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Full Time Score Mansfield Town 1-1 Lincoln City Competition Sky Bet League Two Venue One Call Stadium Stags Goal Scorer(s) Krystian Pearce Attendance 7,177 (1,603)  Craig Priest writes…
You can practise something a million and one times, but in football there is only the ONE time something counts for real – match day. There’s never any room for error and as we approach the business end of the season the pressure to perform live every single week is ramping up – so what better test of our character than by taking on League Leaders Lincoln City LIVE in front of the nation of Sky Sports. The Stags have suffered of late with injuries, suspensions and tiredness really catching up on them and taking their toll, the 0-0 draw with Crawley last week sort of hit the reset button but what Mansfield needed was something to cheer – so going into the last eight games, have David Flitcrofts men got enough in the tank to finish in the top three? I’ll always believe so deep down, although last night I couldn’t help but think we need to find some energy from somewhere, as again after about an hour or so, we were slowing down and starting to make silly mistakes and given our lack of real fire power, we can’t afford to do this. Fortunately our defence has been solid all season predominantly and really kept the Imps at bay, had it not been for a debatable penalty, the Stags may well have taken all three points from the Champions elect – I think the squad can take that as a positive and use that to once again tighten the screw and give us the foundation to see out the season unbeaten, which should be enough to deliver league one football. We were backed by a brilliant crowd and we need to maintain that energy in the terraces for the remainder of the season, the players seem to thrive upon it and on any other night, may well have done so to put us into a more commanding lead. I’ve sat here debating what to write, do I pick out errors and ifs and buts? Do I say what shape and personnel I’d opt for? No. What’s important now is togetherness, belief and energy – from the very first second to the last. We are LIVE, there is no room for error, we can create TV Gold or a classic movie – or we can play out a flop and a farce. It’s in our hands - eight games to go and back into third. MATCH REPORT Critically Stags were able revert to the back three which has been near water tight all season as Matt Preston and Ryan Sweeney both returned from injury, they replaced Turner and MacDonald respectively, as Mansfield reverted back to the trusted 3-4-1-2 CLICK HERE for the clubs official report. FULL TIME: Mansfield Town 1-1 Lincoln City STAGS [3-4-1-2] Conrad Logan, Matt Preston, Krystain Pearce ©, Ryan Sweeney, Gethin Jones, Neal Bishop, Jacob Mellis (Willem Tomlinson 90+3), Mal Benning, Jorge Grant (Alex MacDonald 59), Tyler Walker, CJ Hamilton Unused Subs: Jordan Smith, Otis Khan, Nicky Ajose, Ben Turner, Alistar Smith, Referee: Graham Scott
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Full Time Score Crawley Town 0-0 Mansfield Town Competition Sky Bet League Two Venue Broadfield Stadium (People’s Pension stadium) Stags Goal Scorer(s) / Attendance 1,909 (219  Craig Priest writes…
After three away defeat on the spin accumulated in the Stags dropping out of the top three on Saturday, it was clear something needed to change as Flitcroft’s men made the trek to Crawley last night – and whilst we came away frustrated at not winning, Mansfield are on the way at least to spring back into action. A spring absorbs so much pressure and will go one of two ways – it’ll snap causing disaster, or it’ll force back open and release whatever is pushing down on it, back into the air – I’ve tried to think of other ways to describe last night’s game – and that’s as far as I’ve got. For weeks the strain of pushing for automatic promotion, coupled with injuries and suspensions to key players has caused our spring to buckle and not do its job, but after an apparent heart to heart and open conversation with the entirety of the squad on Sunday – the players have refocused and began to fight for the cause once more, rather then let tiredness and excuses come bursting to the surface with nine games remaining. Judging the game as one, Mansfield should have won and performed better – at times they looked short of ideas and could have done with fresh legs to really penetrate the final third, but out of isolation – what was more important, going