The score-line may look reasonably comfortable for the Championship side but their second goal came three minutes into stoppage time right at the end of a game that saw Spireites whack the bar, clip the post and see keeper Andy Lonergan show his class.
That said, Chesterfield No.1 Tommy Lee was the outstanding performer on the night.
The ex-Manchester United man somehow denied Karl Hawley on three occasions, Darren Carter saw a header palmed away and Paul McKenna couldn't believe his long range shot didn't beat Lee.
Sheffield born son of ex-Owl Ian, Neil Mellor, was denied from a close range header and even when he scored the first of his brace, it came after Lee had flung himself left to block a Hawley header from a Ross Wallace cross.
Immediately after the goal, Jamie Ward burst through only to be denied by the legs of the keeper.
That was quickly followed by chances for Jack Lester, Alan Goodall and Lloyd Kerry.
With time running out, Paul Harsley thumped a shot against the bar and Ward's free kick was deflected onto the edge of the upright by Lonergan.
North End doubled their lead in the 93rd minute to give the final score an uneven look.
Richardson saw plenty of positives: "I thought it was an excellent game, an end to end football match. I was slightly disappointed with some of our possession in the first half, we gave the ball away too cheaply especially down the right hand side but in the second half we were probably the better side, we created quite a few good chances."
CLICK ON THE GREEN PLAY BUTTON ABOVE TO SEE MATCH PICTURESPreston: Lonergan 7, Hart 6, St Ledger 8, Jones 7, Davidson 7, Carter 6, McKenna 7, Nicholson 6, Wallace 8, Hawley 5, Mellor 7. Subs (not used): Neal, Chaplow, Jarrett, Sedgwick, Whaley, Ormerod, Hill
Goals: Mellor 36, 90+3
Chesterfield: Lee 9, Picken 6, Page 7, Austin 6, Goodall 7, Lowry 6, Kerry 6 (Niven 57 / 6), Harsley 7, Robertson 6 (Currie 46 / 7), Lester 7, Ward 7. Subs (not used): Whatsize, Downes, Winter, Hall, Boden
Booked: Niven (foul) 75
Referee: Graham Laws (Whitley Bay)
Attendance: 5,150
What do you think? Post your comments below. READ MORE Football headlinesMore BladesMore OwlsMore SpireitesMore RoversMore RedsMore MillersMore Ice HockeyMore rugby leagueMore rugby unionMore boxingSports columnistsAll sport categoriesThe full article contains 461 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
