Then up stepped Lee. No posturing, no frills, no run up, Lee rifled in a 20 yard screamer from a free kick after Conlon had tempted Page into a clumsy challenge on the edge of the box. Its refreshing to see a man like Lee who has a similar philosophy to free kick taking to myself. Namely, if you put your foot through the ball and make a decent connection, the rest will take care of itself.
The performance in the first half was an odd one. The midfield who were tireless throughout seemed to have little shape to it. At the back we looked dodgy again, particularly Matt Clarke who looked like he was in for a morale crushing encounter with the lively Ward. Currie was finding far too much space and through the middle we looked at sixes and sevens.
Bouldings well taken goal saw City truly back in the match. It was a well placed header that brought us level after a delightful ball from Nix. You felt that tonight had to Bouldings night as he faced his former rivals from back in his Stags days.
The most impressive aspect of the second half display was the shifts put in by Nix, and Law. The two of them did the job of getting in the Spireites faces and limiting them to pockets of space, something that eventually saw Currie fade into anonymity having bossed the early exchanges. I'm one of Nix's biggest critics but last night he impressed me, although question marks remain over his ability to find time on the ball and to retain posession.
TJ Moncur must also come in for some acclaim. He covered more of the pitch than any other last night as he was on permanent double duty, flanking the length of the pitch throughout as Daley played what you could arguably define as a 'free role'.
Law's industry and adventure brought about the penalty, having burst into the Chesterfield area and enticing their defender into a reckless challenge, which was worthy of his second yellow.
Conlon who had a fantastic performance capped his display with a Panenka style clip over the prostrate keeper. What I love about Conlon on his day is his domination over the numerous 'agricultural' centre backs such as page. The x factor in Conlons display was the fact that his flick ons were finding City feet. Boulding must have enjoyed the dimension that Conlon was able to bring to the game.
All in all, it was a fantastic night. Sure there are question marks and certain caveats that need to be considered. We have a disastrous situation in the medical room, with Daley now sidelined. However, we have done remarkably well to keep in touch of the top considering our threadbare midfield and should we continue to grind out results, we will be in a very encouraging position when the likes of Brandon, Colbeck, Furman, Bullock and Daley return.
Its a marathon, not a sprint and if we can hobble through this testing spell, we should be fit and able to make a charge come the new year. I'm feeling good!