By Lauren Walton
August 24 2002

Around 2000 Chesterfield fans made the visit to Field Mill and not one of them left disappointed. A magnificent performance from the Spireites saw them take all three points and deservedly too! Steve Payne and Gareth Davies scored the goals for the Blues which ended the Stags chances! Every single player for the Spireites played outstanding and the 3 points were soon safe in Chesterfield’s hands! Mansfield did look threatening at times but the Spireites’ solid defence kept the Stags at bay.

Field Mill is an outstanding ground and something the Stags should be proud of, however their performance left a lot to be desired! For ages Chesterfield have never looked threatening on set pieces but this match they were exceptional! Many brilliant corners from the Spireites should have took them maybe 3 more goals up but I’ll settle for 2-nil!!

Craig Disley who plays for the Stags on occasions looked promising and was celebrating his birthday today, what a treat it must have been for his team to get slaughtered! Reevesy again looked very promising and was unlucky not to get on the score sheet but keep the head up David!

Gareth Davies however looked extremely good and his performances seem to get better, the more experience he gets! He can defend brilliantly and he must be so chuffed to get Chesterfield’s second goal, which wrapped up all three points!

On the 39th minute Chesterfield broke away but was brought down by a Mansfield player! An awful tackle, which deserved to be a sending off but the ref only gave a yellow card away. Chesterfield prepared to take the free kick and what a fantastic goal scored by Super Steve Payne. That was punishment for the sending off that was never gave!

The South Stand errupted into noise while the Stags fans remained silent and looked baffled. It was such an excellent moment and such a fantastic goal, which was well earned!

The Stags seemed to get to grip with the fact that they were loosing to their rivals so started to get into the game a little, but with the Chesterfield defence keeping it tight, frustration started to set in. Many aggressive tackles came flying from Mansfield players that had started to get rattled when Mansfield fans started to get on their backs.

Half time approached and Chesterfield players left the pitch to a standing ovation from the Spireite fans! Even Rushbury had turned from Hated to Hero!! He showed his thanks by clapping the fans off too, which was nice to see. Mansfield left the pitch with heads down and this is how they came out for the second half!

The second half commenced and Chesterfield began where they left off - ATTACKING! Mansfield’s defence went from shocking to damn right outrageous!! Not like I’m complaining because we took advantage, but if they want to be in the 2nd next season then I suggest they get something sorted.

I know the Mansfield team is quite young but maybe they need to look to someone who is experienced like Reevesy! Either that or sack the manager – only kidding!

Leeroy Williamson also a Stags player utterly disgusted me, such a diver! He is just unbelievable, after the first couple of times the ref seems to start getting sick of it but not this one. He just ignored it and let it carry on every single time. Then the first time Gareth Davies goes to clear they award Mansfield a free kick, now that is just not fair! Biased or what?

Anyway the best was yet to come as Chesterfield continued to dominate possession! A super goal from ‘The One And Only’ Gareth Davies on 54 minutes blasted the ball past Kevin Pilkington. The celebration was excellent, as the youngster ripped his Chesterfield shirt off with delight. Talk about egg in their faces, that’s exactly what Mansfield got!

A disappointing miss by Glyn Hurst when it must have been easier to score dragged just wide when he was one-on-one with Pilkington. Mansfield’s defence had just fell to pieces allowing Chesterfield to easily break through the players that were actually there!

The match ended and yet again the Spireites have proved that they truly are the better side! Chesterfield portrayed the right attitude and fought for every single ball and when you do that and dominate for nearly 90 minutes you deserve the points. Mansfield however will be dreading the 18th of January when they have to travel to Saltergate for the return match later this season.

Analysis: Chesterfield held the ball well, defended and kept the ball tight and this made it difficult for a fairly average Mansfield side to get through. Set pieces were brilliant, especially the corners although it would be good to have someone waiting at the back post to head the ball home. Chances were created and a game plan was there and maybe Rushbury’s found the right team that will do Chesterfield proud with performances like that? Mansfield’s keeper is a Manchester United reject which is surprising as he doesn’t cope very well under pressure. No player really stood out except Disley on the odd occasion so it didn’t come as much of a surprise when he got ‘The Man Of The Match’ award. Gareth Davies again was a revelation and a real pleasure to watch so definitely my ‘Man Of The Match’! He took his chance well and deserved to appear on the score-sheet. Maybe another Kevin Davies in the making, who knows? I’ll just say this watch this space!!

Final Score Chesterfield 2 Mansfield Town O Goal scorers: Steve Payne and Gareth Davies Attendance: 7,258 Chesterfield Support: 1,963

Bring On The Northampton!!

Last Three Results - Chesterfield v Mansfield:

Chesterfield 4 Mansfield 0

Chesterfield 1 Mansfield 0

Chesterfield 2 Mansfield 0

To take a look at the Mansfield perspective please click on this link: Mansfield Town Match Report