John Fleck taken to hospital pre-match as Chesterfield put five past Doncaster Rovers

Kick-off was delayed by 10 minutes due to a medical incident on the pitch in the warm-up involving John Fleck who was taken to hospital as a ‘precautionary measure’ after falling ill. He was replaced on the bench by Michael Jacobs. A separate medical emergency on the Kop also paused play twice in the first-half.

First goals for Dylan Duffy and Pepple put the Spireites in command in the first 37 minutes before Luke Molyneux pulled on back just before half-time in front of a raucous atmosphere.

Michael Olakigbe then became the third player to score his first goal for the club on the same night to make it 3-1 on 54 minutes before Pepple added a fourth and his second five minutes later.

Joe Ironside bagged from a corner in stoppage time but there was still time for Ollie Banks to pounce on a slip at the back to make it 5-2 with seconds left.

Chesterfield had only won one of their previous eight, while Doncaster had won five on the bounce, so the form guide was turned on its head as the Spireites boosted their hopes of making the play-offs, with the gap cut to five points ahead of this weekend’s fixtures.

This was the kind of performance and result that Paul Cook’s men had been searching for and they will be hoping this kick-starts their push towards the top seven.

Chesterfield won the reverse fixture at the end of September 3-0 but they were 13 points behind their opponents before kick-off. Interestingly, the Spireites had actually scored one more goal than Rovers and had also played one game fewer, and they had conceded the same number of goals, 32. But Doncaster had recorded five more wins and that is why they went into this clash so far in front.

The Blues showed no signs of being distracted after the incident with Fleck, which would have been understandable had their minds been elsewhere.

They took the lead on 11 minutes when Armando Dobra hooked a ball down the left channel and Duffy struck first time through Ted Sharman-Lowe, who should have done better, for his first goal for the club.

And they doubled their lead on 37 minutes when Olakigbe hung up a cross to the far post and Tom Naylor did brilliant to head it back across goal and Pepple applied the finish from close-range, joining Duffy in scoring his first in a Chesterfield shirt.

A stunning triple save from Max Thompson, including two when he was on the floor, looked to have kept Town’s two-goal lead in-tact just before the break and they almost grabbed a third when Olakigbe did well to latch onto a long clearance from Tyrone Williams before forcing a save from Sharman-Lowe.

But they couldn’t hold on as Molyneux finished clinically into the bottom corner to halve the deficit after Jamie Grimes initially snuffed out the danger from Owen Bailey.

Chesterfield had been ruthless in the first-half, scoring twice from three shots on target. With Rovers having a go themselves it left them spaces to exploit on the counter-attack and with balls in behind as they tried to turn the visitors regularly.

Rovers will have wanted to have kicked-on in the second-half but they conceded a third on the counter-attack when Darren Oldaker slipped Olakigbe in goal and he slotted in on 54 minutes to become the third player to score their first goal for the Blues.

And five minutes later Chesterfield had a fourth when Pepple notched his second, turning in Sparkes’ low cross. That goal saw some Rovers fans head for the exits.

The Spireites pushed for more goals in the latter stages with Sparkes going close with a free-kick, while Joseph Olowu headed against the post for the visitors and Billy Sharp missed a sitter late on. Ironside scrambled in a second from a corner in stoppage time but Banks took advantage of a mistake at the back to dink in a fifth. It was Chesterfield’s night and deservedly so.

Chesterfield: Thompson: Sheckleford, Williams, Grimes, Sparkes; Oldaker (Metcalfe, 75), Naylor; Olakigbe (Banks, 63), Dobra (Colclough, 75), Duffy (Mandeville, 57); Pepple (Madden, 63)

Unused subs: Boot, Jacobs.