important signings during the summer transfer window, including veteran Northern Irish striker Will Grigg and former players of Portsmouth and Wigan Athletic, defender Tom Naylor. These additions are crucial as they hope to secure automatic promotion.

Grigg, aged 32 and previously teamed up with Cook at Wigan, has successfully scored 25 goals throughout 38 league games, but struggled to score even 16 league goals in total during the four seasons prior.

There is optimism that the team could replicate the achievements of Wrexham, who have a good chance of being promoted automatically in the fourth division and are trying to get promoted again to League One.

"Analyzing Chesterfield's 100-Point Achievement"

Paul Fisher, a commentator for BBC Radio Sheffield, expressed his thoughts on the matter.

After Chesterfield's devastating defeat at Wembley last year, Cook gathered his entire squad and coaching team for a private discussion.

A few of the objectives have leaked from a dressing room that has mostly been private. The original goal was for Chesterfield to achieve 100 goals and 100 points. Regardless of what was said, it has brought the team and organization together.

This season, the Spireites have found consistent success with their gameplay. So far, they have managed to win seven games in a row three separate times, both in the league and in cup competitions. Even when they faced occasional defeats, the team's resolve was to push harder and embark on another streak of victories.

The team has accomplished a remarkable feat by surpassing the previous club record of 27 victories in a league season. This previous record was set by a team that won the Fourth Division title in the 1969-70 season.

Cook completed seven new player acquisitions during the summer transfer window, which included former Wigan athletes Grigg and Michael Jacobs. Cook had managed these players before and together they secured the League One title in 2018. Coincidentally, this achievement was reached during the same year that Chesterfield Football Club's nearly century-long stay in the Football League came to an underwhelming end.

However, it was only after Cook's return that the team had the chance to become the way he envisioned them and reach their current standing in North Derbyshire.

The details of the match were given by PA Media.

Chesterfield defeats Boreham Wood with a score of 3-0.

The second period of the game between Chesterfield and Boreham Wood has come to an end, with the former leading 3-0 over the latter.

Boreham Wood witnessed a substitution as Angelo Balanta came on to the pitch to replace Mohammed Sagaf.

Chesterfield made a substitution by bringing in Harley Curtis to replace Joe Quigley.

Switching things up, Chesterfield brings in Oliver Banks to take the spot of Armando Dobra.

The football player named Charles Clayden enters the game to replace Billy Sass-Davies in the Boreham Wood team.

The team substitution has just been made in the game between Chesterfield and another team. Liam Mandeville has been replaced by James Berry.

Score! Chesterfield has just won 3-0 against Boreham Wood, with Jamie Grimes being the scorer for Chesterfield.

Billy Sass-Davies from Boreham Wood received a yellow card due to a harmful foul.

In Boreham Wood, there has been a substitution made. Lee Ndlovu has been replaced by Tyrone Marsh.

Yay! Chesterfield has scored two goals and Boreham Wood has not scored any. The goal scorer for Chesterfield was Liam Mandeville.

The second part of the game starts with Chesterfield leading Boreham Wood by one point.

The initial segment concludes with a score of Chesterfield one, Boreham Wood zero.

Yes! Chesterfield takes the lead with a score of 1-0 against Boreham Wood thanks to Jamie Grimes who scored the goal for Chesterfield.

Ashley Palmer, who hails from Chesterfield, received a yellow card for committing a foul deemed inappropriate.

The team rosters have been declared and the athletes are engaging in physical preparation.