Derry calls and Jevani delivers U’s goods
RISING star Jevani Brown scored one and made another as Cambridge United came from behind to beat Chesterfield and record a second successive League Two win.
Chesterfield had taken the lead through Kristian Dennis, who tapped home ten minutes into the second half after great play by replacement Matt Briggs on the left.
But Brown – signed from non-league St Neots in the summer – netted his first Football League goal with a curling free-kick that deceived Spireites goalkeeper Joe Anyon to make it 1-1.
Eight minutes later, Anyon could only parry Brown’s powerful shot, and Uche Ikpeazu forced in the winner from close range.
And Cambridge manager Shaun Derry felt his side were worthy winners.
“Jevani deserved his goal today, we’ve been asking him to get a few more shots on target and he’s managed to net one from a set play,” said Derry.
“It capped a great second half performance for him. We needed a big performance and he stepped up.
“They’re a team high on confidence and passed the ball nicely, but we had the chances and after we equalised, I felt there was only one team that would go on and win it.”
Jack Lester’s Chesterfield dominated the first half – keeping possession well and using the full width of the pitch to good effect, Scott Wiseman and Andy Kellett combined well down the left but the Spireites lacked bite in attack, and Cambridge should’ve scored when Brown played in Jabo Ibehre, only for the striker to blaze over from 12 yards.
After the break the visitors went ahead when Briggs muscled past Piero Mingoia near the byline and gave Dennis a tap-in.
But Brown’s free-kick – which looped in from the right angle of the box and beat Anyon at his far post – levelled matters, before the forward powered down the right and delivered a low shot which was spilled by Anyon into the path of Ikpeazu, who gobbled up his seventh goal of the season.
Chesterfield remain bottom of the table, and Lester said: “We should have won the game, we did enough, then we stopped doing the things that got us ahead. We knew their strengths, and I thought we dealt with them really well.
“We spoke at half time about the areas we wanted to hit and we did that and got in front.
“Then it was time to take the sting out of the game and close it out, but we couldn’t do it.”