Spireites Draw Against Barnsley.

Chesterfield settled for a 1-1 draw against Barnsley at Oakwell yesterday afternoon, as Jay O’Shea’s first-half strike was cancelled out in the second period by Sam Winnall’s simple finish from close range that in the end left both sides with a single point from this fixture. 

Paul Cook named an unchanged side from Easter Monday’s victory at home to Crewe Alexandra for this particular encounter.

In the opening moments, Sam Clucas drove towards goal before eventually trying his luck with an attempt that landed straight in the palms of Adam Davies from the approximate distance of 25 yards. From a free-kick, Conor Hourihane fired a long ball into the area that was only denied by a superb reflex save from Tommy Lee to his right-hand side after the ball made its way through a raft of bodies.

Another opportunity for the home side followed, only on this occasion on-loan forward George Waring directed his headed effort narrowly wide of Lee’s post after making contact with a driven Winnall cross. On 26 minutes, the Spireites deservedly took the lead courtesy of O’Shea’s calm finish to the left-hand side of Davies from just inside the area.  

Involved once again with the use of his head, Waring met an in-swinging corner-kick and rattled the crossbar before watching a defensive clearance remove any remote signs of danger. On the stroke of half-time, Clucas broke free of the defence only for play to be brought to an abrupt halt by a raised off-side flag.

After the break, Gary Roberts took up the option of a speculative attempt from range with Davies away from his line but the goalkeeper recovered well to pluck the ball from the air at the appropriate moment. O’Shea picked up possession on the edge of the area before turning and unleashing a forceful effort that evaded the crossbar by a matter of inches.

Just past the hour mark, the Tykes netted an equalising goal through Winnall’s simple tap-in on the six-yard line after a deflected cross made its way towards the clinical forward in a more than inviting position. With momentum on their side, the home side created another glorious opportunity only on this occasion Winnall’s tame effort from a headed knock-down caused no issues at all for Lee who comfortably gathered possession. 

Looking to take the lead for a second time, Tendayi Darikwa received the ball in an advanced position and struck narrowly wide of the post with Davies firmly rooted to the spot. During the three minutes of additional time, both sides continued to push but to no avail and ultimately settled for a point in their respective quests to claim a play-off place come the end of this season.