Report by North Derbyshire Radio’s Ben Smith.

10-man Chesterfield missed another chance to gain true ground in the League Two play-off race, surrendering a lead to draw 1-1 with previously bottom side Harrogate Town.

Lee Bonis notched the opening goal early in the match only to later be sent off; a numerical advantage upon which substitute Tobias Brenan pounced to earn the visitors a point.

The Spireites returned to home soil having claimed a 3-2 victory at Bristol Rovers last time out, with a rollercoaster contest seeing them both lead 1-0 and trail 2-1 before James Berry’s acrobatic volley ultimately sealed all three points.

Awaiting at the SMH Group Stadium were a Harrogate side also looking to secure back-to-back wins, with their 2-1 triumph over promotion  contenders Cambridge United ending a 20-game winless streak in the league, one which stretched all the way back to September 2025.

Chances of a repeat of that coupon-buster were seemingly narrowed just 12 minutes in here though as Bonis poked home to give Paul Cook’s side the lead, supplied superbly by Liam Mandeville in his first appearance since the announcement of a new two-year contract.

That would be the only goalscoring action of the first half, though Tom Pearce did force a fine stop from opposing ‘keeper Henry Gray on one of several marauding runs forward from full-back.

Once play resumed and the hour mark approached the Blues would probably have been relatively content with their work then, but they were about to be handed a significant blow as their goalscorer was dismissed for a second booking.

That latter caution came in rather bizarre fashion as Bonis was already off the field having received treatment, where he was subsequently penalised for rolling the ball away to delay the taking of a throw-in.

Naturally, the momentum of the match swung rather drastically once the hosts went down to 10, with Cook opting to drop into a back five in an attempt to see out the game.

Those efforts would ultimately prove to be in vain however, as substitute Brenan stroked home an equaliser with a little over six minutes of normal time to play.

That late strike meant Chesterfield were forced to settle for a point, but they will have a swift chance to return to winning ways when back at home again to face Gillingham on Tuesday.