Chesterfield took another step towards securing League 1 survival with a 4-2 victory over Port Vale in a dramatic contest at the Proact Stadium.

If there was ever an afternoon that lived up to the cliche ‘a game of two haves’, then this was most certainly it.

The first 45 minutes of this match saw Danny Wilson’s Chesterfield side leave the field to a chorus of boos, having failed to register a single shot and target and fallen behind to a 36th minute AJ Leitch-Smith goal.

Few would have predicted the outcome of the second period, but by the hour mark the Spireites were 2-1 ahead courtesy of goals from Jamal Campbell-Ryce and Sam Hird.

JJ Hooper gave the visitors some brief hope with a 70th minute equaliser, but just three minutes later half-time substitute Gboly Ariyibi regained Chesterfield’s lead before Jay O’Shea secured the victory in the 83rd minute.

Chesterfield (4)

Line-up: Tommy Lee, Sam Hird, Gary Liddle, Lee Novak, Jamal Campbell-Ryce (Jake Orrell ’90), Charlie Raglan, Connor Dimaio (Gboly Ariyibi ’46), Rai Simons (Jay O’Shea ’46), Tom Anderson, Ollie Banks, Drew Talbot
Unused Subs: Chris Herd, Ritchie Humphreys, Aaron Chapman, Jordan Slew

Scorers: Jamal Campbell-Ryce ’47, Sam Hird ’60, Gboly Ariyibi ’73, Jay O’Shea ’83

Port Vale (2)

Line-up: Jak Alnwick, Ben Purkiss, Carl Dickinson, Remi Streete, Richard Duffy, Louis Dodds, Sam Foley (Michael Brown ’82), Sam Kelly, Byron Moore (Matty Kennedy ’75), AJ Leitch Smith (JJ Hooper ’57), Anthony Grant
Unused Subs: Ryan McGivern, Chris Birchall, Ryan Bot, Theo Robinson

Scorers: AJ Leitch Smith ’36, JJ Hooper ’70

Date: 2nd April 2016
Competition: League 1
Attendance: 5917 (485 away)
Referee: Mr Kevin Wright