Report by North Derbyshire Radio Senior Football Correspondent Ben Smith
Chesterfield gave their League Two play-off hopes a significant boost on Tuesday, beating 10-man Carlisle United 2-1 at the SMH Group Stadium.
Second half strikes from Liam Mandeville and Paddy Madden opened up what looked a relatively comfortable two-goal lead for their side, only for Joe Hugill to pull one back and set up a tense end to the game.
This fixture always had the feeling of a big one for both teams, with a five-game unbeaten run breathing new life into the Spireites’ late dash for the top seven.
Meanwhile, Carlisle arrived in North Derbyshire rapidly running out of time to bridge the nine-point gap to safety at the other end of the table.
And it was the strugglers who registered the game’s first major moment, though striker Georgie Kelly was unable to truly punish Jamie Grimes’ ill-judged cross-field pass as his rushed effort fell gratefully to Ryan Boot in goal.
The visitors’ hopes of gaining three crucial points would largely begin and end there, however, as Jenson Metcalfe, Ollie Banks and Armando Dobra all went close to opening the scoring at the other end throughout the first half.
What had started to look like a difficult battle for Mark Hughes’ men then got significantly harder when Embleton, only recently introduced for the injured Sean Fusire, was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Dobra.
And if the opening 45 had seen a steady trickle of chances for the hosts, the numerical advantage brought a full blown storm when things resumed after the interval.
It was one the Cumbrians would withstand for nearly half an hour, though, through a combination of wayward finishing and, perhaps more relevantly, a stellar sequence of goalkeeping from Gabe Breeze.
What seemed an inevitable breakthrough would finally come on 73 minutes, with Mandeville eventually firing home after yet another block had denied Everton loanee Metcalfe.
The second followed shortly after through substitute Madden, who was on hand to tidy up after Dobra initially saw his effort come back off the crossbar.
But just as the home support may have started to allow themselves to relax, Hugill raced through to halve the deficit and inject some jeopardy into the four minutes of additional time signalled by the fourth official.
An improbable comeback could even have been completed mid way through that period, as Ben Barclay rose to send a corner goalbound, an effort that would ultimately be well held by Boot.
2-1 it would eventually finish though, meaning Paul Cook’s team moved within four points of the play-off places, with a game in hand still to play on many in that mix.
And Chesterfield will look to continue their good form further when they travel to Tranmere Rovers on Saturday, before returning home to face Gillingham on April 8.
