Back-to-back wins give Chesterfield HC boost

Whitley Bay were the visitors on Saturday, who arrived seeking to avenge the 3-2 defeat inflicted by Chesterfield earlier in the season.

The home side started the brighter of the two teams and took an early lead with a superb goal from Jack Hartley, who fired high into the net inside the opening ten minutes, but Whitley Bay rallied and scored a deserved equaliser midway through the half.

A tense second-half followed and as chance after chance from penalty corners went begging, Chesterfield finally struck in dramatic fashion in the final minute through Alex Sandoval to spark wild scenes.

Chesterfield then entertained fellow strugglers Newcastle University on Sunday in what turned out to be an attritional affair.

The visiting side had the lion’s share of the play in the first-half and took the lead from the penalty spot to give them a 1-0 half-time lead.

Perhaps unhappy with the first-half display, a different Chesterfield emerged for the second period.

Jorge Aguilar equalised from a penalty corner within the first five minutes, before Sandoval unleashed a thunderbolt from the top of the circle for 2-1, the hosts able to hold their nerve in a scrappy final few minutes to secure another vital three points.

Coach Christian Battye said: “This weekend wasn’t going to be about style, I thought what we needed was a win and draw to stay in it. So to get maximum points is a fantastic effort all round.

“There were some great individual performances but the crucial thing is we looked solid out of possession. This team will always create chances, our biggest area of development has been knowing when to press and when to sit off - this weekend showed we can play with real intelligence in patches.”

This weekend, Chesterfield go to second-placed Ben Rhydding, with Battye adding: “We can go to Ben Rhydding with the pressure off somewhat now. It wasn’t a game we’d necessarily targeted to get points from so we can have a go and see what happens.”