Spireites Draw Against Rochdale.

Chesterfield took a share of the points after playing out a 0-0 draw against Rochdale at the Proact Stadium. Despite the scoreline, the game didn’t lack in goalscoring opportunities during the full 90 minutes and was end-to-end in nature up until the final whistle.

Dean Saunders named an unchanged side from Tuesday’s 2-1 victory over Shrewsbury Town at Greenhous Meadow.

In the opening moments, Donal McDermott tried his luck with a strike from the edge of the area only to be denied by Sam Hird’s impressive defensive block. Peter Vincenti broke free of the Spireites’ defence and looked almost certain to score, but the linesman’s flag was already raised for off-side.

Involved once again, Vincenti thought he’d opened the scoring with a simple tap-in after a low cross by-passed Tommy Lee although the referee had already brought play to an abrupt halt after spotting an infringement. Waiting just inside the area, the ball fell kindly for visiting forward Joe Bunney, who forced a superb save from Lee on the half-volley.

A looping cross from the right-hand side found the head of a leaping Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, who directed the ball towards goal only to be denied by a sensational one-handed save from opposing goalkeeper Josh Lillis. At the other end, McDermott struck from close range and forced another very impressive save from Lee.

Just before the half-time whistle, Ebanks-Blake looked to put his side in front with a first-time strike but Lillis saved well and ultimately gathered possession for his side.

After the break, Lee Novak went to ground inside the area under a challenge from an opposing defender although on this occasion the referee controversially opted against awarding a penalty-kick to the Spireites. A neat through-ball from Ebanks-Blake made its way towards the feet of Novak inside the area, who fired straight into the palms of a resolute Lillis when expected to score.

Moving away from goal, McDermott managed to produce a powerful shot that was palmed initially by Lee who then recovered to gather a loose ball before an advancing Ian Henderson. Gboly Ariyibi’s introduction injected an enormous amount of pace into the Chesterfield attack, with the winger’s first involvement being a low cross that narrowly avoided a fellow forward on the six-yard line.

From a corner-kick, Ian Evatt rose to meet Jay O’Shea’s driven delivery and headed straight in the direction of Lillis who held with relative ease. Deep into the five minutes of additional time, Ariyibi evaded his marker and fired into the side-netting as both sides were forced to settle for a point from this fixture.