United 1
(De Silva 30′)
Chesterfield 5
(Grimes 8′, Oldaker 49′, Clements 57′, Uchegbulam 77′, Tshimanga 82′)
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Four second half goals saw Chesterfield run out 5-1 winners at Plainmoor on Saturday afternoon.
It was the visitors who opened the scoring through skipper Jamie Grimes in the eighth minute, before Dillon De Silva equalised to see the match enter the half time interval level. However second half strikes from Darren Oldaker, Bailey Clements, and substitutes Jesurun Uchegbulam and Kabongo Tshimanga secured a 5-1 victory for the Spireites.
United Manager Gary Johnson named an unchanged starting eleven, following Wednesday night’s 3-3 fightback against Dorking. Meanwhile on the bench Corie Andrews returns from injury in the place of Ali Omar.
Following a quiet opening period with a lot of end-to-end play and no clear-cut chances for either side, Chesterfield’s first corner of the game saw them take the lead. Jeff King curled his corner towards the back-post where is met Grimes who was able to nod the ball into the bottom left corner in the 8th minute.
Following a similar spell as the game had begun, another period of action at both ends continued. In the 16th minute a corner from Stephen Wearne was half-cleared before falling for Mark Ellis, unmarked in the penalty area, before the centre-back controlled the ball, before firing his effort low and wide.
Both sides continued to press, and Gary Johnson’s side went on to push for an equaliser, and on 30 minutes they broke through. Some good play between Wearne and Tom Lapslie down the left side saw Lapslie’s first cross played back to him, before second time around the cross fell to the feet of De Silva who drilled his shot into the bottom left corner from a tight angle, 1-1.
Four minutes later United went close to taking the lead. A cross by Will Goodwin was glanced by a Chesterfield defender, before finding Wearne at the far-post, whose header was just denied by Ross Fitzsimons, with Chesterfield’s number 1 scrambling across the goal-line to just deny the Grimsby Town loanee.
Another period of end-to-end play pursued, and saw the game enter half time 1-1.
Four minutes after the restart, in a similar fashion to their first, Chesterfield struck again. After King played the corner short to Armando Dobra, Chesterfield’s number 17 opted to lay the ball back for Oldaker just inside the box who fired into the top right corner to re-stablish the Spireites lead.
In the 56th minute Gary Johnson’s men went close to levelling. A long ball forward was chased down by Wearne on the left flank before the ball was squared for Lapslie, who teed the ball up for Hall to get a driving effort away, which was just wide of the left-hand post.
Moments later however it was the visitors who doubled the advantage. Clements picked the ball up just outside the left edge of the United box, before tucking the ball into the bottom-right corner.
Gary Johnson’s men continued to push, and after being on the pitch for a matter of moments, Brett McGavin had a volley force a save by Fitzsimons. After a cross was half-cleared by De Silva, the ball found McGavin on the edge of the box, who after playing a one-two with Lapslie, volleyed goal-ward forcing Chesterfield’s shot-stopper into action.
Paul Cook’s side broke through again on 77 minutes to make it 4-1. Following some neat combination play down the left, the men in blue got into the left side of the United box, before it was substitute Uchegbulam who fired home. It was another substitute who netted the fifth for Chesterfield with three minutes to go. Tshimanga drove through the United half before firing low into the bottom left corner to make it 5-1.
United: 1. Mark Halstead, 2. Dylan Crowe (14. Brett McGavin 68′), 4. Tom Lapslie, 8. Asa Hall (c) (10. Corie Andrews 85′), 9. Aaron Jarvis, 12. Stephen Wearne, 16. Shaun Donnellan (6. Ross Marshall 79′), 19. Will Goodwin, 26. Lucas Ness, 27. Dillon De Silva, 35. Mark Ellis.
SUBS NOT USED: 7. Ryan Hanson, 22. Rhys Lovett.
Yellow Cards: De Silva 31′
Chesterfield: 1. Ross Fitzsimons, 5. Jamie Grimes (c), 7. Liam Mandeville, 12. Tyrone Williams, 17. Armando Dobra (18. Jesurun Uchegbulam 73′), 20. Jeff King, 26. Darren Oldaker, 27. Joe Quigley (9. Kabongo Tshimanga 82′), 30. Tom Whelan (4. Tim Akinola 73′), 33. Bailey Clements, 35. Mike Jones.
SUBS NOT USED: 6. Laurence Maguire, 10. George Cooper.
Yellow Cards: Mandeville 45′, Oldaker 80′
Attendance: 2,223 (333 away)