Football

Chesterfield 7-1 Shrewsbury Town – League 1

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Chesterfield kicked off the new year in style with an incredible 7-1 demolition of fellow League 1 strugglers Shrewsbury Town.

A wonder-strike from Jay O’Shea, followed by a penalty converted by the same man put the home side in the ascendancy before Lee Novak added himself to the scoresheet short before the break.

A comeback was briefly threatened by the visitors when Zak Whitbread bundled the ball home from close range. But the win rarely looked in doubt and the Spireites romped to a dominant victory with two more goals each from Rai Simons and hat-trick hero Novak on an unforgettable day for the side.

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Chesterfield 1-1 Coventry City – League 1

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Chesterfield came within moments of a first league victory since October in Danny Wilson’s first game in charge of the Spireites.

Lee Novak’s glancing header had given the struggling Spireites a first half lead against promotion-chasing Coventry City.

The hosts held on valiantly and this goal looked to be enough for the three points until James Maddison salvaged a draw with a superb free-kick in the 89th minute.

Despite the late disappointment, new boss Wilson was in high spirits after the game – speaking of both his pride at taking the role and delight with the positive performance.

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Chesterfield 0-1 Bradford City – League 1

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Tony McMahon’s second half strike earned Bradford City are hard-fought victory over Chesterfield to further their play-off push at the Proact Stadium.

It was a fairly even contest, Billy Clarke coming closest in the first half when his header clipped the post for the Bantams.

Entering the final 20 minutes however, it appeared as if the game could certainly go either way. But McMahon’s 72nd minute goal for Bradford was enough to earn them the three points and move Mark Smith’s struggling Spireites to six league games without a victory.

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Chesterfield 1-1 Walsall – FA Cup Round 2

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Sam Morsy’s last minute equaliser earned Chesterfield a replay as they drew 1-1 with Walsall in Mark Smith’s first game as the Spireites’ caretaker manager.

Jason Demetriou’s deflected effort had given the Saddlers a 19th minute lead and despite numerous good chances for the hosts in the second half, including a Sylvan Ebanks-Blake overhead kick off the underside of the crossbar, it looked as if Walsall would be heading through.

But in the final minute of normal time, Morsy scrambled home an Ollie Banks free kick to salvage a draw. The two sides will now meet at the Bescot Stadium a week on Tuesday to decide who joins the big names in Round 3.

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Chesterfield 0-4 Swindon Town – League 1

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Dean Saunders was sacked by Chesterfield only six months after his appointment as the side fell to a fourth consecutive defeat at the hands of struggling Swindon Town.

Despite a big shake-up to the starting eleven following a third consecutive defeat in midweek, things improved little for the Spireites and they found themselves 2-0 down inside 14 minutes through goals from Nicky Ajose and Louis Thompson.

Chesterfield ended the first half strongly but any hopes of staging a comeback were quickly killed off as Jon Obika added a third shortly after the restart, before Ajose scored his second and Swindon’s fourth late on to secure a comfortable victory and seal Saunders’ fate.

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Doncaster Rovers 3-0 Chesterfield – League 1

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Chesterfield slumped to a third consecutive defeat as Doncaster Rovers exacted revenge on former boss Dean Saunders with a 3-0 victory at the Keepmoat Stadium on Tuesday evening.

It was a hugely disappointing display from the Spireites, who failed to register a single shot on target all night as goals from Nathan Tyson,  Andy Williams and Cameron Stewart earned the South Yorkshire club their fourth win in five in comfortable fashion.

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Port Vale 3-2 Chesterfield – League 1

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Chesterfield fell to a second consecutive defeat as AJ Leitch-Smith’s fourth goal in three games helped Port Vale to a victory at a frosty Vale Park.

The wintry conditions made for an unpredictable contest that got off to a lightning-fast start with three goals in the opening ten minutes.

Sam Kelly’s first ever league goal put the Valiants ahead inside six minutes and Leitch-Smith regained the hosts’ lead four minutes later after Lee Novak had hit back immediately for the Spireites.

Louis Dodds furthered the advantage early in the second half and, despite Rai Simons scoring an excellent consolation in stoppage time, it was Vale who held on for a second win in three days.

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England 2-0 France – International Friendly

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England defeated France 2-0 on a poignant and memorable evening at Wembley Stadium.

Dele Alli’s first ever England goal opened the scoring before all-time scorer and captain Wayne Rooney secured the victory early in the second half.

But the result was secondary as the 129 victims of last week’s Paris attacks were honoured in a touching show of solidarity between the two nations.

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Chesterfield 1-2 Oldham Athletic – League 1

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Sylvan Ebanks-Blake’s fifth league goal in as many games wasn’t enough to stop Chesterfield being defeated by Oldham Athletic at the Proact Stadium on Saturday.

The experienced forward capitalised on a loose ball in the box to give the Spireites a first half lead. But just as they looked to be heading for a fifth win in six, Dominic Poleon scored the Latics’ first goal in over five and a half hours to level the game.

Disaster struck for the hosts three minutes from time when Danny Philliskirk’s seemingly harmless strike from range squirmed under the body of Tommy Lee and somehow found the net via both the post and ‘keeper’s back.

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