Archived News from October 2015
|
SOLID STAGS EARN GREAT POINT AT PORTSMOUTH
|
 |
|
Football League - Sky Bet League Two
Portsmouth 0 - 0 Mansfield Town Attendance: 16,210 (389 from Mansfield) Date: 24 October 2015 Martin Shaw at Fratton Park It was second against fourth in the game of the day in League Two and Mansfield produced a very solid display to earn a point at Portsmouth. Portsmouth had more of the possession but a superb display in particular from the Stags defence restricted the home side to only a few clearcut chances. Lee Collins and Ryan Tafazolli were excellent at the heart of the Stags defence, and one challenge by Collins on Stevens just as Stevens was about to shoot was quite outstanding. Nicky Hunt and Blair Adams also produced very fine displays either side of the central defenders, with Hunt producing one fine block and Adams clearing off the line from a shot from Chaplin which was about as close as Portsmouth came. Behind the back four, Brian Jensen made one very good save, tipping over a shot from Davies, but he only had one other save to make which was a shot from Stevens that was straight at him. Once again Mansfield demonstrated today that we are extremely hard to beat and the accolade of conceding the equal fewest number of goals in League Two this season is well-earned. In truth Mansfield created little in terms of goalscoring opportunities today but the midfield and forward line worked extremely hard to keep hold of the ball. The Stags are now just a point behind the automatic promotion places, though drop one place to fifth. The Stags arrived at Fratton Park never having won here and with the opportunity to add to those wins at Stevenage, Dagenham and Yeovil where we had never won until this season! Having said that Mansfield had never won here, we’d never lost here either, having drawn the previous three games. FULL REPORT IN THE MATCH CENTRE ------------------------------------ Mansfield Town secure battling point against Portsmouth chad.co.uk report by Sports Reporter (report later pulled by the chad) Mansfield Town will feel lucky to have got out of Fratton Park with a point as they held Portsmouth to a 0-0 draw in League Two. http://www.hucknalldispatch.co.uk/sport/local-sport/mansfield-town-secure-battling-point-against-portsmouth-1-7534246? Overall it was a lacklustre display from the team who started the day fourth in the division against a home side who looked fearsome. The Stags welcomed back captain Nicky Hunt to their starting line-up after his one match suspension following the red card he received against Bristol Rovers and Chris Clements also came into the starting 11. Pompey started the game stronger and looked every inch a side battling for top spot in the division with Kyle Bennett going close in the third minute. Proceedings continued to go the way of Pompey as Kal Naismith missed a couple of chances created by great link-up play between Michael Doyle in central midfield and full backs Ben Davies and Enda Stevens out wide. Mansfield were struggling in all departments, but most criminal was ball retention as their passes kept getting picked off by the sea of home players stationed in the middle of the park. It was poor tactics from visitors as they kept running into brick walls as Pompey closed in around them. With the game’s pace slowing down, the Stags finally had a shot on goal in the 50th minute of the match as Adam Chapman slammed an effort from 25 yards out miles over. After a quiet spell, Pompey started testing the Stags defence again in the second half and Davies nearly put them ahead with a screamingly good curling shot which Jensen had to push away. The right back also had the crowd gasping as he sent a free kick from 25 yards out just wide. With nine minutes remaining, the hosts thought they had finally broken the deadlock, but somehow a defender deflected Conor Chaplin’s shot in the six yard box wide. ------------------- Football League Paper 25Oct15 
------------------ Comment by Martin: Here are four examples of where the reports by George Thorpe were flawed. The reports were printed in Football League Paper, CHAD website, and shorter articles on BBC website, eurosport, etc, Mansfield were "lacklustre" "Mansfield keeper Jensen held off an impressive Pompey." "Mansfield were struggling in all departments but most criminal was ball retention" "It was poor tactics from the visitors as they kept running into brick walls as Pompey closed in around them." The author: https://twitter.com/gthorpeofficial/ ---------------- Match analysis: Portsmouth 0 Mansfield Town 0 chad.co.uk, by Martin Shaw, Sunday 25 October 2015 Mansfield Town put in a battling display to secure a well-deserved 0-0 draw against Portsmouth. It was second against fourth in the game of the day in League Two as Mansfield produced a very solid display to earn a valuable point. http://www.chad.co.uk/sport/mansfield-town/mansfield-town-news/match-analysis-portsmouth-0-mansfield-town-0-1-7534582 Portsmouth had more of the possession but a superb display in particular from the Stags defence restricted the home side to only a few clearcut chances. Lee Collins and Ryan Tafazolli were excellent at the heart of the Stags defence, and one challenge by Collins on Stevens just as Stevens was about to shoot was quite outstanding. Nicky Hunt and Blair Adams also produced very fine displays either side of the central defenders, with Hunt producing one fine