Spireites Cling in Colchester.

Chesterfield took a share of the points against Colchester United at the Weston Homes Community Stadium on Tuesday night, as Macauley Bonne's second-half strike was cancelled out by Lee Novak's finish from the penalty spot after Gary Liddle had been the recipient of an unfortunate first-half dismissal.

Danny Wilson made three alterations for this encounter, as Conor Dimaio, Ollie Banks and Emmanuel Dieseruvwe took the places of Liam O'Neil, Chris Herd and Rai Simons.

In the opening moments, Bonne broke free and tried his luck only to watch his forceful effort sail narrowly wide of the post. Owen Garvan took matters into his own hands with a strike from around 30 yards, which failed to trouble Tommy Lee.

On 17 minutes, Liddle was dismissed as a consequence of a forceful challenge which many within the stadium deemed to be a legitimate attempt at retrieving possession. Gboly Ariyibi evaded his marker and advanced before failing to find Dieseruvwe with the ensuing delivery.

Once again, a member of the home side in the form of Joe Edwards struck from range only to be denied by a diving save from Lee. Garvan tried his luck from a similar distance and for a second time in a matter of minutes, Lee produced an impressive save.

Just before the half-time whistle, Chris Porter finished with a simple tap-in from close range but the linesman's flag was raised for off-side.

After the break, Dimaio fired from 25 yards and watched his effort sail straight into the stands. Novak's attempted volley sailed past the post by a matter of inches, as part of a period of serious pressure for the Spireites.

With 69 minutes on the clock, the home side opened the scoring through Bonne's simple finish from six yards following a scramble inside the area. Three minutes later, Novak earned a penalty-kick and stepped up before finishing into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

As the game entered its closing stages, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake found space and forced a routine save from Elliott Parish with a left-footed attempt. For the full five minutes of additional time, both sides continued to push but to no avail and ultimately took a share of the points.