Spireites Defeated in Second Consecutive Fixture.

Chesterfield fell to defeat against Port Vale by a 3-2 scoreline at Vale Park on Saturday afternoon. Sam Kelly, AJ Leitch-Smith and Louis Dodds netted for the Valiants whilst individual finishes from Lee Novak and Rai Simons failed to make a difference to the overall result.

Dean Saunders made one single alteration for this particular encounter, as Sam Hird took the place of Drew Talbot.

With six minutes on the clock, the home side opened the scoring through Kelly's individual strike from just outside the area which beat Tommy Lee all-ends-up. Three minutes later, Novak levelled the scoring through a first-time volley from close range which the opposing goalkeeper was absolutely powerless to stop.

Ten minutes into proceedings, Leitch-Smith reinstated the home side's lead with an almost identical finish to that of his fellow attacker from a similar distance. Involved once again, Novak picked up possession and struck from distance only to watch his effort sail waywardly wide of the post.

After meeting a driven delivery, Dodds directed his headed attempt straight into the arms of Lee who prepared to instigate another attack. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake took the initiative with an individual effort from just outside the area, but a member of the opposing defence performed a resolute block.

Just before the half-time whistle, Richard Wood placed the ball into an empty net from a matter of yards but the linesman's flag was already raised for off-side.

Three minutes had been played in the second period before the home side doubled their advantage, as Dodds fired from range and watched the ball nestle into the bottom right-hand corner of the net. Jay O'Shea took matters into his own hands with a lone run that culminated in an effort which sailed straight into the stands.

A driven free-kick was met by the towering Novak, who directed the ball towards goal only for Jak Alnwick to produce an absolutely stunning diving save. Hird met a failed clearance on the home side's behalf before striking high and wide of the crossbar from the speculative distance of 30 yards.

As we entered the closing stages, Ebanks-Blake connected with Gboly Ariyibi’s lofted pass near the six-yard line and managed to direct the ball wide of the post when expected to score. During the three minutes of additional time, Simons rifled the ball into the top right-hand corner of the net from 20 yards but this failed to make a difference to the overall result.