all guns blazing and a potential fourth straight away loss, or airing on the side of caution with a point to relight our fire? When you lean towards the former you could argue at this stage of the season with points so tight you need to be a bit braver and perhaps introduce the likes of Khan and Ajose to effect the game – but the unity we’ll gain from a clean sheet is far more important, a team with a strong character and belief is a team who has the nerve to fight until the very last breath. Did we have that at this stage last season? No – look what happened. We needed players to really step up and we got that last night, Ben Turner despite lacking a bit of pace, looked absolutely solid and needed that display to boost his, his team mates and the fans confidence – as no doubt he’ll be called upon with Preston and Sweeney both on the treatment table. Conrad Logan too had a good game between the sticks with a vital clean sheet, whilst Alex MacDonald gave us that bit of added zest – which I think in front of a bumper crowd on Monday in a fixture which is so important, will really help fuel the fire. Frustrating that we missed a chance to put some distance between ourselves, MK Dons and the chasing Tranmere yes – but all in all, our spring is now coiled and set for release, let’s get a good weeks work in now and celebrate the off pitch news with victory on Monday. MATCH REPORT Five changes were made by Stags boss David Flitcroft who hasn’t been happy with Mansfield’s dwindling away form of late – Conrad Logan replaced Smith in goal, Ben Turner and Gethin Jones were selected in a back four, whilst completing the spine of the team were MacDonald and the back from suspension Walker, as the Stags went 4-3-3 – Sweeney missed out through concussion as per FA Ruling, whilst Matt Preston remained side lined with a knee issue. CLICK HERE for the clubs official report. FULL TIME: Mansfield Town 4-2 Cheltenham Town STAGS [4-3-3] Conrad Logan, Gethin Jones, Krystain Pearce ©, Ben Turner, Mal Benning, Neal Bishop, Alex MacDonald (Willem Tomlinson 82), Jacob Mellis, Jorge Grant, Tyler Walker, CJ Hamilton Unused Subs: Jordan Smith, Otis Khan, Will Atkinson, Nicky Ajose, Alistar Smith, Zayn Hakeem Referee: Lee Collins Full Time Score Port Vale 2-1 Mansfield Town Competition Sky Bet League Two Venue Vale Park Stags Goal Scorer(s) Nicky Ajose Attendance 5,231 (1,430)  Craig Priest writes…
Standing on a plug with your bare foot, being kicked in the nether regions and being flicked on the ear on a really cold day are all types of horrible pain – but nothing hurts more than watching Mansfield Town FC be so lacklustre and technically poor that they lose their grip on the top three and lose to a struggling side. What’s worse is that a few months ago the stags had an unblemished away record and were one of the toughest sides to beat away from home, and yet now David Flitcrofts men have lost their last three away games – a little feeling of panic is starting to creep in. It’s very easy to sit here on a Sunday and moan – listing all the things that are wrong with us, and whilst five minutes ago I had a phenomenal rant which saw me nearly break my keyboard, I’ve deleted it to type this – our only downfall at this stage, is dwelling. We were bloody awful, there is no escaping that fact – and we have been away from home since late December really, but we can’t afford to be looking back, placing blame and dwelling because that’s taking our eye of the ball – and we’re already doing that! We’ve become too focussed on what Lincoln, Bury and MK Dons are doing around us (and how badly Notts County are doing) and have let slip of what’s important – us! Management, supporters and players alike have put so much work into turning the attitude around into this positive wave of backing – to see that crumble yesterday really frustrated me, now more than ever we need to be together – on and off the pitch. It’s not like we’ve got a manager who is so blinded by his own arrogance to not change it up, I fully believe that they’ll be changes at Crawley, both in personnel where possible, in the system and in the way we approach the game. Alex MacDonald is probably ready to start now, Tyler Walker is back from suspension and fingers crossed Matt Preston could be back in the fold – the latter very much needed to bring some solidity back to what was a defence acting like melting butter meeting the sharpest blade. Not for a second do I question our commitment; it’s the more simple things like