Boss reflects on “hard fought win”

Following the Spireites’ 1-0 win over Weymouth, James Rowe praised his side’s ‘hard-fought’ victory that takes them into the play-off places.

He said: “Hard fought win today. Probably the hardest one out of the last three. It was always going to be difficult because Weymouth didn’t play on Tuesday.

“So, they were going to come with energy in the second half. Other than the header from the corner, it was a comfortable shutout in the end.

“We struggled for legs in the second half, but we dealt with most of their threat. First half could have been more. There was a save onto the post.

“There were a couple of other good saves, a couple of scrambles. We eventually got the goal. I’m really pleased to bounce back not just one game but three games on the bounce.”

Captain Laurence Maguire was forced off with an injury after 25 minutes and was replaced by Josef Yarney.

Rowe gave an update on Maguire’s injury, saying: “He’s got a slight hamstring problem. We think it is neural though so it’s not going to be a big problem for us. That’s the nature of it.

“We’ve picked up a few muscle injuries because of the intensity we want to play at. We are teaching them to play at that intensity. We are going to pick up these slight injuries, and that is a slight injury not a major injury.”

Yarney played his first minutes since the 2-1 away defeat against Solihull Moors back in January and Rowe commended the defender for his performance.

“He was strong other than the last header where he has got to head it and not let it bounce. He was strong. Great passage on his first phase where he got it on the left peg and dropped it into the front. 

“Considering he hasn’t played any minutes for a coupe of months now, I thought he slotted in there very well,” Rowe said.