Archived News from February 2017
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EVANS, BENNETT AND JOHN COLEMAN REACTION
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Boss won't let standards slip after Stanley draw mansfieldtown.net, 14th February 2017 Stags’ boss Steve Evans says tonight’s incredible 4-4 draw at home to Accrington Stanley should act as a wake-up call for some of his players. Accrington scored three goals in the first half to take a 3-2 lead into the interval after goals late in the half from defenders Rhys Bennett and Hayden White had reduced the arrears. Penalties from Stags’ frontman Shaq Coulthirst and Accrington striker Billy Kee further enhanced the scoreline in the second half, before forward Yoann Arquin climbed off the bench to rescue a point for the Stags with a stunning volley. And the boss was clearly disappointed with his side’s defending in tonight’s draw, and said that it should act as a wake-up call for some of his players. “You can't always see it when you score four goals at home but defensively, [we were poor],” the Stags’ chief said. “Why we've taken a point tonight when there's three at the door, I don't know. We've taken lots of plaudits, and I've just said to them in the dressing room, take lots of plaudits but you can't go out and have days like that. Read more at http://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/article/2016-17/boss-wont-let-standards-slip-after-stanley-draw-3575841.aspx#4Drppe7IpR7Vpmwt.99 “If you score four goals, you should win the game anywhere in the country, home or away. But if you defend like that, you deserve to concede 20. “We've huffed and puffed and we've lacked a lot of quality tonight so there's a lot of wake up calls for the dressing room.” The former Leeds United manager says it’s now important for his side to work hard on the training ground ahead of Saturday’s game away to Grimsby Town. “We go back on the training ground and we work hard; we won't go too high or too low. “They'll have a rest tomorrow and come back in on Thursday and get ready for Grimsby, but we need to be back on our front-foot defensively. “We were 4-3 down [after conceding] four bad goals from terrible defending, and we go again and get the 4-4 and we're unlucky not to win. So we've turned a defeat into a draw, unfortunately it wasn't a win. “We’ve [given] ourselves a difficult task of going to Grimsby to try and get three points and that's to make up for the two points tonight. “The process here is to try and win at home and draw away, so this has been a bit of a fortress for us and it remains that but we did it through good fortune rather than good play.” Finally, the manager paid tribute to striker Yoann Arquin, who has been nursing a groin strain recently, after he scored a brilliant volley to equalise late in the game. “It takes a special goal from a young man who's been fighting off a groin strain but you know young Arquin, he's come up with a great goal. “When CJ Hamilton forces a wonderful save from the goalkeeper, we could have probably won it and I'm not so sure we did deserve to win it. “It's a wonderful goal from Yoann and you can see what it meant to supporters and I even thought that we were going to win the game with the half chance to win it, but it was not to be.” Supporters can view Steve Evans’ post-match interview on Stags PlayerHD. -------------------------- twitter BBC Nottingham Sport ?@BBCRNS Evans: "The defending was poor, the back 5 were atrocious from start to finish" #Stags Charlie Slater ?@CharlieSlater15 The ref booked 10 players tonight. I've not seen such lavish disregard for giving out cards on Valentine's Day since my 14 year old self! --------------- Boss Evans slams Stags’ shocking defending in eight-goal thriller CHAD.CO.UK, BY John Lomas, Tuesday 14 February 2017 Steve Evans slammed his normally reliable defence for a shocking display in tonight’s rip-roaring 4-4 home draw with Accrington Stanley. The Stags had only conceded one League goal since the turn of the year and had just enjoyed three clean sheets on the bounce. But struggling Accrington, for so long Mansfield’s bogey opponents, twice opened out two-goal leads before a spectacular late Yoann Arquin strike shared the spoils. “You score four goals you should win the game, anywhere in the country, home or away,” said Evans. “But if you defend like that you deserve to concede 20 goals in a game. My back five were shocking from start to finish. “My two centre halves have been magnificent but tonight they were as weak as powder. It was as bad a back five performance as I’ve seen. They didn’t get much help in front of them either. Read more at: http://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town/boss-evans-slams-stags-shocking-defending-in-eight-goal-thriller-1-8390193#comments-area “We have huffed and puffed but lacked a lot of quality and it’s a little wake-up call. “Some of these players might end up playing at clubs like Accrington if that’s how they want to play - and that’s no disrespect to John Coleman at Accrington as he does wonders there. “But there were two very committed teams out there that have gone toe to toe. I am not questioning commitment or effort or energy.” Evans continued: “When we went 3-3, I wanted us to calm the game down but then Hayden White jumps into the guy and there is no disputing it’s a penalty. “It took a special goal from Yoann Arquin, who has been fighting off a groin strain, to get us a point - it was a wonderful goal - and it may just be a point that counts at the end of the season. “I thought we were going to win. We were famous at Rotherham United for getting late goals. “It’s never easy to beat a John Coleman side as you know the minimum they are