Chesterfield contrived to turn a hard-earned and deserved win into a draw against Morecambe at Saltergate this afternoon. Having gone behind after 40 seconds thanks to more of the customary poor marking at the back post, the Spireites battled their way back to lead until 40 seconds from the end of added time, when a cock-up at a throw and two poor clearances allowed the visitors to set up an equaliser that only the most one-eyed Shrimps fan would have thought deserved.
Chesterfield ran out an unchanged line-up from the Darlo game last Saturday, with Fletcher returning to the bench in place of The Chief. Morecambe made as many as seven changes to the side that drew 1-1 with Rochdale last time out.
40 seconds were on the clock when the visitors took the lead. A free kick was arrowed over towards the far post and? well, you know the rest. As is so many previous matches a ball to the back stick saw a visiting player risking agoraphobia to head it back, across goal and this time Curtis came in at the other post to head home from a yard or so.
To their credit Chesterfield were not downhearted; they stormed back and Lester broke into the box, on 2 minutes Lester was judged to have been brought down by Drench, the goalie, as he did so. A penalty was given and the keeper was booked. Ward's spot kick was saved by Drench, diving to his left.
Ward got on to the end of a headed Chesterfield clearance and ran through to chip the keeper on 4, but the ball squeezed wide. Lester took the ball into the box on 6; he was forced to the by-line but threaded a cross through to Ward, who was tackled as he shot, and the ball flew for a corner with Bastiams well placed to convert if he had been used.
It was all Chesterfield, but the visitors looked content to hit back on the break after adopting the sort of defensive outlook that has too easily confounded The Spireites recently. Curtis flashed a header wide from Creswell's cross on 11 and Bentley headed a free kick against the Chesterfield bar on 19.
Mostly, though, it was one-way traffic, towards the Morecambe goal. Lowry broke through on 22 and Lester's clever run pulled defenders away, so he continued his run into the box and shot inches wide. Ward was again tackled as he shaped to shoot on 24 and the ball ran to Bastians, whose shot was charged down. Robertson, Lester and Lowry linked in intelligent play to set up Picken, whose shot was pushed over by Drench.
Still, there was a chance that defensive uncertainty might allow Morecambe to extend their lead: a hoofed ball caused Kovacs to head back to Roche but the two weren't of the same mind, and it very nearly fell on a plate for Curtis. Luckily, Roche was able to stretch out a hand and tip the ball towards Robertson to clear.
As the half closed the home side's pressure increased. Lester headed a good Robertson cross over on 39 and hit the bar from eight yards after taking a ball from Lowry on 41. Another Lowry cross was headed over by Downes. As the half closed Kovacs went on a buccaneering run through the middle of the field and sent Lester through, but the keeper came out to gather the ball before Jack could get to it.
Halftime: 0-1
Chesterfield kept the pressure on from the start of the second half, but patient, intelligent stuff too often broke down after a misunderstanding between passer and receiver. Ten minutes into the second half, though, Chesterfield's effort was rewarded with an equaliser. Lowry found LESTER, who turned and shot home from a slight angle; a Morecambe man tried to block on the line and Ward followed up to make sure, but the ball was over from Lester's first effort. Morecambe immediately restored their opening 4-4-2 formation and Stanley broke through, forcing Roche topull off a good save with his legs.
As the visitors explored attack a little more, Ward came into his own with his pace on the counter, although the chasing defenders were usually able to dear at the expense of a growing Spireite corner count. Eight minutes after the equaliser the Spireites went in front; Bastians crossed from the left and LESTER planted a well-placed downward header into the net.
Ward was stopped by a last-ditch tackle on 66 but a goal-kick was given; Downes had a header blocked from a corner and Niven drove the loose ball goalwards, only to see that blocked, too. Morecambe brought Blinkhorn on to replace Sorvel.
A Lester chip on 74 seemed to roll along the bar before sliding off the back for a goal kick. The Spireites squandered a golden chance on 75 when Ward broke with Leven alongside him and Lester in pursuit, too; Ward took it past the keeper but a defender made ground to put himself between Ward and the goal; he elected to pass to Leven but the ball ran out with the goal at the Spireites' mercy.
Newby replaced Baker as Morecambe sought to rejuvenate a tired attack. Rooney came on for Bastians and immediately received a driven clearance from Roche before setting Lester up to shoot narrowly over. Jack was replaced by Fletcher on 82 to a standing ovation. Fletcher headed Picken's cross goalward on 85, but put placement before power and Drench was able to save.
The fourth official advertised four minutes' added time, much of it, one suspects, from when the Shrimps were slack at re-starting while in the lead. Some will also have gone on to cover the several multi-ball mess-ups that caused play to be dragged back too often in the second half. With forty seconds remaining, Chesterfield contrived to treat the visitors to a point.
It started with a throw to Chesterfield in the Morecambe half. You got the impression that the ref wanted Rooney, who had the ball, to get on with it; still, Leven wanted to take it and trotted towards the line. Rooney threw it at Leven as if throwing it in, and Leven picked it up. Handball; free kick to Morecambe. Morecambe wellied it into the danger zone; Rooney and Leven each had a go at clearances that didn't reach the halfway line and, as the defence backed off in a line, Grand smacked the ball through a crowd of players and beyond Roche's despairing dive from 25 yards.
Full-time: 2-2.
If you go out and leave your back door open, you shouldn't be surprised if someone legs it with your telly. "Daylight robbery," the fans muttered, as they walked away from Saltergate today. But these were Morecambe fans: Chesterfield fans were entitled to be substantially less philosophical. Late substitutions took off influential players but they were reasonably designed to keep the attacking momentum going, which is why attacking players were replaced with other attacking players, but you're entitled to wonder what Gray is here for, if it isn't to come on and shut up shop with ten minutes left. Debate about the substitutions will only mask the twin facts of today's failure, though: key defensive errors and a failure to convert even a small percentage of the many chances we created prevented us from winning, and we can only blame ourselves for that.
Subs Not Used: Gray, O'Hare, Winter.
Goals: Lester 56, 64.
Morecambe: Drench, Grand, Bentley, Cresswell,
Subs Not Used: Burns, Allen, Scott Davies.
Booked: Drench.
Goals: Curtis 1, Grand 90.
Att: 3,721.
Ref: Paul Melin (