passing a ball and using players as a team rather than going for glory and being all flash. We committed to this together and must go forward in that manner. Crawley is no easy place to visit, but we need to be fuelled by our own ambitions and ruthlessly execute whatever stands in our way – it doesn’t matter about how good we were at one stage, it doesn’t matter how others are performing – we can only affect us, our attitude and our position. TEN games to go – we may well have taken a wrong turning, but we’ll get there in the end…. So long as Ajose steers clears of penalties! MATCH REPORT Will Atkinson was handed a start in place of Gethin Jones but otherwise it was as you were with Preston still out injured and leading scorer Tyler Walker serving the second of his two game ban. Click HERE to read the clubs official match report – but I’ll sum it up for you… We started so badly we gave the ball away from our own kick-off, squandered a golden chance to do real damage of 18 minutes when Ajose missed a penalty which everyone in the stadium could see where he was going to put it, failed to pass a ball to ourselves but somehow managed to be 0-0 at the break. Second half we got sloppy and allowed a man with a point to prove to do just that with two school boy finishes in quick succession before substitute Otis Khan’s cross hit Ajose and went in to give us slight hope. However we still couldn’t find the net and had to ask our goalkeeper to try and do it for us – to be fair he perhaps should have won us a spot-kick which, if won, had anyone other than Smith taken it – we’d have missed. FULL TIME: Mansfield Town 4-2 Cheltenham Town STAGS [3-4-2-1]: Jordan Smith, Krystian Pearce ©, Ryan Sweeney (Ben turner 51), Mal Benning, Will Atkinson, Neal Bishop, Willem Tomlinson (Otis Jhan 56), CJ Hamilton, Jacob Mellis (Alex MacDonald 66), Jorge Grant, Nicky Ajose Unused Subs: Conrad Logan, Gethin Jones, Alistar Smith, Zayn Hakeem Referee: Darren Bond Full Time Score Mansfield Town 4-2 Cheltenham Town Competition Sky Bet League Two Venue One Call Stadium Stags Goal Scorer(s) CJ Hamilton (2), Will Atkinson, Alex MacDonald Attendance 5,276 (181)  Craig Priest writes…
The beautiful game is full of ups and downs, twists and turns, heartbreak and elation – but it’s that raw emotion which keeps us coming back week up on week – and yesterday as Mansfield grabbed three more precious points, they certainly put us through every raw emotion going, in a game full of determination and will power. David Flitcroft was celebrating his first year in charge of the Stags and recapped twelve months within ninety minutes as his sides merged between lacklustre, flat, hungry, lucky, dangerous, unlucky, deflated, bemused, courageous and in the ends – down right bloody brilliant! It’s one of the strangest games I’ve watched for a while as supporters watched the changing mood play out, but ultimately at this time of the season pretty football won’t take you up – togetherness and a commitment running through the core will. We didn’t have that when Flitcroft first took charge, a lot of the so called core was rotten and it’s taken time to remove that and rebuild, yesterday showed that no matter what, nothing is going to poison our core and we will fight until the very end. This goes way beyond the eleven players put out to start the game, a one man circus is never going to be the greatest show – yesterday especially showed that everyone believes in what we are trying to achieve and are ready, when called upon, to fight to make it a reality. Will Atkinson, Alex MacDonald and Ben Turner are examples of just that – Atkinson is Mansfield’s marmite but for me is a vital weapon to have within as he can comfortably play anywhere and has experience of consistently playing at a higher level which is where we aspire to be. Atkinson yesterday came on and helped with the change of shape (I won’t go on about changing shape too much, but even Stevie Wonder can see we are FAR MUCH BETTER and dangerous with a flat back four) and was tremendous down the right hand side, topping off a solid display with that critical third goal – throwing himself into the fire, not bothered about getting burnt. Alex MacDonald is, and has been since day one, Mr Mansfield Town – we’ve missed his flare and infectious enthusiasm at times and really needed that at 3-2 yesterday to blunt the knife edge game and see us through to a critical victory, his goal was breathtakingly beautiful as it defined what Mansfield Town Football