Chesterfield endured a difficult evening in South Wales as four first-half goals condemned the Spireites to a 4-1 defeat against Newport County at Rodney Parade.
Paul Cook’s side travelled knowing a victory would have lifted them into third place in League Two, but they were made to pay for a disastrous opening 45 minutes as the hosts took control.
Newport opened the scoring in the 14th minute when Cameron Norman fired a free-kick from the edge of the penalty area into the bottom corner.
Just four minutes later, the advantage was doubled. Tom Davies collected a loose ball inside the Chesterfield penalty area before finding the net with a deflected effort beyond Zach Hemming.
The Spireites were struggling to contain their opponents and found themselves three goals behind on the half-hour mark. Harrison Biggins tried his luck from distance and caught Hemming out, with the goalkeeper unable to keep the effort from finding the net.
There was further frustration for Chesterfield when an apparent handball by Matt Smith on the Newport goal-line went unpunished.
The afternoon went from bad to worse in first-half stoppage time when Yahya Bamba found space and curled a fine finish beyond Hemming to make it 4-0.
Cook was sent off during the half-time interval, leaving his side with a huge task if they were to produce a response.
The Spireites did show some improvement after the break and pulled a goal back in the 58th minute. Remeao Hutton provided the assist, with Liam Mandeville producing a neat finish which went in off the left-hand post.
Chesterfield looked more competitive in the second half, but the damage had already been done. Newport managed the closing stages comfortably to secure all three points and extend their unbeaten home league run.
It was a disappointing result for the Spireites, particularly after their impressive 5-1 victory over Crewe the previous weekend. They will now look to put the heavy defeat behind them and respond in their next fixture.
Full-time: Newport County 4-1 Chesterfield
Newport goalscorers: Cameron Norman (14′), Tom Davies (18′), Harrison Biggins (29′), Yahya Bamba (45+2′)
Chesterfield goalscorer: Liam Mandeville (58′)
Venue: Rodney Parade
Chesterfield starting line-up
Zach Hemming; Remeao Hutton, Alfie Pond, Jack Simpson, Tom Pearce; Tom Naylor (captain), George McEachran; Dilan Markanday, Liam Mandeville, Josh Koroma; Fraser Bryden.
Substitutes used: Lee Bonis, Louie Marsh, Dylan Duffy, Joel Randall and Lewis Gordon.
Manager: Paul Cook (sent off at half-time).
