Northern Ireland star and former Larne and Portadown hero relishing ‘new start' after linking up with ambitious EFL outfit
Bonis (25) impressed after making the switch to the Netherlands from Larne in the summer of 2024, bagging 11 League goals to help fire Den Haag into the Promotion Play-Offs.
He missed out on the chance to play in the Eredivisie in the 2025/26 season after the Storks lost out over two legs to eventual Play-Off winners Telstar, but it was still a highly successful campaign for the former Seagoe man as he also made his senior Northern Ireland debut in a goalless draw against Belarus back in October.
Bonis remained in Michael O'Neill's fold and played in both legs of a friendly double-header against Switzerland and Sweden in March as well as the home victory over Iceland in June.
Now he will aim to help the Spireites – who reached the League Two Play-Offs in 2024/25, their first season back in the EFL after gaining promotion from the National League – push on and make a fresh bid to reach the third-tier.
Bonis is no stranger to silverware having previously won back-to-back Irish League crowns with Larne in 2023 and 2024 prior to his Den Haag switch as well as the Championship title in 2020 with Portadown, from whom he was a reported £100,000 purchase for the Invermen back in January 2022.
After completing his move to Chesterfield, Bonis commented: 'It's great to be a part of the club. I think a new start in England will be good for me.
'I can't wait to play in front of the fans. I'm excited to get going.'
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BBC News
6 hours ago
- BBC News
Fine margins: How Norris lost out to Piastri in Belgium
Oscar Piastri's victory in the Belgian Grand Prix underlined the fine margins that will likely decide the world championship battle with his team-mate Lando Australian bounced back after two consecutive victories for Norris on a weekend on which the advantage swung back and forth between the McLaren drivers almost from session to pair arrived at Spa-Francorchamps on the back of two consecutive wins for Norris, one from the front in Austria, one somewhat fortuitous after a penalty for Piastri at took a pole position each in Belgium - one for Piastri for the sprint, and one for Norris for the grand prix. And the race turned on a few key drive was from the top drawer - he took the lead from Norris at the rolling start after a few exploratory laps behind the safety car in the wet by being, by Norris' admission, a little braver through Eau Rouge on the first he managed his position with careful judgement to make his medium-compound tyres last to the end while under pressure from the closing Norris on more durable Norris may look back on a few small errors in which he could have done better. He said he "couldn't have won". He probably could not. But he could have given himself a slither of a chance, despite the difficult position he was in by leading at the start. The start Piastri had demonstrated how difficult it is for the driver on pole to lead by the end of the first lap at Spa by losing the sprint race win to Red Bull's Max Dutchman slipstreamed past Piastri up the hill to Les Combes, and then held the McLaren at bay for 15 laps, while Norris followed closely in the grand prix, it was Norris in front, with Piastri in second and Piastri had been thinking about the opportunity this presented him since losing out on pole the day team boss Andrea Stella said: "This weekend, Oscar, if anything, the only inaccuracy was in qualifying, where his laps weren't perfect."At the same time, we have to say that after the sprint qualifying, he said, 'Yeah, I'm in pole position, but maybe this is not the right place to be in pole position.'"And as a joke, after the qualifying yesterday, he said, 'That was not my best lap in Q3, but perhaps this is the best place not to have the best lap in Q3.'"Sure enough, Piastri took the lead on lap one of the grand prix, just as Verstappen had the day before."I had a good run out of Turn One," he said, "and then tried to be as brave as I could through Eau Rouge and was able to stay pretty close. After that, the slipstream did the rest for me."When I watched the onboard back, it didn't look quite as scary as it felt in the car. I knew that I had to be very committed to pull that off."But Norris could have done a better job. For a start, he failed to build himself a gap over the finish line by arguably going too early at the restart. Then he made a mistake at La Source, which allowed Piastri to be right on his tail approaching Eau Rouge."I didn't have the best Turn One," Norris said. "So it's hard to know how much that played a part. At the same time, Oscar came past me pretty easily. So even if I had a better Turn One, his run and the slipstream probably still would have got me."Stella said: "It would have always been very difficult for Lando to keep the position starting first at the safety car restart. At the same time, I think Lando didn't help himself by not having a great gap on the finish line." The pit stops The next turning point was the stops. Piastri had first choice as leader, and went for mediums with a stop on lap could have pitted Norris at the same time - the so-called double-stack - but went for another lap, and decided for hard tyres, to go to the end. Piastri was planning the same but didn't