Banks And Maher Make It A Month To Remember!

Our panel took plenty of time whittling down the candidates before eventually putting the final three to the vote - so who did they settle on?

Kevin Maher could write a book on what he’s seen since taking over at Southend United but the Shrimpers manager thinks there are more chapters to be written yet.

He is like royalty at Roots Hall - and that’s why links with EFL big spenders Gillingham turned out to be a case of nothing to see here.

Southend once again held their own in October, despite their well documented off-the-field challenges.

Nobody ended the month with a better points haul in the league after four wins and one draw. His team saw off one of last season’s play-off sides in Woking before dismantling Solihull Moors 5-0 - becoming only the second side to beat them all season at that point.

United also floored Oxford City and Ebbsfleet United with a bit to spare and ended the month with a decent draw at Boreham Wood in front of 1,400 away fans.

It wasn’t just in attack where they shone. The Essex club put in a number of incredible defensive performances, only conceding once in the month in the league.

In truth, half a dozen of Chesterfield’s squad could have won the Player of the Month accolade.

Four league wins, FA Cup progression and turning themselves into the immovable object at the top of the National League, it’s been a great period as the club broke records.

Ollie Banks has become an unlikely talisman through October for the Spireites. He didn’t feature in September much, but came back into the team with a bang – scoring four goals from midfield as the leaders won all their games.

Beating Bromley, Boreham Wood, York City and Kidderminster Harriers, they took 12 points from a possible 12. Defeating Kettering to set up their Portsmouth headline-grabber, he stood out in a side full of stars.

Banks was brilliant - and his team-mates weren’t too bad either!