SPIREITES ROCK RAGGED ROBINS
CHESTERFIELD boss Jack Lester felt it was vitally important his team hauled themselves back to winning ways to break a four-match losing streak in League Two.
The Spireites were indebted to goals from Chris O’Grady and Andy Kellett as they saw off Swindon, with the visitors’ Ollie Banks dismissed for a late tackle midway through the second half.
Chris Robertson’s late header was not enough to earn Swindon a point.
Lester said: “It was an important win and we got ahead and didn’t want to sit back on it and go for the second goal, but they’re a good side and score goals.
“We wanted to get on the front foot and we managed to release Kellett to get us that breathing space.
“I thought our character was top drawer and we made good decisions, and our goalkeeper and two centre-halves kept them to very little.
“We got the second and didn’t go as attacking as we’d like, but I thought we managed the game really well.”
Inside two minutes, the home side were ahead when on-loan midfielder Kellett was afforded a second opportunity to cross, with Swindon keeper Reice Charles-Cook only able to parry his delivery to O’Grady to tap home.
The visitors’ best chance came through Matt Taylor’s free-kick, but on-loan Bournemouth goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale got down low to keep the home side ahead at the break.
Having been lacklustre in the first half, Swindon came out quickest in the second half, but were dealt a hammer blow when Zavon Hines released Kellett, who cut inside to curl a shot into the bottom-right corner.
Chances for the visitors came through substitute Kaiyne Woolery with a deflected shot that struck the bar, whilst Marc Richards missed a golden chance with a header.
Swindon were reduced to ten men on 72 minutes when Banks was dismissed for a late tackle on Louis Reed.
The visitors were dealt a lifeline with 15 minutes left, as Robertson rose to head home a Taylor free-kick. But that was as good as it got, as Chesterfield held on with relative ease to secure a much-needed three points.
“We talked about a fast start, a hard start, but they came out really fast and we didn’t match that,” said Swindon boss David Flitcroft. “I don’t think we recovered well after going a goal down after two minutes and we didn’t force enough. It was a disappointing first half.
“Our application and quality wasn’t there and we made bad decisions. We didn’t run hard enough for each other. “If the challenge is an overthe-top tackle when I view it, Ollie Banks’ sending off will have no complaints from me.”