Alexander rues profligacy

Graham Alexander was left mulling what might have been after watching Fleetwood fall to a 3-1 defeat at home to Chesterfield.

Fleetwood boss Graham Alexander was left mulling what might have been after watching his side fall to a 3-1 defeat at home to Chesterfield. The Cod Army dominated much of the first half as Jamille Matt, Gareth Evans and Ryan Crowther all enjoyed chances to open the scoring. But Chesterfield grabbed the lead against the run of play when substitute Armand Gnanduillet headed home Conor Townsend's corner in the 44th minute. And from the restart the visitors doubled their tally, Marc Richards on the end of a long ball before firing a stunning 25-yard effort which was too good for Scott Davies - capping a stunning finish to the first half. Richards then made it three-nil just after the hour mark, lashing home the rebound after Davies saved Sam Togwell's goalbound effort. Andy Mangan's first goal since August gave the home side hope, a perfectly timed run to get on to David Ball's defence-splitting pass and a cool finish, but it was not to be. Alexander said: "It was devastating coming in at half-time because, apart from two minutes at the start and two minutes before half-time, we've dominated. "We've created so many opportunities and we were two or three minutes away from saying fantastic lads, keep it up. "It really really hurts in your guts. They were two poor goals, poor goals to give away from us. It's about decision-making and responsibility from set-pieces. But those are the harsh lessons of life in the Football League. "You can create as much as much as you like but if you don't take your chances, it means nothing. You have to score when you are on top. We could have easily walked in two or three up and then we take two sucker punches which have killed us."