On nights like this, you need a hero.
The Dale striker conveyor belt has been a massive sense of pride for Dale supporters over the years, and for those who grew up watching Dale in the 80's and 90's, any one of the strikers would have been given "best ever" status had they played for us during this era. (I exclude the 70's as things were so bad in them days Paul Williams would probably have had been designated with such an accolade).
Platt, Connor, Townson, Holt, Lambert, Dagnall, Murray, and Le Fondre have all come and gone, yet Dale have continued to progress as a club, and you could go as far as saying that with each departure, we've become a stronger club both on and off the field. The question is will the sale of Chris O'Grady see that process continue or is the former Oldham striker the end of the line? After all, performances without O'Grady have seen Dale look somewhat toothless up front so far. Fears are certainly understandable.
Enter Ashley Grimes. Now of course, no one wants to put any undue pressure on the Salford lad but on the evidence of tonight's performance, there's a chance that our next hero might already be wihin the camp. Stranded in a deeper role on Saturday, he was pushed further forward in this game and looked dangerous throughout. There were shades of Dagnall about him at times, and on other occasions a bit of Alfie about him, but the former Millwall striker showed the sort of form in this game which brought him so many games at Lincoln last time out, and there certainly looked to be exciting times ahead from him.
With news of Chris O'Grady's departure being confirmed by the club a massive four minutes before kick off, we were certainly down the bare bones for this game. Indeed, loan keeper Jake Kean was not allowed to play by his parent club Blackburn, with David Lucas coming in for his Dale debut - tho admittedly being the top notch match reporter that I am, I didn't even notice this until half time despite Lucas being stood between the sticks some seven or eight yards away from where I was stood.
Those bare bones ensured that we were limited to just five subs for this game despite FL rules allowing us seven for the Carling Cup, one of which was teenage striker Jordan Fagbola who was given his first involvement in the First Team picture. Just over 1700 turned up at Spotland, with a couple of hundred at best making the journey over from Derbyshire, making the ground look very sparse with the look of a pre-season friendly. Atmosphere was non existent from both sets of supporters, and there was nothing to indicate just what an exciting evening lay ahead.
The first half was pretty consistent all the way through. We looked dangerous when we went forward, but in doing so the visitors had no issues launching attacks of their own, and it was a very open game. Thought whilst we had the bulk of the possession, the early chances belonged to Chesterfield and so it was proved when they took the lead just ten minutes into the game.
The goal came from some decent passing from the visitors where Scott Boden fed Danny Whitaker who fired home from the edge of the box beyond the outstretched palm of David Lucas. An excellent finish from a player who has always seemed to do well against us.
Best player sold and staring down the barrel of a second successive defeat, it would have been easy for Dale to fold at this stage, but we just shrugged off the goal and continued with our business, and we were rewarded for doing so a few minutes later. JLAA did what he does best and went storming down the wing, cutting in before cutting the ball back to Ashley Grimes who fired past Tommy Lee to put Dale back on level terms.
And so the half continued. Dale played with plenty of possession, carved out a few chances, but looked a little vulnerable at the back as Chesterfield went from midfield to attack with ease, and the game could certainly have gone either way at this stage.
For the second game on the trot, the half time team talk seemed to have a dramatic effect on things suggesting that our new gaffer might just be some sort of tactical guru. Gary Jones, who had been something of a passenger in the first half, was transformed into a player making a mockery of his birth certificate. There were still the odd mistake, but he was everywhere.
But to single out Gary Jones is unfair to the rest of them. Playing with the most obvious front attacking pair in around eighteen months, we were a massive threat going forward, and the visitors had no answer to our movement, and it looked to be just a matter of time before we took the lead.
John-Louis Akpa Akpro was like a man possessed, and that first 45 minutes at Hillsborough was made to look like the performance of a different player. In a more comfortable role, he was full of running, and he carved out chance after chance, and another day, it might have been him that we were salivating about above.
In the early stages of this half, he had two glorious opportunities where through passing and pace, he was free of the Chesterfield back line. In both cases, he snatched at his final shot seeing them both go wide when it should have took a great save to deny him. Perhaps a couple of goals to his name will see him add some calmness to his otherwise excellent performance.
Grimes again was another causing all sorts of problems, and he tried on a couple of occasions to recreate the chance he had on Saturday which saw the ball cannon off the woodwork. He has this wonderful talent of making space for himself and with his quick feet, I'm sure it won't be long before we see him curling the ball into the top right hand corner.
That said, it wasn't all one way traffic and Chesterfield also looked well capable of causing us problems on the break. One chance came directly from a Dale attack where JLAA raced through with the midfield pushing forward, and JLAA's blocked shot rebounded straight into a Chesterfield attack.
Twenty minutes to go, and enter Jack Lester and he brought a real fear factor to the home support. We've been here before, and whilst the hype might suggest that he's done more damage to Dale than he actually has over the years, he still showed that even with his 36th birthday a couple of months away, he was still very much a threat.
Indeed, in the final moments of the game, it looked like Lester had conspired to sneak the game for the opposition. His shot was blocked by David Lucas, only for Lester's fellow sub Bowery to finish the rebound. If celebrating a last minute goal is one of the finest feelings in life, then seeing those celebrations spoiled by a linesman flag must go down as the one of the worst.
Full time and the prospect of penalties was looming large, and should it have got to that stage, we had the very real possibility of Jason Kennedy having a second chance to beat Tommy Lee from the spot. Though let it be said, we may well have preferred a different outcome this time round.
And it was that man Jack Lester who provided the the opportunity for the Spireites to take the lead five minutes into extra time. He got sandwiched in the penalty box, crashing to the floor and the linesman had no hesitation waving his flag around like he was signalling down a 747. There were grumblings of "Cheat" from the home support, but deep down, I think the officials got it spot on.
Danny Whitaker took the penalty and he had no problem firing past Lucas to give last year's League Two winners the lead. Dale's response to that was to introduce Joe Thompson for his first run out of the season, with Jason Kennedy withdrawn ending all thoughts of Kennedy v Lee part II.
That penalty was far from being the defining moment of the game though, and it was just eight minutes before we were back on level terms. We must have introduced some young winger from the bench when I wasn't looking, as this player who shares the same name as our captain went rampaging down the right wing before putting in a peach of a cross that caused so many problems for the visiting defence that the ball was bundled into the back of their own net by former Bury man Dwayne Mattis. It was just reward for Dale.
Second spell of extra time and there was only one side in it. Despite JLAA feeling it in his legs after playing more minutes this season than he did in all of last season combined, and Ashley Grimes being a touch concerned by his groin, we still took the game to Chesterfield, and we showed no interest at all of taking the game to penalties.
Joey Thompson headed the ball over from about a yard out when he went flying to get his head on the end of one cross, when it looked more difficult to miss than score. His frustration was there for all to see, but sixty seconds later, it no longer mattered.
Nicky Adams, having his best game for the club, had caused all sorts of problems, but this time he proved to be the provider feeding in Joe Widdowson who put over a dangerous cross. Grimes attacked the front post, and did enough to steer the ball home for his second goal of the night and to seal Dale's progress into the second round.
The victory was certainly a deserved one, and given the chances that we had on the night, few could argue with that. I'm not going to get all excitable on the back of this win, with expectations of trips to Wembley and success in the League to boot, but it provided the first win of the season, which is always welcome especially one against League One opposition. There was further proof that the players are adapting to what Steve Eyre wants from them which shows things are coming together, and the more victories we can enjoy like this, the more faith the management will be able to instil into the players.
And you know what? Just five more rounds and we'll have matched the achievements of fifty years ago. You never know!