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Season 17/18 Stagsnet Match Report
The Emirates FA Cup - Round Three replay
Mansfield Town  
1 - 4
 Cardiff City
Rose 35.
 
 Manga 34, Hoilett 66, 89, Pilkington 71.
Attendance: 6529 (with 514 from Cardiff)
 
Date: 16 January 2018

SUPER STAGS KNOCKED OUT OF FA CUP BY CARDIFF

Martin Shaw at the One Call Stadium, Field Mill

Mansfield Town were knocked out of the FA Cup in a third round replay by Championship high-flyers Cardiff City last night at a packed and bouncing One Call Stadium. With the massive prize for the winner being a game at home to the best side in England, Manchester City, live on BBC1 in round four, both teams were right up for the game. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was watching the game from the Directors Box, sitting next to John and Carolyn Radford. The Stags produced a performance to be proud of, more than holding their own for 65 minutes before being killed off by two goals in 5 minutes on 66 and 71 minutes. Amid a terrific atmosphere, Cardiff went closest first when Conrad Logan made a fine save on 18 minutes, tipping away a curling shot from Junior Hoilett that was heading for the top right corner. Controversy on 25 minutes when Hoilett went straight through Alex MacDonald with an absolutely dreadful challenge, two-footed, flying and out-of-control with studs into MacDonald’s leg, that brought a yellow card from referee Geoff Eltringham. That should have been a red card in my opinion. From the resulting free-kick 25 yards out, the Stags were nearly in front. The returning Joel Byrom rolled a clever ball into the path of the on-rushing Mal Benning who fired over the angle of bar and post from 14 yards when he should have scored. Another chance for the Stags on 30 minutes when Jacob Mellis’s low square ball in from the left was fluffed by CJ Hamilton but fell for Danny Rose whose shot from 12 yards was deflected wide. Cardiff went in front on 34 minutes. A corner from the right by Ralls towards to the far post was headed back towards goal by Sean Morrison where Logan got a hand on it but couldn’t push it away decisively and Bruno Manga knocked into the net left footed from 3 yards. Mansfield claimed for a foul by Morrison for a push in the back of Pearce just before Morrison headed back across goal and from the video there was a clear push. The referee had a perfect view, just yards away and somehow didn’t give the foul, which it clearly was. But just a minute later Mansfield were level. Byrom’s corner from the left was headed back to him, he found Hayden White who crossed in, it was knocked down by Rhys Bennett, ricocheted off defender Joe Bennett, and fell for Danny Rose who pounced and swept into the net left footed from 8 yards. The roof came off the stadium. All square at half time and a standing ovation from the huge home crowd for a terrific first half from the Stags. The second half saw very little goalmouth action for the first 20 minutes, with the Stags again matching Cardiff. On 65 minutes, Callum Paterson slid a low cross in from the right and Krystian Pearce was just able to put it behind for a corner. But just a minute later, another cross in from the right by Paterson was missed by Rose, and Hoilett knocked in from close range, getting in front of Pearce. Then 5 minutes after that, another low cross from the right, this time by Loic Damour, was not cleared again and Anthony Pilkington smashed into the net from 7 yards. That goal to make it 3-1 knocked the stuffing out of Mansfield and there was no coming back. Cardiff made it 4-1 on 89 minutes to put a flattering gloss on the scoreline as a long free kick from the keeper Etheridge from halfway inside his own half was knocked down by Pilkington to sub Omar Bogle who teed up Hoilett who superbly rifled into the bottom left corner of the net from 20 yards. So defeat for Mansfield but a performance to be proud of for the first three quarters of the game. So often in the past Mansfield haven’t put in a good performance when a big crowd has turned up, but they certainly did here. Plenty of contenders for man of the match but Alex MacDonald must have covered every blade of grass on the pitch and was outstanding. Back to the league now and a huge game on Saturday where Mansfield need to put in a similar level of performance against Cheltenham. Also hopefully some of the floating fans who attended last night will have enjoyed what they saw and will return on Saturday.

There was a minute’s applause for Stags fan Graham Foster, who died recently aged 58, in the 58th minute. RIP Graham.

