Chesterfield lose ground in race for third after frustrating Yeovil Town draw

Paul McCallum scored a penalty on 35 minutes after Jamie Reckford blocked Liam Mandeville’s cross with his hand but the visitors equalised just before half-time when Ryan Law headed in a cross at the back post.

The Blues will be disappointed with their lack of creativity in the second-half as they struggled to open up the away side.

The draw means the Spireites, who are three unbeaten, remain fourth but fall six points behind third-placed Woking, although Paul Cook’s men have a game in hand.

There was just one change to Chesterfield’s starting line-up from the midweek win against Southend United as Andrew Dallas was handed his first start in place of Jesurun Uchegbulam, who dropped to the bench, and Brandon Horton replaced Ash Palmer among the substitutes.

Relegation-threatened Yeovil, who started the day fifth from bottom after one win in eight, had former Spireites goalkeeper Grant Smith in net, but they could only name four substitutes on their bench because of the number of loan players in their squad. Jack Clarke, on loan from the Blues, is injured but he would not have been able to play against his parent club anyway.

Before kick-off the volunteers who had helped clear the snow off the pitch on Friday and Saturday so the game could go ahead were introduced to the crowd and were applauded for their fantastic efforts.

Chesterfield dominated the first-half and put together some attractive passages of play.

The lively Dallas, along with Ryan Colclough, had some early snap-shots off target as the Spireites stamped their authority on the game in the early stages.

For all their neat play their best chance came from a set-piece as Laurence Maguire almost made it two goals in two games but his bullet header from Mandeville’s corner was tipped over by Smith.

Dallas continued to impress and he forced a save from Smith at his near post after McCallum found him in the box.

Just minutes later the Blues were awarded a penalty when Reckford blocked Mandeville’s cross with his hand and McCallum blasted the resulting spot-kick down the middle for his third goal for the club.

But against the run of play the Glovers, who had offered nothing going forward and are the lowest scorers in the division, equalised when Law ghosted in at the back post to head in just before half-time. It was a frustrating and soft goal to concede from a Chesterfield point of view. For Mark Cooper’s men, who had won one of 15 away games this season, they now had something to cling onto.

The Blues will have wanted to have started on the front-foot in the second-half and McCallum headed over from Mandeville’s corner in the opening minutes.

But they were not able to build-up any momentum and it was Yeovil who had the next best opportunity after a mistake by Maguire allowed Jordan Maguire-Drew to cross for Reckford but he could not get enough on his near-post header.

The game reached the 70-minute mark with little action as Chesterfield struggled to create anything, while Yeovil were happy to sit in and play on the counter.

In an attempt to spark some life into Town’s attack, Ollie Banks and Jeff King were brought on for Darren Oldaker and Ryheem Sheckleford. And the changes almost paid off immediately as King forced Smith to parry his angled free-kick. Moments later, Maguire tested Smith again with a header on target from King’s corner.

In the final 10 minutes Mandeville curled over, as did Colclough, while McCallum had a good chance with a header, but the points were shared.