Spireites Secure in Southend.  

Chesterfield secured victory by a 1-0 scoreline against Southend United at Roots Hall on Saturday afternoon, with Lee Novak's second-half strike acting as the ultimate difference between the two sides.  

Danny Wilson made two alterations for this particular encounter, as Dion Donohue and Gary Liddle took the places of Drew Talbot and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.  

In the opening moments, David Worrall connected with a driven cross and directed his headed effort against the post despite the fact that Tommy Lee was firmly rooted to the spot. Lee Novak broke free of the defence and looked set to strike, but the linesman's flag was raised for off-side.  

Picking up possession on the edge of the area allowed Ollie Banks to shoot first-time, only for the opposing goalkeeper to produce an impressive save to his left-hand side. Novak received the ball, took one touch and turned before firing straight into the arms of a resolute Dan Bentley.  

Connecting with a low delivery enabled Novak to test Bentley, although the forward's last-ditch attempt was parried and eventually cleared to safety. Conor Dimaio evaded his marker before trying his luck, but the midfielder's effort was denied by the opposing goalkeeper.  

Just before the half-time whistle, Will Atkinson took matters into his own hands with a lone run which culminated in a strike that sailed waywardly wide of the post.  

After the break, Ben Coker's short corner-kick was met by Jack Payne who unleashed a powerful effort which sailed narrowly wide of the post. Noel Hunt met a driven cross on the six-yard line and headed straight at Lee, who produced an absolutely stunning save.  

Taking up free-kick duties, Banks struck from around 25 yards and watched his forceful attempt sail straight into the stands. David Mooney went to ground inside the area and made claims for a penalty-kick, only for the referee to signal play to continue.  

With 89 minutes on the clock, Novak opened the scoring with a simple finish past Bentley in a one-on-one situation after latching onto Banks's inch-perfect through-ball. For the full four minutes of additional time, the home side maintained a period of pressure but failed to capitalise and ultimately fell to defeat.