Report by North Derbyshire Radio’s Football Correspondent Ben Smith
Chesterfield left it late to secure a share of the spoils against Milton Keynes Dons on Saturday, as the League Two sides played out a 1-1 draw at the SMH Group Stadium.
MK led for over an hour via Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, but would be denied all three points by a Tom Naylor header four minutes from the end of normal time.
The Spireites returned to home soil for the first time since a 2-2 with Crawley Town having been beaten away at Walsall, with a 1-0 loss marking their fourth to that opponent in the calendar year 2025.
This weekend’s visitors, meanwhile, suffered the same fate in their recent meeting with the Saddlers before losing again 3-2 against Grimsby Town last time out.
That meant both of these teams, fancied for promotion in pre-season, arrived winless in their last two league matches, adding an additional layer of pressure to an already high-stakes contest.
It would be Paul Warne’s side who made the first move towards relieving some of that pressure, with Hepburn-Murphy firing low under opposing ‘keeper Zach Hemming to open the scoring on 25 minutes.
Efforts towards an equaliser would be rather stuttering from the hosts up to the half-time interval, with standout chances for full-backs Vontae Daley-Campbell and Lewis Gordon both coming prior to the first 45’s only goal.
Once play resumed, Paul Cook did see some neater passages of build-up play from his players but still they continued to produce very little of note in the final third.
A set-piece, then, always seemed a likely avenue if indeed there was to be an equaliser and so it proved, as Naylor rose highest to send substitute Liam Mandeville‘s inviting corner goalbound.
And having witnessed a significant spell of inactivity home supporters were almost rewarded for their patience with a winner as another substitute Will Dickson raced clean through on goal, only to fire his shot straight at Craig MacGillivray.
So 1-1 it would remain as the final whistle went, meaning Chesterfield’s wait to return to winning ways continues as they head down to Bromley next weekend.
