SM
Club Brugge vs. Aston Villa: 18 hrs 9 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews

Chesterfield's curious contradiction of form

:Headline: Chesterfield's curious contradiction of form: ID:342766: from db_amp
Martin Allen's side are on their worst ever winless league run of 19 games – but are 12 games unbeaten.

Chesterfield's draw with Bromley on Tuesday night continued a bizarre run of form which sees the Vanarama National League side setting seemingly contradictory records.

Martin Allen's side are on their worst ever winless league run of 19 games, a sequence which has dropped them into the relegation zone.

But nine straight league draws – matching the record for the top five divisions in English football – have also contributed to a run of 12 games unbeaten in all competitions, the Spireites' longest in 12 years.

(PA Graphic)

When the latter figure was put to Allen by Spireites Digital ahead of the Bromley game, he first checked "What is it?" before sighing: "Oh, blimey.

"I can't say I'm proud of that. I'd like to be able to sit here and say it was 12 wins, but no, I'm not proud of it."

Here, Press Association Sport takes a look at the strange set of statistics.

19 league games without a win

Chesterfield have not won a league game since August, when they beat Braintree 1-0 before 3-2 losses to Barrow and Salford sparked a six-game losing run.

Barnet, Hartlepool, Leyton Orient and Boreham Wood all won 1-0 before draws with Dover and Dagenham partially stopped the rot.

The Spireites lost 3-0 to Gateshead and 3-1 to Maidenhead, the only times in the current run they have been beaten by more than a single goal, before their form took its strangest turn yet.

Nine league draws in succession

Allen's men drew 1-1 with Maidstone and 0-0 with Fylde before successive 1-1 draws with FC Halifax Town, Wrexham, Sutton and Harrogate.

A goalless draw with Chesterfield left them still searching for a win and when they drew 1-1 with Eastleigh last Saturday, it saw them match both their own longest winless run in the league and the record for the fifth tier or above of eight successive draws, set by Woking between March 8 and April 21, 2003.

They remained winless against Bromley on Tuesday, but Zavon Hines' last-minute penalty at lesat ensured a 1-1 scoreline and a ninth successive draw.

12 games unbeaten in all competitions

That sequence of draws, combined with progress in the FA Cup, makes for another significant sequence.

Having seen off first Fylde and then Billericay – the latter, almost inevitably, after a replay – it is 12 unbeaten for Allen and his side in all competitions.

That is their longest such sequence since the 2005-06 season, when they went 14 unbeaten in League One with three wins and 11 draws on their way to a 16th-placed finish.

Attempting to assess the run of form, Allen continued on Spireites Digital: "It is confusing. I've said to them sometimes you've got to go through some tough times, the good times will come and it will make the good times even sweeter.

"With these players, I'm sure we can get the results we all crave, and break not a 12-year record of being unbeaten, but I think we can get a run of wins going."

amp_article__342766 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2018-11-28 16:02:09:
html db last update - 2018-11-28 16:02:09 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Click here for more stories about Martin Allen

Click here for more stories about Chesterfield

Share this article now:
Read more about Martin Allen Football
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Port Vale149322315830
2Walsall1382326141226
3Notts County1475222121026
4Doncaster RoversDoncaster148242016426
5Crewe AlexandraCrewe137331612424
6Chesterfield1457228151322
7Bradford CityBradford146442015522
8MK Dons146352116521
9BarrowBarrow146351511421
10Grimsby Town147071825-721
11Gillingham146261512320
12Salford City145541416-220
13AFC Wimbledon11614189919
14Newport CountyNewport146171824-619
15Fleetwood TownFleetwood134631915418
16Cheltenham TownCheltenham145271821-317
17Harrogate TownHarrogate144371119-815
18Bromley133551517-214
19Tranmere RoversTranmere13355816-814
20Accrington StanleyAccrington133461522-713
21Colchester UnitedColchester132651620-412
22Swindon TownSwindon142661520-512
23Carlisle UnitedCarlisle1422101228-168
24Morecambe141491225-137
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .