Chesterfield strike late to beat Dorking Wanderers and move up to third in National League

Kabongo Tshimanga gave the Spireites the lead from the penalty spot just before half-time but it was cancelled out on 58 minutes by James McShane.

Armando Dobra restored Town’s lead on 83 minutes before substitute Joe Quigley added a third two minutes later.

It looked like being a straight-forward afternoon for Town after a dominant start but they got there in the end after a sticky second-half.

Defeat for Woking means the Blues move back up to third, which sets-up Tuesday night’s trip to second-placed Wrexham nicely.

Paul Cook made five changes after the 1-0 defeat at Halifax last weekend. In came Ash Palmer for his home debut, while Branden Horton, Ollie Banks, Akwasi Asante and Tshimanga made their first starts since October. Jack Clarke was involved in the squad for the first time in a month.

Chesterfield deservedly led at half-time thanks to Tshimanga’s penalty. The striker was dragged down in the area after Asante played a ball into the forward’s feet. He stepped up to roll the resulting spot-kick into the net for his seventh goal of the season.

Despite the freezing temperatures the Technique pitch was looking immaculate and the Spireites came out of the blocks flying in the first 15 minutes as Dorking struggled to get to grips with the hosts’ slick passing.

The Blues were in control for most of the half with Tshimanga being denied twice by Joe Walsh, who also saved with his legs from Asante, who looked really bright and sharp on his return.

Dorking, who were forced into two early substitutions due to injuries, slowly got a foothold in the game and they went very close to taking the lead when one of those subs, Jack Jebb, curled inches wide, while McShane also looped a header over the crossbar. The away side would have been delighted if they had gone in level at the break, but Tshimanga’s penalty broke the deadlock.

Liam Mandeville almost doubled the lead after half-time after racing onto a sublime pass by Dobra, who caused a lot of problems throughout.

But out of nothing Dorking were level just before the hour-mark as McShane side-footed home from near the penalty spot and they threatened a second with the momentum now with them.

Chesterfield looked shaky but they had a strong shout for another penalty when former Dorking man Darren Oldaker went over in the box but referee Aaron Jackson was unmoved.

With the Spireites having lost control of the game and looking vulnerable on the counter-attack, Tim Akinola and Jesurun Uchegbulam replaced Banks and Asante, who got some vital minutes in the tank after returning from injury.

With 10 minutes remaining the game was on a knife-edge, but two goals in two minutes edged it in Chesterfield’s favour, helped massively by the energetic Akinola.

First, Dobra smashed the ball home at the back post to turn in Jeff King’s cross after great work by Akinola and Oldaker in the build-up.

Two minutes later substitute Quigley squeezed a shot underneath Walsh after being found in the box by Mandeville to wrap up the points.