Chesterfield FC v Newport County Report
6th April 2014
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Spireites concede late to draw with Newport.
 
Jimmy Ryan opened the scoring in the first few minutes of the second period, before Max Porter’s equaliser against the run of play in the latter stages of the game rescued a point for the Exiles.
 
Spireites boss Paul Cook made one forced change from Sunday’s defeat against Peterborough at Wembley, with Daniel Kearns taking the place of the injured Ollie Banks.
 
The first real chance of the game fell to the feet of the visitors’ Shaun Jeffers, but his curling effort just sailed wide of Chesterfield goalkeeper Tommy Lee’s post. Eoin Doyle broke free of the Newport defence and fired a strong pass across goal that, much to his frustration, failed to reach a fellow member of the attack.
 
As the home side began to grab a foothold in the game, Jay O’Shea tried his luck from range although Ian McLoughlin got down well to his left-hand side to deny the midfielder. On the stroke of half-time, Jimmy Ryan burst forward from midfield before unleashing a forceful drive from an awkward angle that just skipped wide of the post.
 
It took just three minutes after the break for the Spireites to open the scoring, as Jimmy Ryan caught McLoughlin off his line and lofted the ball magnificently over the Irishman from just outside the area. Doyle thought he’d doubled his side’s lead with an effort on the half-volley, but the flag was already raised for off-side.
 
Only seconds had passed before the home side had the ball in the back of the net for the second time in the space of a few minutes, courtesy of a smart close range finish from Kearns but the linesman brought a halt to the hosts’ celebrations once again. With 76 minutes on the clock, Marc Richards replaced Doyle as the home side looked to alter their approach in the final third.
 
Moments after entering the fray, Richards spurned the best chance of the game as the striker went through one-on-one with McLoughlin before firing straight at the Newport ‘keeper. With seven minutes left to play, good interplay from Newport allowed Porter an opportunity to shoot and he placed the ball smartly to the right-hand side of Lee from just outside the area.
 
As the fourth official announced that there would be five minutes of additional time, the home crowd came to life as they encouraged their team towards a second and ultimately winning goal. Ritchie Humphreys went close in time added on, but failed to connect with a cross as Chesterfield dropped two points in the race for promotion from League Two.
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