A word on the attendance. After some confusion, the official released attendance was 5746 with 514 from Cardiff. I think this seems to be incorrect but I was unable to get clarification after the game. The club twitter feed announced there were 200 tickets left in the home stands (West Stand and Quarry Lane end) late on Monday. Given that the capacity is around 8800 for an all-ticket game, and thus around 7000 in the home stands, then if these figures are correct, the number of tickets sold should have been around 6800 for home fans plus the 500 or so Cardiff fans, which would have been around 7300. I expect that some fans probably only bought a ticket to qualify for a ticket for a potential game against Manchester City, and may not have actually attended, but I can’t see there would be more than 300 like that. So the attendance should have been in the region of just under 7000, and looking around the ground, that would look to me about right, with perhaps 100 empty seats in the Quarry Lane end, and the West Stand lower and upper looking quite full from the camera footage. So in summary, at least one of the figures above must be a mistake, whether it was the attendance itself, the genuine capacity for an all-ticket game, or the number of tickets left unsold. I had expected the attendance to show that number of home fans was the largest number of home fans since the Gateshead “pay what you want” game in the Conference in February 2010 (7187 home fans in a crowd of 7261).

FOOTNOTE: the attendance was subsequently confirmed as 6529.

Mansfield made two changes from the side that drew at Cambridge. Angol and Potter were dropped after indifferent games. In came Hayden White and Joel Byrom. It was a very welcome return from injury for Byrom who has been one of the Stags best players this season when he has been fit. White came in at right back, Anderson moved to right midfield, Byrom slotted back into central midfield, MacDonald moved forward into an attacking midfield position, behind Danny Rose in a 4-4-1-1 formation.

Cardiff made two changes from the side that thrashed Sunderland in the Championship.

Before the game started it was immediately obvious that there was a change on the Bishop Street side of the ground. The trees to the right of the stand had gone. This is to give easier access for future works on the Bishop Street stand.

It was a very cold evening in Mansfield. But dry.

On 8 minutes, Benning was fouled. Benning tried to take the free kick quickly putting Hamilton in the clear. But the referee pulled it back not allowing it to be taken quickly. Poor refereeing, he was to do the same later in the game.

On 10 minutes, Byrom shot from 18 yards straight at the keeper. Two minutes later, Hamilton into the area and his shot was half-blocked, taking the sting out of it on the way through to the keeper. On 14 minutes, Byrom’s free kick from 40 yards into the area, White kneed the ball forward and it nearly fell for Pearce but was just cleared.

It was a lively atmosphere and a positive start from Mansfield.

On 15 minutes, Paterson chipped a clever long ball forward to Zohore just inside the area, but he missed his kick as Logan came out to narrow the angle. Cardiff went closer on when Logan made a fine save on 18 minutes, tipping away a curling shot from Hoilett that was heading for the top right corner. Three minutes later Paterson shot wide from 25 yards. Then on 22 minutes Joe Bennett crossed in for Pilkington who knocked wide from 6 yards.

Controversy on 25 minutes when Hoilett went straight through MacDonald with an absolutely dreadful challenge, two-footed, flying and out-of-control with studs into MacDonald’s leg, that brought a yellow card from referee Geoff Eltringham. That should have been a red card in my opinion.

From the resulting free-kick 25 yards out, the Stags were nearly in front. Then Byrom rolled a clever ball into the path of the on-rushing Benning who fired over the angle of bar and post from 14 yards when he should have scored.

Another chance for the Stags on 30 minutes when Mellis’s low square ball in from the left was fluffed by Hamilton but fell for Danny Rose whose shot from 12 yards was deflected wide.

This was super stuff from the Stags.

Cardiff went in front on 34 minutes. Following a lucky ricochet for Cardiff, Pearce put in a great challenge as Hoilett was about to shoot. From the resulting corner from the right by Ralls, towards to the far post, it was headed back towards goal by Morrison where Logan got a hand on it but couldn’t push it away decisively and Bruno Manga knocked into the net left footed from 3 yards. Mansfield claimed for a foul by Morrison for a push in the back of Pearce just before Morrison headed back across goal and from the video there was a clear push. The referee had a perfect view, just yards away and somehow didn’t give the foul, which it clearly was.

But just a minute later Mansfield were level. Byrom’s corner from the left was headed back to him, he found Hayden White who crossed in, it was knocked down by Rhys Bennett, ricocheted off defender Joe Bennett, and fell for Danny Rose who pounced and swept into the net left footed from 8 yards. The roof came off the stadium.

