Jarzembowski hits five to rescue mis-firing Chesterfield

A Jekyll and Hyde performance against bottom club Leicester saw Chesterfield maintain top spot in Midlands Division 2.

The was achieved thanks in no small part to five goals from leading marksman Damian Jarzembowski.

The Polish international now has 31 goals in nine league matches in what has been an incredible season so far.

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An abject first half gave way to a free scoring second, with skipper Chris Battye clearly unhappy with the opening period.

He said: “I have to say we were worse than awful for the first 35 minutes. It was like we’d never played together before.

“We were complacent, sloppy and didn’t match their work rate. Leicester are a decent side despite their league position and we just let them play.

“It was a totally different story second half thankfully. We pulled ourselves together and began to play to type of hockey that’s got us to top of the league.”.

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A lacklustre opening few minutes set the tone for the first half, with the home side committing a series of unforced errors.

Leicester played like a side near the top, not rooted to the bottom of the table whilst Chesterfield delivered a laboured, ponderous performance.

A far from stellar opening half did produce one moment of quality however – Jarzembowski was on hand to give his side the lead with a well placed penalty corner strike. Leicester drew the scores level soon after however to leave Chesterfield rocking.

In truth, the league leaders were grateful for the half time whistle and a chance to regroup with the scores locked at 1-1.

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Transformed after the break, the hosts began to look like league leaders and ran in five further goals. Jarzembowksi struck twice before Adam Bointon struck at the back post from a Johnny Hancock cross.

Dan Molloy produced another busy display on the forward line and was on hand to set up Jarzembowski for goal number five before Leicester pulled a goal back. Scoring sensation Jarzembowksi saved his best for last however, his fifth of the afternoon was an unstoppable rocket into the roof of the net to make it 6-2.

Chesterfield retain top spot with a slender one point lead, with struggling Finchfield the visitors to St Mary’s next weekend.

Player-coach Ben Lamb reflected on a mixed afternoon and said: “Whilst the result was satisfying in the end, our basic skill level was extremely poor today and on another day we’d have been punished.

“Credit to Leicester, they played well but we stood off and let them dictate the pace. We’ve now got two more games until the break. If we are to remain top we have to play much better.”

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