Stags Reserves 3 Chesterfield Reserves 0 , 10 Oct 2001

Report by Gordon Cleugh at Field Mill

The only change from the team which beat Rochdale last week was Andy White who replaced the injured Mark Hurst. Stags started out attacking the North Stand end. The first goal nearly came in the 3rd minute when Lazarus almost turned a cross from the right into his own net. Stags first goal attempt came in the 5^th minute when Jervis’s corner was played to Clarke who was well outside the box and his long range shot was deflected out for another corner.

In the 22^nd minute, a long ball found Bacon half way in Spireites half and he ran forward to put the ball in the net. Unfortunately, the referee had blown for offside and Bacon was cautioned for timewasting. Spireites only shot on target in the match came in the 24^th minutes when Jones shot weakly from the edge of the box and was covered comfortably by Bingham.

A minute later Bacon had a shot blocked by the keeper and Harris would have scored if he had responded quicker. In the 24^th minutes a defender miskicked a cross from the right by Harris and a near own goal miss for the 3^rd time in the match.

Stags took the lead in the 32^nd minute. A ball through from defence should have blocked by Spirites on the half way line but the player failed to connect and the ball ran to Harris who ran down the right wing and crossed to find Andy White unmarked 10 yards at the far post who shot past the keeper. Bacon almost made it two a minute later when his shot from outside the box was pushed over the bar for a corner.

The second goal came in the 40^th minute. A good cross from Jervis on the left went just in front of White in the centre but found Harris unmarked 10 yards out at the far post and he easily found time and space to put the ball in the back of the net. Harris had a chance to increase the lead a couple of minutes when he turned a Spireites player just in their half, ran 25 yards with the ball but mishit the shot into the side netting.

Bradley replaced White at the start of the 2^nd half. In the 50^th minute, Tankard had a good shooting opportunity but missed the first time and then mishit with the 2^nd attempt. In the 57^th minute, the ball fell to Bradley at the far post but his shot was smothered by the keeper. A minute later, Clarke’s cross was put out for a corner which was header over the bar by Bradley.

In the 67^th minute, Lazarus played a ball from the edge of the D to Harris who was unmarked at he right hand post but the shot was blocked by the keeper. Bradley then had a shot from the left to the near post and Harris nearly connected with the loose ball.

In the 71^st minutes a header from a Chesterfield corner was cleared off the line by Lazarus with Bingham beaten. Bacon should have scored in the 77^th minute when he met Clarke’s cross from the left at the far post but he scooped the ball over the bar.

The lead was finally increased in the 85^th minute. Jervis was brought down in the centre circle but the referee played advantage. The ball went out to the right and finally fell to Harris in the middle who had plenty of space and time to rifle the ball into the net. Elliott replaced Harris for the last 5 minutes. In stoppage time, he made a cross which Bradley failed to connect with. A moment later, Lazarus crossed to Bradley who was unmarked on the left but his shot went just over the bar.

Shayne Bradley looked a lot sharper than last week when admittedly he did not see much of the action in the 25 minutes he was on the field. MOM in my book was Barrett who never stopped.

Stags Line Up: Bingham, Asher, Jervis, Clarke, Holyoak, Barrett, Lazarus, Tankard, A.White (Bradley 45), Bacon, Harris (Elliott 87). Subs: Buxton, Rew, J. White(goalkeeper)

Spireites: Armstrong, Hewitt, Barrett, Pearce, Warne, D’Auria, Walsh, Hall, France, Jones, Wilding. Subs: Richmond, M Smith, A Smith, James, Rushbury