Rai Simons impressed in his first start for Chesterfield after helping the Sky Bet League One side end their three-game losing streak against Crewe Alexandra at Gresty Road on Saturday.

Simons, who came on as a second-half substitute in Chesterfield’s previous two games, was deployed on the right of midfield, replacing Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, the former Wolverhampton Wanderers striker, who dropped to the bench.

It was Simons who created the opener in the sixth minute with a first-time cross to the back post for left winger Dan Gardner to finish from a tight angle.

Crewe captain David Fox equalised shortly before half-time when the midfielder fired home from 20 yards, but Gardner secured victory for Chesterfield with a volley from Liam O’Neil’s cross in the 57th minute.

Simons, who signed for Chesterfield from non-League Ilkeston last season, was replaced in the 77th minute by Drew Talbot.

Dean Saunders, the Chesterfield manager, heaped praise on Simons and described the Bermuda striker as a handful.

“Rai’s got a fresh mind, I thought he was excellent,” Saunders said. “He was a handful for the first half an hour and he made the goal.

“We’ve won and that’s the main thing. We’ve got the points in the bag and we needed it.”

Victory moved Chesterfield to fourteenth in the table, while Crewe remain rooted to the bottom.

“It’s amazing with the league table,” Saunders said. “We’re three points off the top six now.

“It’s a tight league, so we’ll just have to keep on picking up points while I’m piecing together what we need to do to be a bit more resilient.

“The lads were brilliant today. We’ve hung on, which will give them belief.”

Chesterfield return to action in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy tomorrow away to Rochdale, the League One side.

Also in action at the weekend were Reggie Lambe, whose Mansfield Town defeated Dagenham & Redbridge 4-3 in a thriller at Victoria Road, and Nahki Wells, who came on as a second-half substitute in Huddersfield Town’s 3-0 defeat away to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

At the non-League level, Jonté Smith had the ball in the net after firing a left-footed shot into the far corner, but it was chalked off for offside as Gloucester City lost 1-0 at home to Harrogate Town in the Vanarama National League.

Meanwhile, Roger Lee continued at right back in Rugby Town’s 3-1 home win against Carlton Town in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier.