Lee Richardson made four changes to the Chesterfield line-up for the visit of Peterborough United to Saltergate this evening. Out went Moloney, O'Hare, Smith and Gray; in came Cooper, for his full debut, Downes, Ward and Picken.
A good early cross from Cooper on 3 was hacked away from in front of Ward by Morgan, who went into the referee's notebook two minutes later for bodychecking Ward after the forward had turned him ten yards inside the Posh half. The dangerous Mclean cut in from the right and shot from a narrow angle on 8 but Roche palmed the shot away and Lowry was on hand to clear.
Leven was pushed in the back by Lee on 11 and Ward struck the free kick to the keeper's left; it may just have clipped a post on its way out. The game's first corner was won in the 21st minute by Chesterfield, after Cooper's cross was blocked. The kick was partially cleared and Niven shot from the edge of the area; it pinballed through to Lester, who looked to be pushed over as he tried to turn. Lowry, close to the post, tried to turn the ball home but the keeper did enough to force the ball out for a third corner. From this, Lowry flashed a header narrowly over.
Chesterfield were enjoying slightly the better of the game at this stage, perhaps because Peterborough were content to hold, letting the Spireites have possession rather than forcing the issue. Posh were always a danger on the break. MacKail-Smith posed the greatest threat and went down near the box under a Kovacs challenge, but the referee waved play on.
The game turned against Chesterfield on the stroke of half time. MacKail-Smith put over a fairly innocuous cross from the left and Roche came to collect on the ground, but fumbled. Downes might have cleared but was by now on the wrong side of Maclean, who tapped it in from six yards to pull level with Jack Lester in the division's leading scorer list.
From somewhere, Peterborough's game acquired a nasty edge in first half stoppage time, and Maclean was booked for a challenge that just missed Leven and Picken, but was malicious in intent.
Peterborough's players were out warming up before the home side returned and the benefit of that was evident within two minutes of the re-start. MacKail-Smith's turn left Kovacs for dead on halfway and, seeing it coming, three Peterborough men set off towards the Chesterfield goal. Only two defenders were up with them by the time MacKail-Smith crossed for Boyd to rifle home and double the visitors' lead. MacKail-Smith might have added to that a few minutes later, sliding in towards Newton's cross but just failing to get a touch at the base of the post.
Lester managed to work the ball into the box on 52 and saw a shot saved, but it was a rare direct strike on the Peterborough citadel. Fletcher replaced Niven on 56 as the homesters went 4-4-3 to try to rescue the game. Still, though, the Spireite attack hardly ever troubled the Posh rearguard. Westwood marshalled Lester well and Morgan was a match for Fletcher, while Ward was easily crowded out.
Lester went into the book for some sort of after-the-ball challenge on Day as both slid off the field towards the Kop. It was difficult to resist the conclusion that the booking owed much to Peterborough's continued crowding of the ref by four or five players at every contrary decision. This, on the day the club was charged with failing to control its players! In truth, they didn't need to do this, since Chesterfield, despite a good share of possession, were unable to trouble the visitors' goalkeeper.
Indeed, Posh always looked most likely to score, and Downes had to get a leg in to deflect a Mclean shot for a corner on the hour mark.
Winter replaced the tiring Cooper on 68. For some reason that was not readily apparent, Gnapka and Lee began a substantial disagreement that led to team-mates having to keep them apart; if the Spireites had been in the game at this stage, then this toying with the self-destruct button might have cost Posh. Gnapka was only calmed down after he was booked for going in late on Ward, on 75, as the Spireite won a corner. From the flag kick Fletcher's run pulled the Posh defence for the first time that night, but the ball was hacked away.
At the other end Roche pulled off a good save, tipping Lee's shot over; from the corner, Winter cleared off the line from Mclean's header. When a Ward corner was cleared only to Leven on 87 he worked a flashing cross shot in from the left, and LESTER got the slightest of touches from short range to guide the ball home.
Hatch and Williams came on for Posh as four minutes of stoppage time began. In the second minute Lester broke into the box and was pulled to the ground by Williams, who was promptly red-carded by the referee. In lasting only two minutes, Williams at least managed to stay on the pitch some four times as long as Colchester's Stephen Hunt, sent off seconds after coming on here in 2004.
Leven strode forward to take the penalty but was made to wait, as Williams was allowed to take the proverbial, opting for the scenic route off the pitch. Still, Leven was confident enough to pause in his run-up and attempted a low shot to the keeper's left but it lacked power, and the goalie, guessing correctly, was able to dive to tip the ball round the post. To his credit the referee played two and a half minutes over the four, but Chesterfield were deflated by the penalty miss. An obviously disappointed Leven made for the tunnel where the first man to offer consolation was, ironically, Barry Roche.