On 45 minutes, a deliberate foul by Ralls on Rose, just inside the Stags half. Foul given. That had to be a yellow card. Not given.

On 45+2 minutes, Anderson’s shot from 25 yards was blocked. Moments later a free kick from Byrom into the area, Rhys Bennett nearly got on the end of it but not quite.

All square at half time and a standing ovation from the huge home crowd for a terrific first half from the Stags.

Half time 1-1

On 49 minutes, a mistake by Pearce, but he recovered and blocked a shot from Ralls from the edge of the box.

A good move from the Stags on 55 minutes. MacDonald found Hamilton, who squared for Mellis to shoot towards the bottom left corner of the net but the keeper saved.

The second half had seen saw very little goalmouth action for the first 20 minutes, with the Stags again matching Cardiff.

On 65 minutes, Callum Paterson slid a low cross in from the right and Krystian Pearce was just able to put it behind for a corner.

But just a minute later, another cross in from the right by Paterson was missed by Rose, and Hoilett knocked in from close range, getting in front of Pearce.

Then 5 minutes after that, another low cross from the right, this time by Loic Damour, was not cleared again and Anthony Pilkington smashed into the net from 7 yards. That goal to make it 3-1 knocked the stuffing out of Mansfield and there was no coming back.

The atmosphere was flat now.

Angol replaced Byrom after 74 minutes. Byrom was never going to last the 90 minutes.

Potter replaced Anderson on 79 minutes.

On 82 minutes, Zohore shot straight at Logan from 25 yards.

Cardiff made it 4-1 on 89 minutes to put a flattering gloss on the scoreline as a long free kick from the keeper Etheridge from halfway inside his own half was knocked down by Pilkington to sub Omar Bogle who teed up Hoilett who superbly rifled into the bottom left corner of the net from 20 yards.

On 90+1 minutes, a free kick from Joe Bennett was over from 28 yards. A minute later, Angol cut inside from the left and sent a low shot straight at the keeper. At the other end a minute after that, Damour was well wide with a shot. Moments later a great tackle by Pearce on Bogle.

So defeat for Mansfield but a performance to be proud of for the first three quarters of the game, and a standing ovation from the home fans at the end of the game.

One statistical note courtesy of Paul Taylor: this was Mansfield’s 100th defeat in the FA Cup.

Man of the match: Alex MacDonald


Report by: Martin Shaw at the One Call Stadium, Field Mill



Line Up:
(4-4-1-1)
Logan 6.5 One fine save, tipping away a curling shot from Hoilett. In my opinion, not at fault for the goals.
White 7 Decent game at right back. His cross led to the Stags goal.
Pearce 7 Several great tackles. But allowed Hoilett to get in front of him for the second goal. Should have had a foul when pushed for the first goal.
Bennett 7 Mostly solid.
Benning 6.5 Fired a good chance over the bar. Too many crosses came in from the Cardiff right.
Anderson 6 Not heavily involved.
Byrom 7 Great to see him back. Clever free-kick into the path of Benning who fired over.
Mellis 7 Created a chance for Hamilton/Rose. One low shot towards bottom corner. Involved in some good moves.
Hamilton 6 Didn’t have too much effect on the game.
MacDonald 9 Must have covered every blade of grass on the pitch and was outstanding.
Rose 7.5 Good game. Pounced quickly for the goal. Should have done better with the Cardiff second goal.
Sub Line Up:
Angol (for Byrom, 74 mins) -
Potter (for Anderson, 79 mins) -
Subs not used: Olejnik, Diamond, Digby, Atkinson, Spencer.
Opposition Line Up:
(4-4-1-1): Etheridge; Richards, Manga, Morrison, Joe Bennett; Paterson, Damour, Ralls (Halford 74), Hoilett (Healey 90); Pilkington; Zohore (Bogle 85). Subs Not Used: Murphy, Tomlin, Feeney, Mendez-Laing.
Referee:
Geoff Eltringham 4 Got the major decisions wrong in my opinion (the non sending off of Hoilett and the first Cardiff goal). Also got other decisions wrong in my opinion.


Season 17/18 Reports