Spireites Exit the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

Sean McAllister and former Spireite Gary McSheffrey both netted against a weakened Chesterfield side to claim a 2-0 victory for the Iron at Glanford Park on Tuesday night, with Jack Broadhead’s second-half dismissal adding insult to injury for the Spireites.

Tommy Lee was forced straight into action as he pulled off a superb one-legged save following McSheffrey’s drive from range that deflected against the body of Charlie Raglan. On the counter-attack, Charlie Dawes threaded a through-ball straight to Armand Gnanduillet whose low effort forced Robert Olejnik into an impressive save to his right-hand side.

With only 16 minutes on the clock, the home side took the lead courtesy of McAllister’s ferocious drive from inside the area that both Raglan and Aaron Chapman, who had previously replaced the injured Lee, failed to stop in its path towards goal. Ten minutes later, the Iron doubled their advantage through McSheffrey’s close range finish from six yards into an open goal following an unfortunate slip from Chapman.

After breaking free of the defence, Paddy Madden struck first-time only to be denied by the palm of a back-tracking Chapman. On the stroke of half-time, a low Gboly Ariyibi cross made its way to Ollie Banks on the edge of the area before the midfielder blazed the ball high and disappointingly wide of the target.

The Spireites came out flying after the break as Banks latched onto a Daniel Johnson cross with a towering header that fell straight into the hands of Olejnik. Ariyibi’s through-ball found Johnson only a matter of yards from goal, although the Aston Villa loanee spurned a golden opportunity with an attempt that sailed narrowly wide of the post

A lull in proceedings followed, with the majority of play being shared in the middle of the field between the two sides. The hosts failed to threaten for most of the second period, with Summer signing Billy Kee going closest with a header that just sailed wide of Chapman’s post.

On 84 minutes, Broadhead received his second yellow card of the evening on his full debut for the club as a consequence of a cynical challenge on Kee. In the closing stages, Jimmy Ryan struck first-time on the edge of the area following a Banks corner-kick, only to be denied by another magnificent one-handed save from Olejnik as the Spireites exited the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy in the first round.