Spireites Prevail Against Crewe Alexandra.

Chesterfield prevailed against Crewe Alexandra by a 2-1 scoreline to seal their first victory in five league outings at Gresty Road on Saturday afternoon, with Dan Gardner's two individual strikes either side of David Fox's finish earning the three points.

Dean Saunders made a total of three changes for this particular encounter, as Charlie Raglan, Rai Simons and Emmanuel Dieseruvwe took the places of Sam Hird, Ollie Banks and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.

With just five minutes on the clock, the Spireites opened the scoring through Gardner's simple finish into the back of an empty net after a low cross by-passed the opposing goalkeeper. Jay O'Shea broke free of the defence and looked almost certain to score, but failed with his low strike that bounced narrowly wide of the post.

As part of the home side's first notable period of pressure, Ryan Colclough's driven delivery from the left-hand side was gathered comfortably by Tommy Lee. Emmanuel Dieseruvwe latched onto a short pass inside the area and dragged his effort low and disappointingly wide of the post.

On 33 minutes, the home side levelled the scoring through Fox's first-time strike from just outside the area that nestled straight into the bottom left-hand corner of the net. Brad Inman found himself with a clear shot at goal from the edge of the area, but slipped as he struck and watched the ball bounce out of play for a goal-kick.

Just before the half-time whistle, George Cooper tried his luck from around 20 yards and failed to trouble Lee who prepared himself for a goal-kick.

Exactly 12 minutes had been played before the Spireites reinstated their lead, as Gardner's stunning half-volley from just outside the area sailed straight into the top left-hand corner of the net. O'Shea took matters into his own hands with an individual run that culminated in a curled effort that sailed narrowly wide of the post.

After pouncing on a loose ball, Sam Morsy advanced towards goal before firing straight in the direction of Ben Garratt who held with relative ease. Colclough, evidently the home side's main attacking outlet, found space and delivered into the area only for Lee to catch and prepare to instigate another attack.

As the game entered its closing stages, Colclough took the initiative once again with a strike from range that was blocked by the body of a resolute Ian Evatt. For the full four minutes of additional time, the Spireites retained possession and more importantly sealed a first win in a total of five league outings.