Daventry had lost the game by 2 - 0, but had gained the respect and admiration of the Chesterfield management and supporters, for an excellent performance, which contradicted the huge gulf between the two teams league positions in the pyramid.

It was a point not lost on a very proud Daventry Town manager Darran Foster, `For Paul Cook to wait 10 minutes to applaud us off, was a superb gesture, for him to give us that much respect will always be remembered`. It was a very emotional day for everyone involved with the club; I was in tears at the end!

`Our 750 fans were absolutely magnificent today, the `Purple Army` supporters out sang four and a half thousand Chesterfield supporters! When Liam Doman was substituted because of his injury, 5000 people applauded `Bully` from the field! Our supporters made our club very proud today!

` To go in at the interval 0 – 0 was not part of the script, but we clearly shaded the first half and should have taken the few chances we created.
The second half was always going to be much more difficult, as we knew their greater levels of fitness would begin to impact on the match. To lose both Captain Liam Dolman and Mykel Beckley, who were both putting in magnificent performances, within minutes of each other, was a real blow, changing the momentum of the game.

`Mykel Beckley was on fire, the full back could not handle him all afternoon, so the strong tackle which took him out of the game, was probably part of the Chesterfield game plan! We had lost an important source of our attack, from that point on I felt we were up against it`

`Unfortunately our FA Cup roller coaster has come to an end, but we can now concentrate on what we have left. The FA Trophy is now high on our agenda and we must get our league campaign back up and running. I have no worries that the cup competitions will upset our league ambitions, the players know what our goals are for the rest of the season, I have every confidence they will deliver!

Daventry were frustrating the Spireites, any suggestion of, `a stroll in the park` for Paul Cooks League Two high fliers, being quickly dispelled, as Daventry created several chances of their own, their best effort falling to Tom Lorraine, whose goal bound shot was blocked by a desperate tackle from full back Sam Hird, for a corner.

Chesterfield were slow to start, having their first effort on goal after thirteen minutes, midfielder Ollie Banks breaking through to the edge of the penalty area, but failing to trouble Daventry keeper Richard Morris, hitting his shot wide left of the post.

Daventry had a minor scare in the nineteenth minute, Gary Roberts put in a cross for former Cobbler Marc Richards, but his headed effort was blocked by Liam Dolman.
The ball found its way out to Gary McSheffrey, whose first time strike flew across the face of the goal, but wide of the far post, a desperate Eoin Doyle unable to get a foot to it.

Dolman was forced off with a thigh injury after 55 minutes, and the inspirational winger Mykel Beckley soon followed, losing these two players changed the momentum of the game and it was not long before Chesterfield took the lead.

Having gone in at the break goal less, it had taken 69 minutes for the Spireites to break down the strong Daventry back five of Morris, Blake, Dolman, Simpson and Wilkinson.
A fortuitous free kick given out on the right, found the unmarked Gary Roberts at the far post, Roberts making no mistake with a fine volley past the stranded Richard Morris.

Daventry continued to press for an equaliser, Ross Oulton showing some incredible skills, sidestepping several challenges before hitting a strike on goal which was comfortably saved by keeper Tommy Lee.

Chesterfield’s fitness began to tell as gaps opened up in Daventry’s defence and midfield, but Richard Morris produced a number of terrific saves to keep the score at one goal, palming a fine shot from Gary McSheffrey over the bar for a corner, and a save with his feet from substitute Jay O`Shea.

Chesterfield were lucky with their second goal, Jimmy Ryan’s 20-yard shot taking a wicked deflection that saw it loop over the goalkeeper Richard Morris and into the net off the underside of the crossbar.
Despite the game being beyond their team, the `Purple Army` continued to sing, breaking into a conga, doing a Poznan and a `mini pitch invasion` at the end to congratulate the players on a superb performance.

Liam Dolman may be back in action for the FA Trophy next Saturday; Mykel Beckley’s recuperation may take a little longer!

The final word should belong to Foster on this historic day for the club, ``One last word for our fans today, you were the most amazing people; I can still hear you now! I know we won't get all 750 of you to our home games, but could you imagine the noise if we had 300 of you against Ramsgate this Saturday (16th November) in the FA Trophy? Come along to the home games, with your continued support we could go a long way in the FA Trophy and achieve our goal of promotion.

Match Facts:

Chesterfield 2 Daventry Town 0
Saturday 9th November 2013
Competition: The FA Cup 1st Round
Location: Proact Stadium, Whittington Moor, Chesterfield
Daventry: Richard Morris, Ollie Wilkinson, Josh Blake, Marcel Simpson, Liam Dolman (Joe Henderson 55 mins), Adam Confue, Ross Oulton, Ryan Howell (Scott Cross 79 mins), Ashley Robinson, Tom Lorraine, Mykel Beckley (Murphy 63 mins).
Subs not used: Deqwon Ebanks, Guy Sanders, Neil King, Cerga Iustin
Goal scorers: (Spireites) Gary Roberts 69 mins, Jimmy Ryan89 mins.
Man of the Match: Mykel Beckley
In the book: Yellow cards (Spireites) Gary McSheffrey 18mins, Gary Roberts 29 mins, Jimmy Ryan 50 mins, Liam Cooper 65 mins
Goals: Gary Roberts (69 mins), Jimmy Ryan (89 mins)
Attendance: 5,269 (750 Purple Army)

Jim Davis
Sports Writer

Daventry Town Football Club

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