Chesterfield defeated by Bristol Rovers in last pre-season friendly - how the action unfolded

John Marquis scored both goals in the second-half at the Memorial Ground and it could have been more had it not been for some fine saves from Harry Tyrer.

The Spireites put together some attractive passages of play at times and had a lot of possession but they lacked a cutting edge against a team two divisions above them.

The defeat is not too concerning given Joey Barton’s men are fancied for a play-off push in the third-tier but the manner of the goals, with the defensive high-line exploited twice, something we saw a lot last season, is a talking point ahead of the new campaign.

It has been a successful, enjoyable and very watchable pre-season campaign for the Blues with plenty of goals, good performances and strong tests, but now it is time for the real exam against Dorking Wanderers in the season opener next Saturday.

In the first-half, Tyrer made two excellent saves to keep out a long-range drilled effort from Marquis and then to block from Luke Thomas. Marquis also hit the crossbar with an attempted lob.

Chesterfield, lining-up 4-1-4-1 with Tom Naylor as the holding midfielder, won three corners inside the first five minutes but they didn’t make the most of them and clear chances from open play were also hard to come by.

Will Grigg had a sight of goal but Rovers goalkeeper Matt Cox smothered the ball behind for a corner, Darren Oldaker blasted over after a slick move from back to front, and then Armando Dobra failed to make the most of a poor back-pass by James Wilson just before half-time.

Early in the second-half Chesterfield, who remained unchanged at the break, appealed for a penalty for handball against Tristan Crama, who blocked a cross by Dobra, but referee Sam Allison ignored the appeals.

Six minutes after the restart Rovers took the lead when Marquis beat the offside trap from Antony Evans’ through-ball and slotted past Tyrer.

Town tried to hit back immediately and Oldaker went close with a curling free-kick before the impressive Tyrer stopped Marquis grabbing his second goal from another one-on-one.

Just after the hour-mark Liam Mandeville’s free-kick delivery from out wide nearly carried all the way in but Cox clawed it behind for a corner.

Rovers’ second goal on 71 minutes was almost a repeat of the first as Evans ran behind the away defence and rounded Tyrer before Marquis tapped home into an empty net.

The latter part of the game was disrupted by substitutions with the likes of Joe Quigley, Jesurun Uchegbulam and Bailey Hobson all coming on.

Now for Dorking.

Chesterfield: Tyrer; Sheckleford (King, 87), Williams, Grimes, Horton; Naylor, Oldaker (Hobson, 78); Mandeville (Ainley, 73), Banks (Jones, 82), Dobra (Uchegbulam, 75); Grigg (Quigley, 73).