Chesterfield’s reserve side made it two consecutive wins in the Final Third Development League by defeating a youthful Scunthorpe United side 2-0 on a comfortable afternoon at the Proact Stadium.

A goal in either half, both coming from defenders, earned the Spireites three points in a game that they dominated from start to finish.

Liam Graham got on the end of Jordan Slew’s low cross to open the scoring in the 13th minute. And Slew was once again the creator when Laurence Maguire got on the end of his strike to poke home from close range early in the second period.

The result makes it two home wins in a row for the Chesterfield reserves following on from the 7-0 victory over Gateshead last month.

The Spireites named a strong line-up for this afternoon’s 2pm kick off at the Proact Stadium. Dan Jones and Charlie Raglan were among the starters as they continued on the road to recovery from injury while Slew led the attack – the former million pound man having scored four goals in a 7-0 demolition of Gateshead in Chesterfield’s last reserve game.

In comparison, it was a largely youthful Scunthorpe United eleven in action as the main squad prepared for a meeting with Doncaster Rovers at Glanford Park later in the day, making the Spireites strong favourites in this fixture.

As expected, Chesterfield went on the attack from the start and almost took the lead inside four minutes. The ball fell invitingly to Rai Simons in the area after Slew had misfired from close range, but the Bermudan’s low strike was denied by a last ditch clearance on the line.

Thirteen minutes in, the deadlock was broken. Some neat work from Slew at the byline saw him beat his man and send a low cross towards the far post that was hammered home by full back Graham.

Scunthorpe battled valiantly in search of an equaliser against their more experienced opposition, Leslie Sackey firing a hopeful effort wide of the target from range, but it was the home side who remained comfortably in control – Slew coming close to doubling the advantage with a first time volley that looked to be troubling goalkeeper Ben Ledger as it crashed into the side netting.

Chesterfield remained in complete control but some regimented defending from the Iron meant that their ‘keeper wasn’t tested again until the half hour mark – a Slew volley once more coming at the end of a good move from Ritchie Humphreys’ men.

Jake Orrell and trialist Valmiro Lopes Rocha both sent half-chances wide of the target as the half wore on while Noel Burdett forced goalkeeper Aaron Chapman into his first save afternoon after 40 minutes during a rare Scunthorpe attack.

A final attack of the first period arrived straight from an Iron corner. Slew picked up possession from the clearance and raced forward on the counter, but his pass to Lopes Rocha was much too late with the trialist charging through in acres of space.

The second period continued in much the same vain. Just four minutes after the restart, Simons spurned a golden opportunity to double the lead when he rounded the ‘keeper but somehow fired into the side-netting with the goal seemingly at his mercy.

But with 52 minutes in the clock, it was finally 2-0 to Chesterfield courtesy of another defender. Slew’s driven goal-bound effort was poked home on the line by Maguire and allowed to stand by the officials despite furious protests of offside from the visiting players.

Now holding a comfortable advantage, reserve boss Humphreys replaced Orrell and Raglan with youngsters Davis Keillor-Dunn and Callum Greaves, who joined the action shortly after Derek Daly had replaced Jones at the break.

But despite removing a large amount of experience from the home eleven, the game continued in much the same manner with the Scunthorpe players camped in their own half as Chesterfield bombarded them with attack after attack.

However, the Iron’s backline remained strong until the end to frustrate the Spireites’ attackers, who had to settle for a 2-0 victory.

Chesterfield (2)

Line-up: Chapman, Graham, Jones (Daly ’46), Onovwigun, Raglan (Keillor-Dunn ’62), Maguire, Simons, Dieseruvwe, Slew, Orrell (Greaves ’62), Lopez Rocha
Unused subs: n/a

Scorers: Graham ’13, Maguire ’52

Scunthorpe United (0)

Line-up: Ledger, Shilling, Bartholomew, Atkinson (McMichael ’83), Cleminshaw, Butroid, Burdett, Sutton, Sackey, Sithole, Dyche (Hornshaw ’58)
Unused subs: Parker

Scorers: n/a

Date: 8th March 2016
Competition: Final Third Development League (Reserves)

 

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