In a historic last ever floodlit match at Saltergate, Dave Bentley's young guns were unable to mark the occasion with a victory and a place in this year's Midland Youth Cup Final against Grimsby Town.

Although Chesterfield's League campaign may have come to an end with victory over Doncaster Rover last week, the Spireites youth team, sponsored by David C Jones Insurance Services, were still in cup contention. Not being defeated this season at Saltergate, the Blues were in high spirit and this was soon boosted further by the news that skipper Craig Clay would start, after coming through a late fitness test just an hour before the kick off.

Unfortunately the same could not be said for defender Sam Clare who pulled up during the same fitness test and was forced to watch the match from the stands, alongside the injured Chris Tingay.

Within minutes of the kick-off, Chesterfield used their strong loyal following to get behind them and produced an early effort through Ben Watkis off Jordan Burrow's neat header down.

Shrewsbury were eager to keep up their 100% record against Chesterfield for the season and dragged a shot across Webb that beat both the fully stretched goalkeeper and the far post.

The match had begun in lively fashion as good fortune appeared to fall to the Spireites after just nine minutes. A deflected clearance fell to Sam Smith, who rolled the ball back to fellow team mate Jordan Edridge. The full-backs first time deep cross picked out the head of target man Jordan Burrow, who despite getting to the ball first headed straight at the goalkeeper.

However, within less than 60 seconds the ball was up the opposite end and almost in the Chesterfield net. A short training ground free-kick caught the Spireites off-guard and thanks to the quick reactions of Webb, the ball was pushed away to safety for a corner.

The Spireites weren't safe from the impending danger just yet and were punished for their inability to pick up on yet another quick set piece. From the resulting corner an initial shot on the edge of the box was blocked by a mass of Blue shirts, but the follow up found its way through the cluster and into Webb's right hand corner, despite the keeper's best efforts.

This score could have been doubled on the 20 minute mark, when a free-kick on the left beat Webb but couldn't beat the far post and came back off the wood work much to the delight of the Chesterfield fans.

Despite Chesterfield starting the game poorly, they were fortunate to get a goal back when Jimmy Adcock managed to produce a cheeky side footed volley that slipped through the Shrews defence off a Smith corner.

Goalscorer Jimmy Adcock

This privileged strike appeared to calm the Spireites down as they began to take shape, as Adcock tried his luck from range, but the ball was under the midfielders feet, resulting in a miss queued chance.

Chesterfield were made to suffer for their defensive errors just after the half hour mark, when a visiting attacker was granted the space to turn and shot from the edge of the Spireite box, following in a spectacular finish.

Both sides had opportunities before the half time interval, with Gerome Palmer coming close after Watkis' chance was fumbled.

Despite coming through a late fitness test, Clay wasn't able to continue the match and was brought off at half time for first year Josh Wright.

Miss communication between Darikwa and Smith allowed the Shrews captain a glimpse of goal, but Webb held his ground at his near post and pushed away for a corner as the floodlights came on for the last ever time at Saltergate.

With time running out and nothing left to lose, Dave Bentley decided to introduce Shamus Beaglehole into the mix and go out all attack in a 3-4-3.

As Chesterfield pushed on, the increased danger of a Shrew break away was always a potential threat and a missed opportunity off a corner could have wrapped the match up with15 minutes remaining as a black shirt skied over from close range.

The Spireites, now having the majority of the play, thought they had found a way into extra time when Darikwa struck the post from a Smith set piece, but unfortunately for the attacking midfielder the ball wasn't to go in.

Substitute Beaglehole had two attempts at goal in quick concession as Bentley went all out attack in a 3-3-4 formation.

Despite the good constant pressure, the Spireites failed to make any of it count and were given a killer blow five minutes into added on time. Shrewsbury's quick break away found Needham in a 2v1 situation with only one outcome on the cards…a goal. The move was finished with a neat close range effort under the body of Webb to seal a place in the Midland Cup Final.

As the final whistle blew it was evident to see what this match actually meant to the players as the second years walked off the pitch for the last ever time.

Chesterfield (4-4-2): Webb, Granger, Needham, Palmer, Edridge (Beaglehole 72), Adcock, Smith (Waddle), Darikwa, Clay (Wright 46) Burrow, Watkis

Subs Not Used: West, Hazel,

Goals: Adcock 23