rai simons

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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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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FC United of Manchester 1-4 Chesterfield – FA Cup 1st Round

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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.

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Chesterfield 1-3 Gillingham – League 1

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Rai Simons’ first ever league goal wasn’t enough to stop Chesterfield slipping to a sixth defeat in eight games on Saturday against Gillingham.

The Bermudan’s composed strike had put the hosts level nine minutes after John Egan capitalised on a Tommy Lee error to open the scoring.

But Rory Donnelly’s fifth goal in three league outings regained the visitors’ lead, before Harry Lennon sealed their first away victory since August with a close range header 15 minutes from time.

Another disappointing afternoon for Chesterfield saw them fall to 16th in the table and remain without a home win since the opening day, despite manager Dean Saunders believing that it was one of his sides’ best performances of the season.

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