Chesterfield's Will Evans struggles to put 'surreal' afternoon into words after late equaliser and penalty save heroics

Spireites hero Will Evans could scarcely put his emotions into words after what he called a 'surreal' and 'crazy' end to today's game with Ebbsfleet United.
Will Evans and Tom Denton celebrate Town's late, late levellerWill Evans and Tom Denton celebrate Town's late, late leveller
Will Evans and Tom Denton celebrate Town's late, late leveller

The centre-half had already grabbed the headlines with a towering stoppage time header that sealed an incredible comeback and a 3-3 scoreline and sent the Proact into raptures.

But if a comeback from three goals down wasn't enough drama, Town keeper Callum Burton then saw red, lashing out at Michael Cheek to earn a red card and concede a penalty.

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Evans put on the goalkeeper gloves and produced yet more heroics, going the right way to palm out Cheek's spot-kick and secure a point for Town.

"It was surreal, the whole thing" he said afterwards.

"It was crazy to be honest.

"The feeling of scoring the equaliser was incredible, especially with the fans down that top end.

"You could feel the tension building and as soon as it went in it just erupted.

"We just said, as a back four, we don't lose this game, we can't lose this game.

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"Cal getting sent off, having to face a penalty was bizarre to say the least.

"To be fair he couldn't have helped me out more with the penalty, it wasn't a great one, but you've still got to be there to save it."

With new manager John Sheridan expected to take charge by midweek, Town sit in the National League relegation zone.

Evans hopes today's high drama will act as a turning point for the Spireites and kick-start a season that has thus far spluttered along.

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"I was just speaking to Haydn (Hollis). Sometimes you need something like this in a season, whether it be an FA Cup run, anything. Sometimes you need the kick up the backside and something like this can turn a season around and bring you a bit of belief, mentality, momentum to go forward.

"We don't want to go any further down. We want to step up and move forward."

The defender was keen to highlight the work caretaker boss John Pemberton has done to give the squad 'belief' since the departure of Martin Allen.

"Sometimes you get into a rut in a season and if things aren't going right you do need a fresh voice, a fresh style of play, fresh training sessions. Especially when things aren't going right.

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"There's no disrespect to Martin Allen, he's a very experienced manager and he brought me in. But it wasn't to be.

"The freshen up came at a good time for us.

"Hartlepool at home we should have won, Solihull was a good point.

"Pembo has given us a little bit of belief, which is needed at times. His training sessions have been really good."