Lee Novak’s late header condemned his former club to a fifth straight league defeat as Charlton Athletic defeated Chesterfield 1-0 at The Valley.
Lee Novak
Chesterfield 3-0 Bury – League 1
Chesterfield secured League 1 safety in their final home game of the season with a 3-0 victory over Bury.
Jay O’Shea’s 29th minute spot kick opened the scoring before the lead was doubled in first half stoppage time courtesy of a deflected Lee Novak strike.
Dan Gardner, on loan with today’s opposition until only last week, then scored just two minutes after joining the action to seal victory and most importantly third tier survival.
Chesterfield 7-1 Shrewsbury Town – League 1
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.
Port Vale 3-2 Chesterfield – League 1
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.
FC United of Manchester 1-4 Chesterfield – FA Cup 1st Round
Chesterfield booked their place in the second round of the FA Cup with a comfortable 4-1 victory against non-league FC United of Manchester.
Any hopes of a cup upset at the impressive new Broadhurst Park were killed off after just twelve minutes as goals from Gboly Ariyibi and Lee Novak gave the Spireites a commanding lead.
Strikes from Rai Simons and former FC United man Ollie Banks made it 4-0 in the second half. And despite Luke Ashworth’s stoppage time consolation for the hosts, the outcome never looked in doubt and Chesterfield will now face Walsall in the next round of football’s oldest competition.
Chesterfield 3-0 Southend United – League 1
Sylvan Ebanks-Blake struck twice as Chesterfield beat Southend United 3-0 to record their first home victory since the opening day.
The Spireites were on top from start to finish and it took just eight minutes for a confident Lee Novak finish to put them ahead. Ebanks-Blake then showed his strikers instinct to pounce on the ball and make it 2-0 before the break.
Joe Pigott had a couple of opportunities early in the second period to give the Shrimpers hope, but failed to convert, and it was all over when the ex-Premier League forward smashed home his fifth of the campaign from close range shortly after the hour.
A third win in four outings for Dean Saunders’ men moves them up to ninth, remarkably now a point better off than they were at the same stage last season when they reached the play-offs!
Sheffield United 2-0 Chesterfield – League 1
A brace from 19 year old Che Adams handed Sheffield United a 2-0 victory over Chesterfield on the competitive home debut of new boss Nigel Adkins.
It was a tight battle between these two local rivals, who both fell short in the League 1 play offs last season, but goals at the start of either half proved to be killer blows as the Blades secured their first three points of the season.
Chesterfield 0-2 Huddersfield Town – League 1
On my 16th birthday I went to the B2Net Stadium to watch Chesterfield play Huddersfield Town.
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