block and Adams clearing off the line from a shot from Chaplin which was about as close as Portsmouth came. Behind the back four, Brian Jensen made one very good save, tipping over a shot from Davies, but he only had one other save to make which was a shot from Stevens that was straight at him. Once again Mansfield demonstrated that they are extremely hard to beat and the accolade of conceding the equal fewest number of goals in League Two this season is well-earned. In truth Mansfield created little in terms of goalscoring opportunities today but the midfield and forward line worked extremely hard to keep hold of the ball. The Stags are now just a point behind the automatic promotion places, though drop one place to fifth. ------------------- POMPEY 0 MANSFIELD 0 portsmouthfc.co.uk, 24th October 2015, by Neil Weld at Fratton Park Another home draw for Blues Pompey endured more Fratton frustration as they were unable to break down Mansfield. Read more at http://www.portsmouthfc.co.uk/news/article/pompey-0-mansfield-town-0-at-fratton-park-in-sky-bet-league-2-2762603.aspx#2LECH8BxrVouPIUf.99 It was not a game of many clear-cut chances, although the Blues did have the best there were on offer. Ben Davies and substitute Conor Chaplin came closest to finding a goal, although the hosts had to settle for another share of the spoils. Paul Cook made four changes to the side held to a draw by Stevenage earlier in the week. Brian Murphy had recovered from a groin problem to replace the departing Aaron McCarey between the sticks. Caolan Lavery made his first Pompey start in place of Matt Tubbs up front, while there were also returns for Kal Naismith and Danny Hollands in midfield. And there was a familiar face in the opposition line-up, with Craig Westcarr named in the Stags side. The hosts started brightly and Lavery’s ball into the box was turned over by Kyle Bennett in the opening stages. They then broke quickly up the pitch following a Mansfield corner, only for Naismith to mis-kick in front of goal following good work from Lavery and Enda Stevens Another decent move followed on nine minutes and ended with Stevens cutting inside and unleashing a thumping drive that was well held by Stags keeper Brian Jensen. Davies’ crosses were causing problems as usual and one was headed over by Naismith, while another had to be hacked clear by Nicky Hunt. Mansfield survived that spell of Pompey pressure, however, and saw out the rest of the half with relative ease. They did not really create much at the other end, though, with an off-target header from Hunt the closest they came to testing Murphy. Not that Jensen was being over-worked at the other half, although a Davies cross was deflected comfortably into his arms on 37 minutes. Then, just before the break, the Blues won a free-kick and Davies’ curling effort somehow evaded everyone as it flew wide. Half Time: Pompey 0 Mansfield 0 It was the visitors who were first to threaten once the second half got underway, although Adam Chapman’s long-range effort flew high over the bar. Pompey, meanwhile, were struggling to find any sort of rhythm, with too many passes going astray. Cook tried to liven things up with a double substitution on 56 minutes, as Naismith and Rommy Boco made way for Chaplin and Nigel Atangana. That seemed to liven up both players and fans and the hosts were injected with a fresh vigour, with ‘Blue Army’ soon reverberating around Fratton Park. It was Davies who came close to breaking the deadlock on 64 minutes after Lavery’s header from his initial cross had been blocked. The right-back picked up the loose ball and hit a fierce curling shot that Jensen did well to tip over the bar. And Davies went close again soon after, curling a 30-yard free-kick inches past the post after Bennett had been felled. Cook made his third and final switch on 78 minutes, with Tubbs replacing Lavery in the Blues’ attack. But it was Chaplin who came agonisingly close to scoring moments later, collecting Stevens’ pass and seeing his close-range effort deflected inches wide. And despite throwing plenty of men forward in the final stages, Pompey were unable to find a winner. Pompey (4-2-3-1): Murphy; Davies, Burgess, Webster, Stevens; Hollands, Doyle (c); Boco (Atangana 56), Bennett, Naismith (Chaplin 56); Lavery (Tubbs 78) Subs not used: Bass, Clarke, Tollitt, McGurk Mansfield (4-4-1-1): Jensen; Hunt (c), Collins, Tafazolli, Adams; Rose, Clements, Chapman, Lambe (Yussuf 86); Westcarr (Blair 62); Green (N.Thomas 78) Booked: Hunt, Blair Subs not used: Shearer, McGuire, J.Thomas, Beardsley Referee: Kevin Wright Attendance: 16,210 (389 away fans) -------------------- BBC Nottingham Sport @BBCRNS "A tremendous rear-guard action from the #Stags in an entertaining 0-0 draw." - @shawma1 on Mansfield's draw at Fratton Park. "#Stags will be happy to hang on here for the draw." - @shawma1 as #Pompey threaten at Fratton Park, 0-0. "Tipped over by Brian Jensen!" - @shawma1 as the #Stags veteran keeps it at 0-0 as the game comes to life. "Ball into the penalty area... chance... great challenge by Collins!" - @shawma1 as #Stags defend resolutely. 0-0 "Not a lot to talk about, early stages of the 2nd half, Chapman with the best chance for #Stags but couldn't quite manage." @shawma1 - 0-0 HT @officialpompey 0-0 @mansfieldtownfc #Stags "Mansfield under the cosh in the first half-hour. It quietened down since." - @shawma1 ------------------ |
Latest | October 2015