Spireites Draw Against Notts County.

Chesterfield came from behind to seal a 1-1 draw at the Proact Stadium on Saturday afternoon, with Blair Adams’s first-half strike being levelled by a Georg Margreitter header mid-way through the second period.

The first real chance in this contest fell to Zeli Ismael, who forced Tommy Lee into a terrific one-handed save with a powerful header from close range. With just 15 minutes on the clock, the away side took the lead through Adams’s perfectly placed shot from the edge of the area following a series of driven corner-kicks.

Jay O’Shea then squandered a glorious opportunity to equalise after the midfielder met a lofted pass from Sam Clucas before volleying narrowly wide of the post. On the counter-attack, the visitors almost netted a second through another Adams strike, although on this occasion he was denied by the post.

The rhythm of this contest from the opening 30 minutes was broken up with the help of the referee’s whistle, who was insistent on pulling up play for the most minor of issues. On the stroke of half-time, Tendayi Darikwa fired a looping cross miserably into the stands to cap off a mediocre performance in the first 45 minutes.

Immediately after the break, Armand Gnanduillet broke free of the defence before firing straight at Roy Carroll who palmed the ball to safety. A defensive lapse from the visitors left Daniel Johnson one-on-one with the opposing goalkeeper, but the Aston Villa loanee’s curled attempt sailed high and wide of the target.

A succession of chances for the Spireites raised the decibel level in the stadium dramatically, with Georg Margreitter and Gnanduillet being denied by the instantaneous reactions of Carroll. Just past the hour mark, Chesterfield grabbed that all-important equaliser courtesy of Margreitter’s towering header into the top right-hand corner of the net from eight yards following a Johnson corner-kick.

With Lee well off his line, Ismael tried his luck with an ambitious over-head kick that was headed superbly away from danger by Spireites’ skipper Ian Evatt. Liam Noble’s crunching tackle on Doyle in the latter stages of the game led the majority of the crowd to believe that he’d receive a red card, although the referee controversially opted for a yellow instead.

Carroll was to stake centre stage once again, rolling back the years to pull off two magnificent saves in a matter of moments as both Johnson and Gardner were denied from close range. Both sides continued to push for a winning goal during the full six minutes of additional time, but were ultimately forced to settle for a share of the points.