Cheltenham Town 1-0 Mansfield Town | Sky Bet League Two | Saturday 22nd February 2020 | Jonny Rocks Stadium *The views expressed in this article, are solely those of the writer and not those of their associated organisations*
As a football fan, the worst time of the season is the final game – but this season, I think you’d be very hard pushed to find a Stags fan who can’t wait for the full time whistle to blow and bring an end to this whimpering, deflating season. A 1-0 defeat to promotion pushing Cheltenham was to be expected really, BUT it shouldn’t be accepted as yet again Mansfield Town did what they do best – waste chance after chance and then get punished for sloppiness at the other end. The Stags have come a long way under Graham Coughlan and look a lot fitter and more dangerous going forward, which does excite me for next season because I’m convinced that all the foundations will be restructured – but what’s frustrating is wasting the here and now, because there’s no doubt in my mind we’d be battling for a play-off space now if we weren’t so dam poor at the back across the entirety of the squad. It’s alarming how cheaply we turn the ball over and that was highlighted beautifully by Cheltenham when they scored the games’ only goal – putting no real pressure on the Stags but pouncing with predatory instinct when they got in the final third, we’ve become far too easy to play and attack against really. I believe we will win games this season under Coughlan and will improve on our defensive errors and I think so long as we maintain a big enough gap between ourselves and Stevenage, I’m happy enough to let this season fizzle out and close the book – but for now until we are mathematically safe, the worry continues, the frustration bubbles – and the feeling of deflation hangs around like a bad smell. Match Recap Defender Joe Riley was deemed fit enough for a place on the bench, but couldn’t force a start as Graham Coughlan stuck, naturally, with the same starting eleven which beat Newport 1-0 last weekend Click HERE to read the clubs official match report FULL TIME: Cheltenham Town 1-0 Mansfield Town | Attendance 3,274 (381) STAGS: [3-4-1-2] Aidan Stone | Ryan Sweeney, Krystian Pearce ©, Kelland Watts (Craig Davies 86) | Hayden White, Neal Bishop, Willem Tomlinson, CJ Hamilton | Harry Charsley (Mal Benning 71) | Danny Rose, Nicky Maynard Unused Substitutes: Bobby Olejnik, Joe Riley, Jack Evans, James Clarke, Jimmy Knowles *The views expressed in this article, are solely those of the writer and not those of their associated organisations*
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