Lee Richardson used the game to try new things and new combinations. Kovacs and Hawkins were paired uo in central defence for the first time while a three-man midfield featured Picken, skippering the side, at its heart. Owens made his full debut, joining Fletcher and Ward up front.
Fletcher flicked on to Ward and his effort was deflected out for the first corner of the game by Dimech, on 5. Fletcher got up to Hartley's flag kick and his header was scrambled out for a second corner. Hartley's shorter kick was cleared from the near post. Lowry's fine cross looked to be heading for Fletcher but Dimech again got in to concede the Spireites' third corer. It was poorly worked, however, and resulted only in a throw. Owens won his side's fourth corner on 10.
As Chesterfield continued to look the most comfortable Kovacs got free of his marker to head goalwards on 21 but Brain dealt with it well in the Macc goal. Niven worked a fine ball to Ward, who crossed, but the ball was cleared for a fifth Chesterfield corner on 25. Owens worked hard on the left to win another Spireites corner three minutes later; Kerry picked up the loose ball and shot well, forcing Brain into a good save. Owens was the next to force Brain to save on 29, as Macc found it difficult to match the Chesterfield forward's pace.
Fletcher and Walker squared up on 33 with Fletch feeling that the Macc man had elbowed him, but no officials saw anything. Kovacs went into the book on 37 for a foul on Thomas as Macc launched a rare attack. Evans gave the home side the lead on 41, latching onto Ashton's low cross from a quickly-taken free kick as the visitors' defence dozed somewhat.
Gritton was booked for catching Hawkins in the face on 42. Evans shot wide of the left post as Macc finished the half strongly.
Halftime: 1-0 to Macc.
Dowson and Robertson came on for the second half, Niven and Kovacs being the men replaced. Macc defended deep, but with confidence, keeping possession and content to put in quick counters; sloppiness in Spireite play prevented the visitors from sustaining any momentum.
Green replaced Green on 65 and Bruce Dyer replaced Fletch on 67. There were 504 Spireites, many in fancy dress, in the crowd of 2,573. Unfortunately they were denied much to celebrate in a lacklustre second half. Roche pulled off a good save to deny Evans on 81. Dimech was booked for a nasty foul on Owens on 84. Symes replaced Evans on 87. Thomas broke through but Picken's fine tackle in the box denied him. Dyer won a corner for Chesterfield in a late flurry but it was cleared. Jennings replaced Macclesfield's Thomas on 89.
