Chesterfield set up a home tie against Grimsby Town for the second round of the FA Cup after Tom Denton's perfect hat-trick gave the Spireites a 3-1 replay win at Billericay.
The striker gave Chesterfield the lead after 40 minutes but were pegged back in the second half when Joe Kizzi poked home.
However, Denton scored his second only a minute later before completing his hat-trick with just three minutes of normal time left.
The Spireites almost took the lead within the first few minutes. Jerome Binnom-Williams was allowed too much space on the edge of the box, but his driven shot was parried away by Alan Julian.
Soon after, Callum Burton almost allowed Billericay Town to take the lead; luckily for the goalkeeper, Callum Kennedy's free-kick was gathered up at the second attempt.
On the other hand, Julian was pulling off more fantastic saves like he did at the Proact just a mere 10 days ago. Lee Shaw was the latest to be stopped when the shot stopper prevented the striker from grabbing his first goal for Chesterfield.
However, with just five minutes of the first half to go, the deadlock was broken. Fantastic work down the wing by Shaw allowed a low cross which Denton calmly slotted past Julian.
The hosts looked to find a way back into the game and almost found it after 58 minutes when Danny Waldren's cross found a way to Jake Robinson, but the prolific marksman's attempt was turned away by Burton.
Just four minutes later, the Essex outfit equalised. Yet again Kennedy whipped in a cross that caused havoc in the Spireites penalty area before Kizzi stabbed home from close range.
But before Billericay could come back together as a team, their National League opponents once more took the lead.
Sam Muggleton forced Julian to tip his effort over the bar, and from the resulting corner Denton reacted first to a shot cleared off the line to head in his fifth goal from Martin Allen’s side since joining from Alfreton Town in September.
The home side rabidly looked for an equaliser and looked to Moses Emmanuel, the scorer of Billericay's goal from the first game, to bring them back into the game. However, Burton made two crucial saves to keep Chesterfield in front.
With three minutes of normal time to go, the Spireites wrapped the game up. Substitute Levi Amantchi danced around his marker before setting up Denton for a tap-in from close range.
With the win, Chesterfield will welcome Grimsby Town to the Proact Stadium for the second round of the FA Cup on Sunday, December 2.
Post-Match Verdict: A win on the road
So, that’s what it feels like. It's the first win I've seen since the Braintree game back in August. Not only that, but it's the first time I've ever seen an away win.
Let's face it, Chesterfield were full value for the win as well. Sure, there were nervy moments, but the defence was very resolute against the National League South leaders.
You also can't forget about the conditions. For the full 90 minutes, it was hammering it down with rain and it probably could have cost the Spireites a couple of goals.
Whilst a few of the wasted chances were down to bad decisions, the other chances were down to the players slipping in the heavy rain.
However, a win is a win and that could give Allen's side some confidence going into Saturday's game away at Eastleigh.
Commenti