Spireites Fall to Boxing Day Defeat.  

Chesterfield fell to their seventh consecutive league defeat against Peterborough United by a 2-0 scoreline at London Road on Saturday afternoon. Conor Washington’s brace acted as the difference between the two sides, with individual finishes coming in the first and second period.

Mark Smith made a total of two alterations for this particular encounter, as Derek Daly and Dan Gardner took the places of Drew Talbot and Gboly Ariyibi.

In the opening moments, Washington evaded his marker before firing straight in the direction of Tommy Lee who produced a relatively simple save to his right-hand side. Souleymane Coulibaly found space inside the area and tried his luck from close range, but once again Lee was there to deny the forward.

On the edge of the area, Ollie Banks connected with a driven cross and volleyed straight into the arms of Ben Alnwick who prepared to instigate an attack for his side. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake latched onto Jay O'Shea’s lofted through-ball and produced a forceful strike, only to watch his attempt sail straight into the stands.

Waiting inside the area, Coulibaly received a short pass and turned prior to firing wide of the post by a matter of inches. Michael Bostwick took matters into his own hands with a speculative effort from 30 yards which, in the end, went out of play for a throw-in.

Just before the half-time whistle, Washington connected with Joe Maddison’s driven delivery on the six-yard line and headed past a flailing Lee to put his side in front.

After the break, Coulibaly squandered another opportunity as the forward met an incisive cross and directed the ball behind for a goal-kick. Coulibaly found himself in an ideal situation for a second time in the space of a few minutes and fired over the crossbar, from the short distance of eight yards.

Breaking free of the Spireites’ defence was made to look straightforward by Washington, who then delayed his decision to shoot and was denied by Ian Evatt's last-ditch challenge. With 76 minutes on the clock, Washington doubled the home side’s lead with a powerful effort that evaded Lee and nestled into the top left-hand corner of the net.

As the game entered its closing stages, Martin Samuelsen struck from the edge of the area and was denied by Lee's impressive one-handed save. For the full three minutes of additional time, the Spireites continued to push but to no avail and ultimately fell to their seventh consecutive league defeat.