Hartley hat-trick eases Chesterfield to victory in hockey league

The tone of the game was set early on, with the Derbyshire side clearly hungry for goals, and but for an outstanding save by Leek ‘keeper Mackenzie Heath, they would have been one up in the first minute as Dan Molloy was denied.

Mounting pressure finally resulted in the breakthrough, though, when player/coach Christian Battye won the ball in midfield and fed Morton, who played a weighted pass into the path of Hartley.

The goal was followed by a disciplinary blip for Chesterfield as both Ben Curley and Pat Evans were sin-binned for dissent. But they maturely managed the game with nine men, and quickly reasserted themselves once back up to full strength.

The second goal came after a clever aerial pass from New Zealander Jaedyn Eade, which found Molloy, who squared for Morton to score at the far post. And the second half was one-sided, with man-of-the-match Tom Bacon controlling the middle of the pitch, supported by improving 16-year-old Ryan Speed.

Hartley took his tally for the season to 13 before Morton rounded off a win that lifted Chesterfield into third place in the table.