Mansfield Town v Chesterfield FC Report
Chesterfield take a share of the points at One Call Stadium.
This ended as a typical 0-0 draw, in which very few goalscoring opportunities were created by either side.
Spireites boss Paul Cook made two changes from Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat at Plymouth, with Sam Hird and Daniel Kearns taking the places of both Jimmy Ryan and Jay O’Shea.
The away side nearly took an early lead in this contest, but a close range effort from Marc Richards was magnificently cleared off the line. The hosts’ Lee Beevers tried a half-volley from the edge of the visitors’ area that just sailed over the crossbar.
Gary Roberts stepped up to take a free-kick from an ideal distance, but fired straight at Mansfield goalkeeper Alan Marriott who saved comfortably. On the stroke of half-time, Tendayi Darikwa spurned an opportunity to shoot and the danger was ultimately cleared by the Stags’ defence.
Chesterfield made one change at the break, with Mason Bennett replacing Ollie Banks.
After the restart, Bennett got straight in on the action with a powerful shot that just sailed wide of the post. Darikwa unleashed a ferocious left-footed effort that just evaded the crossbar, as part of a very bright start to the second period from the Spireites.
On 63 minutes, the home side opted to make a double substitution. Sam Clucas replaced Jamie McGuire whilst Lindon Meikle took to the field in place of John Dempster. Adam Murray’s pass across goal just required a slight touch from a fellow member of the hosts’ attack, although nobody was in the right place at the right time to provide it.
With 19 minutes left to play, the away side made two alterations of their own. Eoin Doyle replaced Kearns and Armand Gnanduillet entered proceedings at the expense of Richards. Mansfield’s Clucas met a cross from Meikle, but his header fell wide of the post as the home side began to look the team in the ascendancy.
It was then announced that there would be four minutes of additional time.
The last chance of this contest fell to the feet of the hosts’ Ollie Palmer, but the forward stabbed the ball disappointingly wide of Tommy Lee’s post after receiving a headed pass from Clucas.
