Gary Caldwell has last laugh as Exeter beat his former club Chesterfield

Exeter cruised into the third round of the FA Cup with a comfortable 2-0 win against manager Gary Caldwell’s former club Chesterfield.

The Scot won just three of 29 games in charge of the Spireites back in 2017 and he was subjected to plenty of abuse from the travelling fans.

But it was Caldwell who had the last laugh with his side winning with ease thanks to goals from Tristan Crama and Josh Magennis.

Exeter started well with Max Thompson making a good save low down to his left from Jack Aitchison’s shot, while Magennis saw an effort blocked and Ilmari Niskanen elected to pass instead of shoot when clean through on goal.

It was one-way traffic with Ryan Woods forcing Thompson into another good stop and the deadlock was finally broken on the stroke of half-time when a corner found Crama unmarked at the back post and he headed in from four yards.

Chesterfield’s first attempt on target came straight after the interval when Darren Oldaker fired straight at Joe Whitworth with a free-kick, but despite a period of pressure from the Spireites, Exeter always looked more likely to score.

They finally got their second in the 69th minute when Aitchison led a break, fed Niskanen and he crossed low for Magennis, who could not miss from two yards.