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CHESTERFIELD 2 LINCOLN CITY 1 - MATCH REPORT
The game was nowhere near as close as the scoreline suggests. It took Chesterfield a while to click into gear but when they did City couldn't live with the home side. However, after they nicked a goal from the blue late on, there were a few anxious moments for John Sheridan's men.
Skipper Ian Breckin had been suffering from a virus and missed the cup match at Walsall. Midfielder Dwayne Mattis deputised in that game as centre half and captain and he retained both roles for the visit of Red Imps.
The fact that he was playing further back than normal didn't dull his efficacy in front of goal. It was the ex-Huddersfield man, playing in direct opposition with former Terriers colleague Delroy Facey, who opened the scoring, glancing in a near-post header following a short-corner routine to bag his fourth goal of the season.
Up to that point, Chesterfield had coughed and spluttered and seen Lincoln enjoy the better start, but after cthe goal City rarely looked like they'd get back on level terms.
The game as a contest all but ended when the effective Craig Davies latched on to a delightful Jack Lester pass and held off a couple of defenders before slotting his second goal in from 15 yards out.
From then on, City's desire looked as though it had departed, something that was highlighted just before they scored when they wanted to bring on sub Scott Kerr.
Ian Pearce, assistant manager and veteran central defender, had moved into attack, with little influence but plenty of grunt, for which he received a yellow card.
With Kerr warmed up and ready but with play still going on, Pearce went to stand by the touchline waiting to be replaced.
The ball refused to go out of play, but Chris Sutton's No 2 just stood there waiting and waiting for about two minutes, not making any effort to affect the game until the ball went dead.
Despite that, moments later Lincoln had pulled one back. Joe Anderson delivered the ammunition and Ben Hutchinson, borrowed from Celtic, shot on the turn and the ball bounced over the line via the underside of the bar to register his first goal for Lincoln.
Kerr and the scorer had chances in the next mad minute or two, but the introduction of Breckin calmed the nerves and overtime was successfully negotiated without any further palpitations.
Between the Spireites' goal, the hosts were unlucky on a couple of occasions. Davies was upended by left-back Anderson, the foul looked inside the box, but a free-kick was awarded and Dean Morgan hit the wall from the free-kick.
Lester then had the ball in the net but provider Jack Hunt was adjudged to have carried the ball out as he crossed following a first-class run.
Mark Allott, making his 300th club appearance, was a supreme influence in the middle of the park, his vision, passing and tackling as good as at any time since his return to the club a year ago. Simon Ford was rock solid at the back while Lester notched another fine assist.
Wide men Drew Talbot and Morgan looked potent as the Spireites ratcheted up their game to move into the top three, having won their first three home league games for the first time since 2004.
Manager John Sheridan said: "I was pleased with the way we played, we deserved to win the game. They play with men behind the ball and make it very difficult for you and they don't let many goals in. I was pleased with the three points but disappointed that we didn't keep a clean sheet, but overall the lads were excellent
"We kept the ball very well, I wouldn't say we created lots of chances but we kept the ball moving, made them work and we scored enough goals to win the game.
"They were always a threat, they put boys into the box and that was a danger to us."
With no major knocks to report, the Spireites have a week to prepare for their trip to bottom club Morecambe.
Breckin and Ian Morris will be fully fit and the manager will have a welcome selection headache, particularly if the former is brought back into the side.
That will mean four-goal Mattis returns to midfield, an area where no-one in the quartet deserves to be replaced.
Match Report
I knew the match would be like it was; they're organised and solid and get men behind the ball.
We knew it would be difficult but I told the lads to be patient. We tried to open them up but they made it tough but we got the breakthrough from a great ball in by Dean Morgan and a glancing header from Dwayne Mattis.
Once we got that goal they had to come out a bit more.
We opened them up a bit and deserved to win the game. The ball in for the second goal from Jack Lester was quality. As a team we played very well.
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Weather for Sheffield
Tuesday 22 May 2012
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