Club are about – never giving up, no matter what obstacles stand before us. Turner’s late appearance helped lock down the defence and slam darkness on Cheltenham’s chunk of light, we’re a young squad predominantly and at times we forget that – we need his experience in situations like that to prevent the pot from boiling over. It goes far beyond those ON the pitch though, we’re missing key figures through injury and suspension but they are all committed to the project and supporting in whatever way they can, players like Danny Rose and Bobby Oljenik are not letting injury hold them back as they get their heads down and focus on recovery, they’re in on a match day to be a part of this team, this unit, this core – and for that to be totally transformed in the space of a year with the results to match just goes to show the right appointment was made. Eleven games to go, but only ONE to focus on and that’s next weekend’s trip to Port Vale, the league table is starting to see a real split in terms of points but we can only affect our own position – so let’s get across to Port Vale next weekend and back this group of players who are giving everything to make our dreams a reality. MATCH REPORT Defender Matt Preston was given a deserved rest as it was revealed he’d be carrying an injury for a long time, Ryan Sweeney fresh from a two game ban came into the starting line to replace him, whilst Ajose replaced the suspended Walker as the Stags lined up 3-4-2-1, young striker Zayn Hakeem given a slot on the bench to boost attacking options. The Stags were kicking towards the Quarry Lane Stand in the first half but it was at the other end where the first bit of action took place as Jacob Maddox got a volley all from for the visitors two minutes in. Two minutes later Hamilton played in the lively Ajose who saw an effort blocked, Grant and Bishop saw efforts go stray as the game bundled on past the half hour mark – the stags best chance came on 39 minutes as Hamilton saw an effort blocked before from the resulting corner, Mellis hit one sweetly only to be denied. Stags needed some luck and twice struck lucky before the break as Hamilton notched two goals – his first on 42 minutes came after Ajose’s effort was blocked into the path of the lightening winger who just got enough power on the follow up from an angle to open the scoring – three minutes later Hamilton again had just enough power, tucking beneath Flinders to double his, and Mansfield’s tally. Moments later Hamilton nearly turned goal scorer into provider with a pinpoint ball for Ajose, the on loan Charlton man turned the inviting cross wide – Mansfield however were somehow two-nil up as the half time whistle blew. After the restart the next goal was critical and it should have been the Stags who got it, Hamilton denied a hat-trick by Flinders on 49 minutes before Ajose was also denied by a last ditch challenge. Mansfield’s first half luck then did a U-turn as Mal Benning was judged to have given away a free kick on 59 minutes, Chris Hussey curled home a sweet dead ball which you couldn’t help applaud, before with the pendulum back in Cheltenham’s court, they pulled level on 69 minutes, Mansfield allowing Charlie Raglan a free header from a corner, after the Stags had carelessly given away the ball in midfield. The Stags then set about getting back into the lead and had chances twice through Mellis and once through Grant, before the former delivered a testing corner on 77 minutes, which saw Will Atkinson throw himself at a dipping ball to score a brilliant diving header to restore the Stags lead. Alex MacDonald was introduced to the home crowd for the first time since September late on and into the third minute of added time, his enthusiasm and grit secured Mansfield’s fourth as he charged through the middle via a bobble and calmly tucked beyond Flinders, celebrating with raw passion to the sound of his own name. Willem Tomlinson went into the referee’s note book in the dying seconds, but the full time result was far more important as the whistle blew – the Stags remain two points ahead of MK Dons in fourth and two behind Bury in second. FULL TIME: Mansfield Town 4-2 Cheltenham Town STAGS [3-4-2-1]: Jordan Smith, Ryan Sweeney, Krystian Pearce ©, Mal Benning, Gethin Jones (Will Atkinson HT), Neal Bishop, Willem Tomlinson, CJ Hamilton, Jacob Mellis, Jorge Grant (Ben Turner 79), Nicky Ajose (Alex MacDonald 90) Unused Subs: Conrad Logan, Otis Khan, Alistar Smith, [#34] Zayn Hakeem Referee: Alan Young |
