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Five-goal Spireites have oppositon at sixes and sevens
Chesterfield 5 Darlington 2
CHESTERFIELD bagged five goals for the third time this season, this time despatching bottom club Darlington.
Steve Staunton's side offered stubborn resistance for much of the first half, played in very heavy rain, but once Chesterfield got a taste for hitting the target there was going to be only one winner.
The opener came from an unlikely source. Central defender Rob Page, playing his 450th league game, hit a stretched left-foot volley from a David Perkins corner to register his first goal for the club eight minutes before the break.
Midfielder Mark Allott hammered a 20-yarder through a crowd after a partially-cleared corner in first-half stoppage time to effectively take the game away from the side with the section's worst away record, though the Quakers did show some signs of hope in the second period.
Keeper Tommy Lee ventured out of his area and made a complete hash of his clearance to allow James Collins to loop in a perfect 40-yard finish with his first touch after coming on as a sub about 20 seconds earlier.
Loan winger Kieran Djilali then restored the two-goal cushion with a goal of great quality. He picked the ball up on the left, well out of the danger zone, ran into the box and left-footed a neat angled shot to register his first ever senior goal.
Scott Boden came on as a sub with 80 minutes played and rifled a shot on to the underside of the bar as Spireites looked totally confident.
But Darlington then caused some consternation. Lee parried a Collins shot after neat work by Simon Thomas and Jonathan Hogg, borrowed from Villa, stabbed home on his senior bow.
Boden then took centre stage, hitting a shot that squirmed under keeper Nick Liversedge after two blocked shots from Jack Lester, in his 100th game for the club.
Then Lester put a second for the sub on a plate after a wonderful mazy dart into the danger zone and a perfect pass to his colleague who completed as easy a strike as you can imagine to make it seven wins in eight league games for the in-form Spireites.
Manager John Sheridan said: "The most important thing was getting the three points.
"It's pleasing to get five goals but I'd like a few clean sheets. The conditions were tricky and we managed to keep our home league form going.
"Steve Staunton's side made life difficult for us. They worked hard and got men behind the ball.
I'm sure Steve will get them out of trouble."
Page and Djilali's goals mean that 14 different players have found their way on to the scoresheet this season and Sheridan acknowledged the importance of this.
"We have people from all over the pitch who can score goals. I like us all to be a threat from all positions.
"It's a team effort and not about individuals. Jack's been getting all of the goals for the last few years so it's good to see more scorers."
Chesterfield travel to Alan Knill's Bury tomorrow night for what promises to be a much tougher game.
One man who'll not feature is midfielder Darren Currie. The 34-year-old midfielder, who was awarded a three-year contract by the-boss Lee Richardson at the start of last season, is set to join Dagenham & Redbridge today.
Currie, who's time at Saltergate rarely reached the heights expected considering his reputation, briefly played for Daggers boss John Still at Barnet.
The initial move is a loan, but Sheridan expects the transfer to be made permanent by Chesterfield's promotion rivals in January.
As Currie moves out, one potential replacement got his first taste of the big time against at the weekend, albeit a brief one.
Terrell Lewis, signed a few weeks ago from Chalfont St Peters, five footballing levels below the Spireites, came on as an injury-time sub and managed one decent dribble.
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Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: East
