Rai Simons bagged his first senior goal for Chesterfield, but still could not stop his side slipping to a 3-1 defeat at home to Gillingham in the Sky Bet League One at the weekend.

Simons, who was named Chesterfield’s man of the match, scored in the 35th minute, side-footing the ball home from inside the area to drag his side level after John Egan had given the visiting team the lead.

Egan struck midway through the first half when Tommy Lee, the Chesterfield goalkeeper, failed to deal with an inswinging free kick and Egan, the Gillingham captain, tapped in from close range.

The lead lasted less than ten minutes, however, before Simons, starting just his third game for Chesterfield, took a Sam Morsy pass and sent a right-footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner of Stuart Nelson’s goal.

Morsy and Jay O’Shea both had opportunities to give Chesterfield the lead early in the second half, but Nelson was equal to the task and Gillingham made the home side pay for those misses.

Ryan Donnelly headed his side in front from a Jermaine McGlashan cross and Donnelly then turned provider, with Harry Lennon this time beating the Chesterfield defence in the air to seal all three points for Justin Edinburgh’s men.

Still, the defeat could not dampen Simons’s joy at getting his first goal for the club.

“Anything is possible! First professional goal of hopefully many more to come,” he tweeted yesterday.

Even Dean Saunders, the Chesterfield manager, tried to look on the bright side of things, suggesting his team’s performance was better in defeat than it had been in victory over Crew Alexandra the previous week.

“The stats tell you that we had 61 per cent possession, I thought we played excellently — in between them scoring,” he said. “We’ve let three goals in and to say the performance was good after you’ve lost 3-1 at home doesn’t happen very often.

“We have to keep believing and keep doing what we’re doing. There’s nothing wrong with our football.”

Elsewhere, Jonté Smith scored his second goal for English non-League Gloucester City in their 3-1 win over Leiston to reach the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup.

The Bermuda striker scored his team’s second with a mazy dribble, beating three players before finishing with aplomb. The 21-year-old then created his team’s third goal with a through ball for Joshua Cooke, the on loan Swindon Town striker.

Reggie Lambe played his part in Mansfield Town’s 3-1 victory over struggling Newport County in League Two at the weekend. The Bermuda midfielder was substituted in the 77th minute.

Three second-half goals enabled Mansfield to secure their third successive win, with Craig Westcarr volleying home to give Mansfield the lead in the 50th minute.

Malvind Benning’s stunning volley doubled the home side’s lead before substitute Adi Yussuf sealed victory.

Freddy Hall, the Bermuda goalkeeper, has been named the Limerick player of the month by the team’s official supporters club.

Hall has been instrumental in Limerick’s improved performances on the pitch, with the team beaten just twice in ten games since his arrival.