Spireites Victorious in Third Consecutive Fixture.

Chesterfield produced a stunning comeback to claim a 3-2 victory against Yeovil Town at Huish Park in this Good Friday fixture. James Hayter and Sam Foley provided the home side with a two-goal lead, only for it be rendered meaningless by a towering Sam Hird header and a stunning Jay O’Shea brace come the full-time whistle. 

Paul Cook named an unchanged side from Tuesday night’s trip to face Bradford City for this particular encounter.

In the opening moments, Drew Talbot met a failed clearance by the Glovers’ defence and fired wide of the post from a distance of 20 yards. On the counter-attack, Liam Shephard eventually tried his luck from distance with no defensive challenge forthcoming and narrowly avoided the crossbar with his strike. 

Just 19 minutes had been played in this contest prior to the home side taking the lead, as Hayter latched onto a neat through-ball and calmly finished under Tommy Lee from close range in a one-on-one situation. Looking for an equaliser, Gary Roberts launched a free-kick towards Talbot on the six-yard line who headed towards goal before being denied by a stunning reflex save from Artur Krysiak. 

Jimmy Ryan took up possession on the right-hand side and surprisingly took a shot that cannoned against the crossbar and behind for a goal-kick. On the stroke of half-time, Gozie Ugwu met an Ajay Leitch-Smith cross inside the area and volleyed straight into the palms of Lee when firmly expected to score. 

After the break, Tendayi Darikwa met a lofted pass in an advanced position and volleyed waywardly wide of the post. Then, with 57 minutes on the clock, the home side doubled their advantage as some suspect defending allowed Foley to go through on goal and finish past Lee with relative ease.

Only two minutes had passed before Hird reduced the deficit with a tremendous header from eight yards, courtesy of a perfect Roberts free-kick on the left-hand side which ultimately created this glorious opportunity for the consistent centre-back. Seven minutes later, O’Shea received the ball just outside the area and struck straight into the top right-hand corner of the net with Krysiak firmly rooted to the spot. 

Just 21 minutes of normal time were left to play when the Spireites completed the comeback and led for the first time in this contest, as an irresistible over-head kick from O’Shea made its way past a flailing Krysiak and nestled into the bottom left-hand corner of the net. Comfortable would be the way in which to describe the closing stages of this fixture, with Chesterfield also successfully playing out the five minutes of additional time before making the lengthy trip back to Derbyshire with a well-earned three points.