Grimsby 0-1 Stags | That fresh sea air

Grimsby Town 0-1 Mansfield Town (Pearce) | Sky Bet League Two | Saturday 7th October 2019 | Blundell Park, Cleethorpes - Grimsby   

*The views expressed in this article, are solely those of the writer and not those of their associated organisations*

The start to Mansfield Town’s season has been like one of those sickness bugs which for whatever reason, you just can’t shake. You can take a variety of medicines and different routines, but ultimately all you need sometimes is some fresh sea air to flush it out of your system and make it all go away.

HOPEFULLY that’s what Mansfield have done, yesterday’s performance at Grimsby was about coming away with a result no matter what – ignore the haters, drowning out the doubters, and pulling together to get the job done.

Since full time I’ve seen comments and had conversations with people about the performance, my answer is the same every time – it didn’t need to be pretty, it didn’t need to be fluid – it just needed to be collective in the pursuit of small goals, getting to half-time at 0-0 might seem stupid, but the way in which the season has panned out so far, it was massive.

The second half game plan was for me about blocks of 15 minutes, if we could go through to 60 again without conceding but enjoying more of the ball, we could push and hurt. The red card, yes another one, rocked the boat and could have been cause for the self-destruct button to be hit, but the Stags were strong enough to rally and stay on top.

What followed is the ingredient we need to start climbing the table – grit and determination to fight for every last second, to fight for one and other and to fight for all three points. Grimsby offered very little with a man advantage and I never felt threatened playing with one less, it would have been so easy to sit back, shut up shop and play for a point – but sometimes you’ve got to battle and really put the work in to break out of a bad spell, and Pearce’s goal right at the death was the prime example of that.

What is important now is to channel the passion and the buzz into our next two home games this week. The Crewe game very few will care about but for me we are a squad and we win and lose together – regardless of the amount of changes we make, getting a victory to take into Saturday and add further spring into our step is vital.

​Let’s make our trip to the seaside the start of a bright memory, and not just a bit of sun breaking through on an otherwise rainy story.  

match recap

Hayden White and Nicky Maynard were brought back into the starting line up with Shaughnessy and Hamilton dropping to the bench, Dempster named an otherwise unchanged side with Matt Preston still suspended.

Mansfield saw off a number of early chances from the hosts it was they who saw the best opening come on 20 minutes when Hanson broke through one-on-one with Logan, clipping wide of the target.

Two minutes later Maynard blocked an effort from his own man after he teed up MacDonald – Rose was then kept at bay by the keeper after connecting with Khan’s free-kick on the half hour mark.

Mansfield started the brighter after the break with two efforts inside the opening five minutes from Rose and Khan, but on the hour mark disaster struck as Hayden White picked up a straight red card.

Hamilton then replaced Maynard as Mansfield looked for some balance across the pitch with a man less, Ryan Sweeney had to throw himself in the way of a Hanson volley before Hamilton could spark into life at the other end, beating his man for pace and squaring into the middle – only for there to be no Stags player awaiting the pass.

Six minutes were added on and in the final minute Hamilton was hacked down on the left hand side, Mal Benning whipped in the free kick and after a scramble in the box – captain Pearce connected and drilled into the net in front of the Stags faithful to spark pandemonium as John Dempster’s men sealed a wonderful win.  

FULL TIME: Grimsby Town 0-1 Mansfield Town | Attendance 5,087 (681)

STAGS: [3-4-3] Conrad Logan | Hayden White [SENT OFF 60], Krystian Pearce ©, Ryan Sweeney | Kellan Gordon, Neal Bishop, Alex MacDonald, Mal Benning | Otis Khan (Conor Shaughnessy 85), Nicky Maynard (CJ Hamilton 65), Danny Rose (Andy Cook 83) Unused Subs: Aidan Stone, Alistair Smith, Dapo Afolayan, Willem Tomlinson

​Written by | Craig Priest
*The views expressed in this article, are solely those of the writer and not those of their associated organisations*