Rai Simons and his Chesterfield teammates continued into round three of the Checkatrade Trophy after a 2-0 win over Rochdale, in a feisty tie where both sides had a man sent off.
After an even start Chesterfield took the lead when Laurence Maguire scored his first senior goal with a firm header from a corner midway through the first half.
Early in the second period Rochdale defender Jimmy McNulty picked up a second yellow card after an off-the-ball tangle with Ched Evans to reduce the hosts to ten men, before Evans himself doubled the advantage with a clinical low strike.
Earlier in the match the first real Chesterfield attempt on goal came after 20 minutes.
An Evans strike ricocheted off a defender and fell for Simons, the forward struck it on the volley but it was parried out for a corner.
The away side soon had another chance themselves, Dan Gardner latched onto a loose ball and flung it into the box, Jake Beesley headed back but Simons’ couldn't meet it.
Another corner nearly saw another goal, this time it was Simons who got his head to it, but his effort was weak and easily collected by Conrad Logan.
REGGIE LAMBE
Reggie Lambe and his Carlisle United took a while to get going on a frustrating night and, in the end, their late fight back wasn't quite enough as Danny Rose won the tie for Lambe’s former team Mansfield with a wonder goal very late in the day.
Carlisle United with some unbelievable passing football ripped the Mansfield team to pieces with Lambe at the heart of the action. Alexander McQueen arrived late but his shot from a tight angle was too close to Scott Shearer.
Mansfield made the home side pay for the missed chances when Chris Clements took charge of a 40-yard free kick. He floated it to the back stick and Krystian Pearce did the rest as he picked his spot with a deft header.
It got worse for the home side just after the half hour when a defence splitting pass from Chris Hamilton left Lee Collins in acres of space and with time on his hands. He bore down on goal then clipped it low for Matthew Green to stab home from very close range.
There was hope that the fightback might be on when Daniel Grainger curled a lovely delivery into the box. Shaun Miller made his move and his glanced header left Shearer with no chance as it buried itself into the bottom corner.
And it was all square when a Grainger throw fell nicely for Kevin Wright. He got it back into the mix and, with Shearer stranded well off his line, Charlie Wyke made no mistake as he smashed goal number 13 into the net through a ruck of bodies.
Mansfield reclaimed the lead through a wonder strike from Danny Rose as he smacked an unstoppable shot into the top corner via the angle of post and bar and they sat deep to keep their lead and secure their progression into the next round.
