Football
ESPN staff 8y

Ched Evans scores for Chesterfield in first match since 2012

Chesterfield striker Ched Evans scored in his first competitive match since 2012 following a jail term.

The Welshman, returning to the game this season, struck from a long-range free kick in the 76th minute to cancel out Wes Thomas' first-half opener in a 1-1 draw with Oxford at the Kassam Stadium.

The 27-year-old Evans had a rape conviction quashed in April after being released from prison in 2014. The former Sheffield United player faces a retrial in October. He has pleaded not guilty.

"Ched had two good chances before his goal, he was just a little ring-rusty. Possibly half way through the season he might have buried them but he always comes up. I was saying to Chris Morgan (first-team coach) we had to keep him on because he'll score.

Chesterfield boss Danny Wilson was reluctant to discuss the significance of Evans' return -- he was booed by the home fans -- but instead preferred to praise his new forward, who signed an initial one-year deal in June, for earning a point.

"Everybody was nervous today, I was nervous," he said. "Ched had two good chances before his goal, he was just a little ring-rusty. Possibly half way through the season he might have buried them but he always comes up. I was saying to [first-team coach] Chris Morgan we had to keep him on because he'll score.

"He's not played that many minutes and sometimes you think it's right to give him a rest but we know he's going to score if he gets a chance. That's what you want, that threat.

"He's got through 80 minutes of the game and that's good from our point of view. We have a tough game at Rochdale on Tuesday but the point buoys us going into that."

Information from The Associated Press and Press Association was used in this report.

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