Berry came off the bench to score with a fantastic solo effort, running through the heart of the visitors’ defence and curling expertly beyond goalkeeper Matthew Gould from the edge of the box.
Earlier, Chris Conn-Clarke had equalised for Altrincham, who failed to consolidate their place amongst the division’s play-off hopefuls.
Midfielder Oliver Banks put the league leaders in front midway through the first half as they maintained their record of having dropped only two points at home this season.
The visitors shocked the runaway league leaders when they took a first-minute lead through Rakish Bingham, but Chesterfield were level through Will Grigg just before the half-hour mark, with the former Northern Ireland striker able to chest home Liam Mandeville’s cross.
Moments later they were ahead as Jeff King dribbled his way through to the edge of the box, and though his shot was blocked on the line, Armando Dobra was there to poke home on the rebound.
Ben Chapman levelled early in the second half as Chesterfield appealed in vain for offside, and it ended all square at the SMH Group Stadium.
Both sides started well, with a big chance coming for Dagenham’s Ryan Hill, who was denied by Harry Tyrer.
Dagenham’s Josh Rees broke the deadlock five minutes before half-time, poking home a cross.
The visitors then wilted after Harry Phipps was shown a red card for pulling back Will Grigg in the 69th minute.
Ryan Colclough equalised for the home side three minutes after the dismissal before Grigg scored a 90th-minute penalty.
Ollie Banks then completed the victory by scoring Chesterfield’s third in stoppage time.
The Spireites extended their lead at the top of the Vanarama National League to 19 points after claiming a sixth successive victory.
James Berry opened the scoring in the 38th minute after combining with Will Grigg before Eastleigh suffered a major setback when Paul McCallum – the division’s leading scorer – was sent off on the stroke of half-time.
Late goals from Liam Mandeville and Grigg then secured a 25th league win of the campaign for the runaway leaders.
Armando Dobra set up Mandeville to make it 2-0 in the 84th minute before Grigg struck two minutes later.
Eastleigh grabbed a consolation goal deep into added time through Chris Maguire’s penalty but the points were long since gone.
They took the lead just five minutes in when a clearance fell to Dobra on the edge of the box and the midfielder fired the ball home.
Emmanuel Dieseruvwe had a chance go wide for Pools, but the Spireites had opportunities to extend their lead in the second half with Jamie Grimes and James Berry going close.
Three points sees Chesterfield remain eight points clear at the summit, while Hartlepool drop into 15th.
Ollie Banks bagged a brace before Will Grigg added a late third.
Banks put the Spireites ahead by finishing off a counter attack led by Tom Naylor in the 21st minute.
Zak Brown nodded in Reiss McNally’s cross four minutes later for the Harriers.
Banks restored Chesterfield’s lead in the 67th minute, tucking in after Grigg had seen a shot come back off a post.
Kidderminster’s hopes of a reply were hit when McNally picked up a second booking with seven minutes left before Grigg punished the 10 men in stoppage time.
The Spireites were frustrated for long periods of the first half and visiting keeper Rory Watson saved well to deny Armando Dobra.
Ollie Banks finally broke the deadlock four minutes into the second half and Tom Naylor’s crisp volley doubled the home side’s lead on the hour mark.
Two goals from Will Grigg in the final half-hour completed an impressive second-half display and strengthened his side’s grip on top spot.
Jamie Grimes scored twice and Liam Mandeville netted immediately after the interval as the Spireites stayed 21 points clear with nearest challengers Barnet, who hammered Dorking 6-0, now having only 18 to play for.
Chesterfield keeper Harry Tyrer had to make an excellent early save from Tom Whelan’s free-kick but the hosts took the lead in the 28th minute when captain Grimes headed home Mandeville’s corner from near the penalty spot.
It was 2-0 less than a minute into the second half as Mandeville tucked away Armando Dobra’s cross and the 9,907-strong crowd were treated to a 100th league goal of Chesterfield’s season when the impressive Dobra teed up Grimes to score his second of the game.
Struggling Wood could find no response and as the five added minutes expired, the celebrations could begin.
The visitors must have been fearing the worst when Will Grigg poked in the opening goal from close range after just 30 seconds.
But they had the chance to level from the penalty spot after 14 minutes, only for Josh Parker to see his spot-kick saved by Harry Tyrer.
Liam Mandeville saw a shot blocked on the line for the Spireites, while at the other end a loose pass from Tom Naylor sent Harvey Greenslade clear but Jamie Grimes made a superb last-ditch tackle.
Naylor scored Chesterfield’s second 10 minutes into the second half, slotting the ball under the goalkeeper, and Ash Palmer hit a post as they looked for a third.
The hosts’ five-game winning run had ended at the weekend when they drew with Solihull, but they returned to winning ways on Tuesday.
Chin Okoli scored the game’s only goal 33 minutes in, crashing in a header from Lewis Leigh’s cross.
Grant Smith made some fine saves to keep Bromley in it, while substitute Bim Pepple hit a post for the home side in time added on.
