Paul Cook impressed by Chesterfield’s ‘desire and effort’ in win at Doncaster

Posted Sunday, September 29, 2024 by PA

Chesterfield boss Paul Cook credited his side for showing the right intent from the start after they won 3-0 at Doncaster in a chaotic Sky Bet League Two clash at the Eco-Power Stadium.

The hosts ended the game with nine men following the second-half dismissals of Luke Molyneux and Tom Anderson.

The Spireites had already laid the groundwork for their triumph with an excellent first half showing which was capped by Chey Dunkley’s diving header in the 32nd minute.

Paddy Madden netted his first Chesterfield goal from the penalty spot following an Ephraim Yeboah handball, eight minutes after Molyneux was shown a second yellow card.

Anderson was dismissed for an off-the-ball incident with Dunkley in the 85th minute, with James Berry rounding off the scoring deep into added time.

“We turned up,” Cook said. “We were the best team on the pitch today.

“The desire and effort was there from the first minute. Our intent was there from the first minute.

“It was great for the supporters, I am absolutely delighted. To take the lead was great and to see the game out with a clean sheet was pleasing.

“I am really pleased with everyone, it was a great performance. There were loads of good pluses today.

“It is a funny time to be Chesterfield manager because we are going through ups and downs and bumps and bruises.

“I said to the players that I felt last year I didn’t have to manage a lot because everything was good. We conceded too many goals but we were always going to be OK.

“I was a little bit critical of our fans last week. We are new in the league, we are not just going to go away and roll every team over and today our support was absolutely magnificent – we need that every week.

“I wanted our supporters to travel home happy and they have certainly left the stadium delighted.”

While frustrated with referee James Berry for his part in the game, Doncaster manager Grant McCann felt his own side’s shortcomings played a greater role in their defeat.

“It was very frustrating,” McCann said. “I thought we started the first five or 10 minutes on the front foot but after that we didn’t get our press right. We were a little bit safe in terms of our energy and press and getting against them.

“Then we gave a silly free-kick away which was very harsh but we didn’t defend the cross anywhere good enough. We let Dunkley bully us, brush us off the ball and head it straight into our net.

“We changed our shape at half-time and then Luke’s sending off has put us on the back foot early in the second half, when we’d felt the shape change could get us back into the game.

“But the game went away from us after that moment.”