Tom Whelan’s first half goal was enough for three points as the Spireites beat Weymouth 1-0 at the Technique Stadium to move up into the National League play-of places.
James Rowe made two changes to the starting line-up as Tom Whelan and Nathan Tyson replaced the injured Jack Clarke and Adi Yussuf.
Whelan looked to get Chesterfield off to the perfect start. The former Weymouth man met Alex Whittle’s cross with a volley from the edge of the area, but his effort went over the bar.
In the sixth minute, Akwasi Asante tried his luck from range; his 25-yard rocket was tipped onto the post by the outstretched arm of Ethan Ross.
The Blues were dealt with a blow midway through the first half after Laurence Maguire was forced off due to injury with Josef Yarney taking his place.
Asante came close to breaking his run of four games without a goal just after the half-hour mark. The forward turned away from his defender on the edge of the area, but Ross was equal yet again.
The opening goal did come for the Spireites in the 37th minute. Martin Smith’s chipped free-kick eventually fell to Whelan, who swivelled and unleashed a half-volley past Ross and into the bottom left corner via the post – scoring against his former team.
Ten minutes into the second half, the away side though they should have had a goal. A Weymouth defender latched onto a corner and the ball bounced somewhere around the goallineand bounced out – the referee wasn’t fazed and didn’t give the goal.
The game died down a bit after that passage of play with both sides wanting to venture forward, but the defences coming out on top.
With ten minutes to go, Chesterfield sought to kill the game off. Nice work from Asante and substitute Liam Mandeville on the right allowed space to find George Carline, but the wing-back couldn’t strike the ball with the right contact.
A few minutes later, Mandeville made his way into the box from the left and fired a shot towards goal; unfortunately, his attempt went well wide of the post.
Another goal wasn’t needed though as the Spireites came away with all three points for a third successive win.
Chesterfield: G Smith, Carline, Kerr, Hollis, Maguire © (Yarney 25), Whittle, M Smith, Weston, Whelan (Mandeville 73), Tyson (Dinanga 60), Asante.
Unused Substitutes: Rowley & Yussuf.
