FEATURED BLOGGER: Logan To The rescue

Mark Plumb Writes...

Mansfield Town continued their league 2 campaign with a scrappy 0-0 draw at the hands of Wycombe Wanderes on a miserable wet night at Field Mill. The team was unchanged that beat Grimsby convincingly heading into the game, which for me was spot on.

The first half started with the Stags creating chances earlier on from Lee Angol whose first time shot was well saved by Scott Brown who did well to keep the effort out. In the first 15 minutes we played some good football in the early exchanges showing signs that we would be the most likely to score. Wycombe stood up well to the challenge making life hard for our front men to have much of an impact on the game, out muscling and being organised when called upon under pressure.  

Dan Scarr must have thought he put his side in front when his header looked certain to end up in the back of the net only for Logan to pull out an impressive save from close range. That was only one of his saves to keep out the Chairboys. Wycombe kept on pressing us high up the pitch, with Mansfield struggling to get a foot hold in the game in my opinion, especially in the midfield area.

Once again Scarr found himself on the end of another header towards the stags goal, again being kept out with Logan heading away from goal to somehow keep it out. Even though the conditions did play a part throughout the match it was frustrating us not being able to play our usual game, as we have been doing a lot so far this season.

This time it was Marcus Bean who fancied his chance with a shot for outside the box, which Logan could only parry out to Makii Smith whose shot was well kept out from point blank range from the former Rochdale man. So far this season he has been criticised for his performances thus far, including myself in previous blogs but if it wasn't for his saves we could have easily have gone on to lose the game by 4-0 with the chances they created. Logan if your reading this hats off to you.

The half time whistle blew with the scores at 0-0 with the rain not letting up any time soon. Overall assessment for me in the first half was disappointing after the first 15 minutes of the game with Mansfield not doing enough on the ball and making the most out of the chances we had in the early periods of the match. The second half began with Atkinson and Anderson replacing Macdonald and Mellis respectively. Much of the second half was very scrappy with both teams getting into some crunching tackles and the ball being played to much in the air for me.

We had a good chance to break the deadlock when Hemmings crossed into the box was screaming for the ball to be put away, with Rhys Bennett being inches away from connecting with the ball. Alfie Potter was introduced coming on for Butcher, who put an average performance at best not having made much of an impact since his promising debut against Carlisle.

In the last 10 minutes Wycombe were mounting on the pressure, taking advantage of our sloppy play by giving the ball away inviting them to attack us. The rest of the half was nothing to shout about with the only other chance coming from the Stags was Hemmings who shot was miss timed completely giving Wycombe the chance to clear their lines. Full time whistle blew giving Mansfield 4 points in the space of 3 days.

​The positives from the game was we kept a clean sheet, looking solid at the back and their were no injuries. On another day we could have easily have lost the game by at least 4 goals if not for Logan pulling the saves out of the bag. Their were standout performances from Logan, Hunt, Mirfin and Pearce to name a few that have done enough for me to keep their place in the team against Lincoln come Saturday. The negatives was not taking advantage of the chances we had and being dispossessed far to easily for me, not being able to get a foot hold in the match. On to Lincoln Saturday which will be a good test for the team. Onwards and upwards UP THE STAGS !!!!!