know whether the mediums would make had been just under two seconds behind when Piastri pitted, and was nine seconds back when he rejoined the seconds of that offset can be accounted for by a slower pit stop, the other five by the extra lap on worn intermediates. A double-stack would have cost less time - but then he'd have been on the mediums, and the race effectively already said: "To catch Oscar from that gap is quite an achievement. I gave it a good shot, but just not close enough."Piastri said: "It was quite a late decision to pit on the lap we did, but there's risks either way. If I was in Lando's position, I probably would have done the same thing. At that point, it seemed like the safest thing to do was go on the medium, because the hard is two steps harder here."Stella said: "We did consider double stacking. At the same time, it was possible for Lando to deviate. He opted to deviate, which would have given him the possibility to go on hard tyres, which is what he decided to do."Actually, I thought at some stage that that would have been a very good move, but I have to say that Oscar managed a very solid and strong stint on the medium tyres. Even if Lando was, on average, a little bit faster, that was not enough to attack Oscar at the end." The chase Norris now had to try to chase Piastri down. He got to within 3.4 seconds by the end of the race, but he probably lost a little more than that with three errors during his ran wide at the fast Pouhon double left-hander on lap 26, costing himself 1.3 seconds, then had lock-ups at La Source on laps 33 and 43, costing a total of just under three a perfect race might have given him a shot at Piastri on the last lap or two. But given how difficult overtaking proved at Spa in both races, the chances of him actually getting by must be considered slim in the said: "Yes, Lando had a couple of lock-ups in corner one and also a little oversteer in corner nine that cost him time. I think this, overall, prevented us from having an interesting battle, possibly, at the end."But, in fairness, even Oscar had a couple of times in corner one a little bit of a time loss."It's very difficult when you push so much in these conditions. It's very difficult to always drive within the limit of the grip, and also it's not easy to always keep the car on the racing line when you have the maximum grip, considering that, away from that, you can lose it very rapidly because of the track being still a little damp." The lessons Piastri's sixth win in 13 races extends his lead in the see-sawing battle to 15 points before the next race in Hungary this weekend, scene last year of Piastri's maiden victory, in somewhat controversial circumstances. Stella called Piastri's drive "very, very, very high quality", but added: "We have two drivers which to the standards that even myself in my career have been close to, driving with multiple World Champions, I think Lando and Oscar are operating at that level, at the level of deservedly being in contention for the drivers' world championship."This is quite the compliment considering Stella engineered both Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso during his Ferrari years earlier this said: "The difference will be made by the accuracy, the precision, the quality of the execution."The execution is what is going to make the main difference. We, as a team, we will try and make sure that from a reliability point of view, from a team operation point of view, we are as good as possible, such that it will be the drivers deciding their own outcome in terms of competing for the drivers' championship." Should the race have started earlier? The other main talking point at Spa was whether the race should have started earlier - either at the original start time, or a few minutes before it eventually Hamilton and Max Verstappen were of the view that it should have and that officials had been too said the decision "didn't make sense". He said that at the scheduled start time "it was not even raining" and added: "Of course between Turn One and five there was quite a bit of water, but two or three laps behind the safety car it would have been a lot more clear. And the rest of the track was anyway ready to go. It's a bit of a shame."Hamilton added: "I kept shouting, like, it's ready to go, it's ready to go. And they kept going around and around and around."However, both acknowledged that the decisions were made after the drivers had urged officials following the last race at Silverstone - in which one car rammed another unsighted at a restart in the rain - not to go too Piastri and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc both pointed out the extreme dangers of Spa, and referenced the two fatalities that have happened there in junior categories in recent said: "For that reason, I'd rather be safe than too early. It's a constant discussion, and we'll probably feed the people that made this decision back that maybe it was a little bit on the late side, but I wouldn't have changed anything."Piastri added: "The past few years, particularly here, we've given the FIA feedback that we would much rather be on the safe side than risk anything. I think that's what we did today."If you were to be picky, maybe we could have done one less formation lap. But in the grand scheme of things, if that's one lap too early, is it worth it? No."
