Spireites Defeated by Bradford City.

Chesterfield fell to their sixth consecutive league defeat against Bradford City by a 1-0 scoreline at the Proact Stadium on Saturday afternoon, with Tony McMahon’s second-half strike acting as the difference between the two sides.

Mark Smith made four changes from Tuesday’s penalty shoot-out defeat at Walsall in an FA Cup second-round replay, as Sam Hird, Dion Donohue, Gboly Ariyibi and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake took the places of Sam Morsy, Dan Gardner, Lee Novak and Emmanuel Dieseruvwe.

In the opening moments, Ebanks-Blake picked up possession on the edge of the area before turning and directing the ball straight in the direction of Ben Williams who saved with relative ease. At the other end, a member of the Bradford attack struck the post with a glancing header following a driven corner-kick that evaded each member of the Spireites’ defence.

By beating his marker and producing a looping cross, Liam O'Neil provided a headed opportunity for Ebanks-Blake but the striker failed to trouble Williams who gathered possession. Kyel Reid took matters into his own hands with a strike from range that was pushed behind by Tommy Lee, courtesy of an impressive one-handed save.

In an advanced position, O'Neil met a loose ball on the edge of the area and evaded the crossbar by a matter of inches with his effort that followed. Ian Evatt rose highest to meet a driven corner-kick prior to directing his headed attempt waywardly wide of the post and into the stands, much to the disappointment of the home support.

Just before the half-time whistle, Ebanks-Blake wasted another headed opportunity after directing the ball wide of the post from eight yards.

After the break, Reid struck the post with a forceful effort from range that cannoned straight out of play for a goal-kick. James Hanson met a driven corner-kick for the away side and was denied in the end by Lee's quick reactions, which enabled the goalkeeper to make a one-handed save to his right-hand side.

On the hour mark, Ebanks-Blake broke free and finished with ease past Williams only for the linesman's off-side flag to bring premature celebrations to an abrupt end. With 72 minutes on the clock, the visitors opened the scoring through McMahon’s powerful strike from close range that sailed past Lee and nestled into the top right-hand corner of the net.

As the game entered its closing stages, half-time substitute Ritchie Humphreys tried his luck from the speculative distance of 30 yards and watched the ball sail straight into the stands. For the full four minutes of additional time, the Spireites continued to push but to no avail and ultimately fell to their sixth consecutive league defeat.