The Harriers started well with Ashley Hemmings striking the post before Zak Brown put them in front in the 20th minute, hooking home after Altrincham failed to clear a corner.
But the visitors drew level just four minutes later with Lewis Banks laying the ball off for Regan Linney to finish after being played in by Conn-Clarke.
And the Northern Irishman then took over himself, turning in Alex Newby’s cross to put Altrincham in front in the 51st minute before bending in another shot with 17 minutes left.
The visitors had hopes of moving off the foot of the Vanarama National League table when Connor Barrett gave them the lead after 26 minutes, but Conn-Clarke had other ideas and equalised with a superb free-kick shortly before the hour mark.
Fylde responded immediately and almost retook the lead as Nick Haughton forced goalkeeper Ethan Ross into a point-blank save with a first-time shot.
At the other end Justin Amaluzor saw his shot come back off the foot of the post before Conn-Clarke rifled in a long-range effort in the 78th minute to complete the turnaround.
The Northern Irishman scored his third of the Easter weekend and took his season’s tally to 22 to lift the hosts to fourth in the table.
Alex Newby was instrumental in the 40th-minute winner, teeing up Conn-Clarke with precision to leave his team-mate a straightforward finish.
Regan Linney looked the likeliest finisher as the hosts pressed to put the Latics away, getting on the end of a handful of near misses, an unsuccessful penalty appeal and a deflected effort against the post, with late pressure from the visitors unable to tell.
The home side are struggling having won just twice all season and slipped to a 1-0 loss as Conn-Clarke hit a stunning second-half winner.
Eddy Jones missed a good early chance for the visitors before Lewis Banks forced a fine save out of Maidenhead goalkeeper Craig Ross.
Conn-Clarke would go on to provide the piece of magic to seal the three points for Altrincham, who remain seventh in the table.
Ethan Ross denied the hosts twice in quick succession almost immediately after kick-off, but there was little to separate the sides in a first half which saw Altrincham forward Justin Amaluzor rattle the crossbar.
The hosts were down to 10 men when Chris Bush was sent off for a heavy challenge on Justin Donawa in the 59th minute.
Relegation-threatened Boreham Wood held on until the 72nd minute, when Chris Conn-Clarke fired past Nathan Ashmore for his 19th goal of the season.
Hartlepool took the lead in the 19th minute when Joe Grey rounded off a well-worked team move by slotting home from inside the box.
Eastleigh had a chance to get on level terms with 13 minutes to play when they were awarded a penalty for a handball inside the area.
Chris Maguire, who joined Hartlepool on a short-term contract in 2022 but was not allowed to play due to a Football Association betting charge, made no mistake from the spot and slid it into the bottom left corner to make it 1-1 and leave them three points above the drop zone.
Dale skipper Ethan Ebanks-Landell put the hosts ahead in the 26th minute, converting when the away defence failed to adequately deal with a ball fired into the box.
Only a linesman’s flag denied him a second soon after but Hayes’ quickfire double in the final moments before the break made the points safe.
He made no mistake after Kairo Mitchell’s effort came back off a post and then hoisted a cross-cum-shot high over a wrong-footed Marcus Dewhurst. The relegation-threatened visitors could not muster any kind of comeback in the second period and stay out of the bottom four on goal difference only.
Bromley struck twice in the opening four minutes of the National League clash, with Louis Dennis lobbing Jordi van Stappershoef before Michael Cheek quickly added a second.
But the Shots started their comeback in the 58th minute when Jack Barham bundled home from inside the area.
They were level in the 73rd minute as Lorent Tolaj collected the ball with his back to goal before drilling into the bottom corner from outside the area.
Four minutes later Bromley had Byron Webster sent off after he collided into Kwame Thomas in mid air and the man advantage paid off deep into stoppage time when Rowe nodded in to snatch all three points.
Wealdstone took a late lead as they looked for a first away win of the season, but McBride struck in the 76th and 80th minutes to earn the Heed a fourth success in five.
An inspired Jed Ward kept the hosts at bay in the first half. The Wealdstone goalkeeper got down well to deny Greg Olley before he tipped over Marcus Dinanga’s header and kept out McBride’s close-range effort.
Against the run of play, Wealdstone struck with 18 minutes left when Tarryn Allarakhia found the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area.
But McBride equalised four minutes later after being teed up by Olley and then unleashed a brilliant curling effort from 25 yards to secure victory.
Forward Whitely thumped home from range to give the second-placed hosts a 39th-minute lead at Hayes Lane, before blasting into the top corner to double his tally within a minute of the restart.
Halifax were unable to find a way back into the game as their four-match winning run came to an end, with Bromley registering only a second victory in nine outings following a 4-3 triumph over leaders Chesterfield a fortnight ago.
Both sides finished the contest with 10 men after Bromley defender Besart Topalloj and Halifax forward Adan George were dismissed in the fifth minute of added time.
