Chesterfield’s EFL Trophy campaign was kickstarted by three points after a dominant 5-3 win over Manchester City U21’s at the SMH Group Stadium.
Paul Cook stuck to his word and rotated his side heavily as the Spireites took on Manchester City’s U21’s, seeing his whole starting 11 changes from their 2-1 win over Oldham. City made six changes from their 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest’s U21’s last Friday.
The home side made a bright start with Joel Randall pinching the ball on his first start, but he couldn’t find a teammate with his pass as Man City’s backline cleared.
The young opposition weren’t fazed by the early pressure and highlighted the passing philosophy of the opposition’s setup which resembled that of their first team.
Chesterfield’s quality showed as they took the lead early on. Some good link up play down the right-hand side gave Tom Naylor the opportunity to cut the ball back to Randall who slotted home for his second of the season in all competitions.
City responded quickly, a clever exchange of passes between Jacob Wain and Brooklyn Nfonkeu saw the latter cut the ball back to 16-year-old Xavier Parker who finished emphatically.
Finlay Gorman nearly grabbed the away side’s second, but his header was comfortably dealt with by James Sissons. Fraser Bryden punished the Sky Blues for missing that chance moments later to restore Chesterfield’s lead.
A cross-field pass from Kiano Dyer found Naylor who then rolled the ball to Junior Eccleston whose cross was met with a finish of quality by Bryden to open his account for the Spireites.
Chesterfield’s debutant keeper, Sissons, made a full stretched save to deny Henderson-Hall, but the ball was recycled to Gorman, whose delivery was controlled and finished by Teddie Lamb before halftime.
The Spireites were the quickest to get going after the break, retaking the lead just five minutes into the second period. A corner from substitute Louie Marsh was met by Chey Dunkley whose header found the top left corner.
The Spireites made it 4-2 with just a quarter of an hour left to play. Marsh’s initial delivery was flicked on by Connor Cook to Eccleston who scrambled the ball home from close range.
The Sky Blues began to dominate the ball as the Spireites’ focus switched to game management with important defensive interventions in and around the box to prevent Man City from creating any clearcut chances.
Chesterfield scored their fifth in added time, highlighting an excellent second half display. A goalkeeper error from Max-Edgar Chabot saw him spill the ball to Lewis Gordon who squared it to Marsh who slotted into an empty net.
The away side didn’t give up there, as a clever through ball from Dexter Oliver found Wain who made it 5-3.
Chesterfield’s attention will turn to their home fixture on Saturday as they host newly promoted York City.
Sissons, Eccleston (Hutton 79), Pond, Dunkley, Pearce, Naylor (Cook 75), Lamptey, Dyer, Aņisjko (Gordon 84), Randall (Marsh 46), Bryden.