Metro
8 hours ago
- Metro
£48m star asks to be left out of match after agreeing transfer deal with Chelsea
Jorrel Hato asked to be left out of Ajax's squad to face Como 1907 this weekend after agreeing personal terms with Chelsea, according to reports in the Netherlands. Chelsea have splashed the cash across another busy transfer window, sealing deals for Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro, Liam Delap, Dario Essugo and Mamadou Sarr for a combined fee of around £190million. Despite already strengthening at the back with the addition of Sarr from Strasbourg, the Blues have set their sights on making Hato, 19, their next signing and talks with the full-back's camp have been advancing at a pace in recent days. Hato, who is comfortable operating at both left-back and centre-back, has welcomed the interest from Chelsea and the versatile Dutchman is said to be actively pushing to force through a transfer to Stamford Bridge. But while Hato has informed Ajax that he wants to leave, the Eredivisie outfit rejected Chelsea's opening bid and sent a counter offer back to west London for the teenager. Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro's Football Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we'll send you so we can get football news tailored to you. With talks ongoing, Algemeen Dagblad report that Hato told Ajax head coach John Heitinga that he would 'rather not play' in the side's Como Cup final defeat to Como on Sunday. It's claimed this is 'entirely related' to his potential move to Chelsea, though 'that doesn't say anything about the status of negotiations, which are currently difficult'. Hato was also absent for Ajax's semi-final win over Celtic earlier in the week. However, Heitinga insisted this was because the defender was yet to gain full match fitness having only recently returned to training. Ajax are said to be holding out for a fee of between €55-60million (£48-52.5m) for Hato, who still has three years remaining on his current contract in Amsterdam. Speaking to De Telegraaf on Wednesday, Hato's agent, Humphry Nijman confirmed that Chelsea had opened discussions to close a deal for last term's Eredivisie Talent of the Season. 'Yes, the club [Chelsea] have contacted Ajax,' he told the Dutch newspaper. Hato featured 50 times for Ajax across the 2024/25 campaign and played a key role as the club narrowly missed out on the Eredivisie title after finishing just one point behind PSV Eindhoven. In an interview with Ajax's official website last month, Hato outlined the goals and ambitions he hoped to fulfil in his career. At the time, the Netherlands international was keen to stress that he felt at 'home' at Ajax. 'The smartest thing is to look ahead to pre-season, that's what I do,' Hato said. 'Of course you want to achieve things in the end: the Champions League, a World Cup and a European Championship, I still have plenty of time. I don't think I absolutely have to win the Champions League in two years. 'In the Dutch league, you have to show how good you are against the big clubs. Ultimately, I have to continue to develop the things I am already good at, so that it becomes top. 'How do I describe my time at Ajax? Ajax is home for me. I just feel at home here.' For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. MORE: Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak rejects £96m transfer offer after Liverpool talks MORE: William Saliba provides major update on Arsenal future amid fresh Real Madrid transfer links MORE: Ruben Amorim explains why Man Utd fans must wait for Bryan Mbeumo debut
Daily Record
8 hours ago
- Daily Record
Mats Knoester confident after stunning Celtic as Aberdeen star looks to smash Hearts hoodoo
The Dons haven't won at Tynecastle since 2017 and kick off their season in Gorgie against old gaffer Derek McInnes and a team in form Mats Knoester believes Aberdeen can smash their Hearts hoodoo – after crushing their Celtic curse to lift the Scottish Cup. The Dons haven't won at Tynecastle since 2017. But Cup hero Knoester is confident that is about to change when Jimmy Thelin 's men head there for their Premiership opener on Monday night. The 26-year-old Dutch defender stated: 'They're a good team, a big team as well. I think it's going to be an exciting game. 'It's not going to be an easy game away, but I think it's going to be interesting to see. 'Always the first game in the season is interesting to see how the teams are after the pre-season. 'We're aware that it's a tough game, away at Hearts, but I also think the past doesn't really matter. 'And if I can go back to Celtic at Hampden – we don't have a really good record against Celtic and then you win the game. 'So, in football I don't think you should go too much back to the past and then look forward.' Hearts have appointed former Dons boss Derek McInnes and Knoester expects them to be one of their main rivals for third spot. He accepted: 'Yeah, if we look a bit further, I think they're also one of the competitors. 'Of course, as Aberdeen, you're one of the bigger teams, and Hearts is that as well. 'So, in that way, I think we should compete with each other. 'But I prefer to just go week by week. I do that with myself and also with the team and their goals.' Knoester knows that Aberdeen's Cup win will mean they will have a target on their backs this season, but he is confident Thelin's men can handle the extra pressure. Knoester admitted: 'Yeah, it can be. (It's) No problem. If they want to see it like that, it's fine.' The Pittodrie side wrapped up their pre-season with defeats to English Premier League Fulham and Ipswich, who were relegated from the tip flight last term. They lost the games 4-1 and 3-1, respectively, but Knoester believes the games were exactly what Aberdeen needed. He claimed: 'I think that was the goal, to have some big opponents, let's say, like Fulham and now Ipswich, especially going into Europe as well. 'We have a tough season coming, so I think if you want to improve something, you also have to play against the better teams, because they will show you what's needed to be on that level. 'I think one big difference was consistency – you see how consistent they are, and if they do make a mistake, they make up for it. They make a foul or they're back fast enough. 'Also, if there's a rebound, there's somebody there who taps it in, while we just miss it. 'Stuff like that, I think we can learn from that. You're the one that sets a standard for yourself.' Boss Thelin also experimented in the two games and former Ferencvaros stopper Knoester added: 'What we wanted to do is play a high line, maybe a bit more extreme than what we normally do. 'Just to try and create pressure on them and take a bit more risk. 'That's one thing that makes it sometimes a little bit more difficult or challenging to cover every space. 'Obviously we need to adjust a little bit on that towards next Monday.' Guaranteed European group stage football will also put an additional strain on the Aberdeen players. Former boss Barry Robson lost his job when Dons struggled with European games last time but Knoester believes that won't be the case now. He said: 'We trained under really heavy circumstances, in pre-season a lot of high-intensity metres. 'We did everything we could to be ready for that.'