going to give is a real battle. We go away thinking a draw is a fair result but we were unfortunate perhaps not to win it.” Evans’ opposite number at Accrington, John Coleman, said: “It was a smashing game and a great advert for League Two. “It was two good sides playing football the way it should be played with loads of thrills and spills and some great goals. “The disappointing thing for me tonight was that there were 10 bookings and I don’t think there was a bad challenge in the game. I don’t think that reflected the intensity the game was played at and the ability shown by both sides. “At 2-0 and 3-1 I think Mansfield fans would have bitten your hand off for a draw. “But we are disappointed we let a two-goal lead slip twice and we had enough chances to add more goals and put more daylight in between us. “But fair play to Mansfield, they kept plugging away at it and scored a great goal to level it.” Coleman concluded: “We have got to be pleased with the performance we showed and we’ve got to maintain that form now to the end of the season. “If we show that kind of intensity and level of ability we’ll get out of trouble.” ------------------ Collins praises team spirit after Stanley comeback mansfieldtown.net, 14th February 2017 Skipper Lee Collins says tonight’s 4-4 draw with Accrington Stanley typified the spirit in the changing room as Stags twice came from behind to rescue a point in a quite incredible game. Stags were 2-0 down inside the opening 30 minutes as goals from Accrington defender Omar Beckles and striker Shay McCartan shocked One Call Stadium. However, Stags trailed by just one goal going into the break as defenders Rhys Bennett and Hayden White scored either side of a Billy Kee effort. The game continued in the same exhilarating fashion in the second half as striker Shaq Coulthirst equalised from the spot before Kee got his second of the game, also a penalty, to put Accrington ahead once more. However, striker Yoann Arquin climbed off the bench to score a stunning equaliser from 25 yards as he volleyed beyond Marek Rodak to extend Stags’ unbeaten league run to nine matches. And Stags’ captain Collins says the fighting spirit inside the dressing room was evident for all to see at One Call Stadium this evening. “[The comeback] shows that we’ve got a great changing room,” Collins said. “For how poor we’ve been [tonight], to fight back and get something out of the game, you can see the team spirit when we score goals. Read more at http://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/article/2016-17/collins-praises-team-spirit-after-stanley-comeback-3575700.aspx#TiIh5oqL8llRVh5k.99 “We all like winning and it’s a winning business and we all want to win, but we just couldn’t do it today.” Despite Collins being pleased with the Stags' determination, he admits it was a poor performance and mistakes were made all over the pitch. “We didn’t set out to our game plan. We knew they were going to start sharp, start bright and get in our faces and we’d been told so many times and we just didn’t deal with it early on. “It’s the poorest we’ve been, obviously, for a while, and we’ll try and rectify it on Saturday. “I’ll back our back four against anyone in this league but obviously tonight we made a few mistakes. That’s not just the back four, it’s as a collective. We made mistakes all over the pitch and for all the goals. “It’s disappointing because of how our year’s been going defensively, but we’ll try and sort that out on Saturday.” After January acquisition Yoann Arquin scored a stunning late equaliser following his introduction as a substitute, the former Northampton Town man paid tribute to the Frenchman after being forced to bide his time in recent weeks. “To sit on the sidelines for a few weeks and then to come on and put that [in the] ‘top bin’, it shows a lot of character and fair credit to him, I hope he’s happy with himself! “He deserves the plaudits for saving us. He scored a very similar goal in his trial game that we signed him from, but he’s a great talent to have and hopefully he starts getting some more goals for us." Supporters can view Lee Collins’ post-match interview on Stags PlayerHD. ----------------- No excuses for poor defending from Stags skipper Collins after goals feast CHAD.CO.UK, BY John Lomas, Tuesday 14 February 2017 Mansfield Town skipper Lee Collins had no excuses for last night’s flimsy defending in the thrilling 4-4 home draw with Accrington Stanley. But he said the players were determined to rectify their off night when they travel to Grimsby Town on Saturday. “It was a horrible game to play in. We didn’t set out with our game plan,” he said. “We knew they would start sharp, start bright and get in our faces. “We had been told so many times but we just didn’t deal with it early on. It’s the poorest we’ve been for a while and we will obviously try to rectify it on Saturday.” Before last night Stags had chalked up three successive clean sheets and had only conceded one League goal all year. Read more at: http://www.hucknalldispatch.co.uk/sport/football/no-excuses-for-poor-defending-from-stags-skipper-collins-after-goals-feast-1-8390741 “I will back our back four against anyone in this league,” said Collins. “But obviously tonight we made a few mistakes - that’s not just the back four, that’s collectively. We made mistakes all over the pitch for all of the goals. “It’s disappointing tonight with how well our season had been going defensively, but we’ll try to sort it out on Saturday.” Nevertheless, Mansfield dug deep to twice come back from two-goal deficits and eventually grabbed a last minute equaliser through a spectacular strike from sub Yoann Arquin. “It shows we’ve got a great changing room,” said Collins. “For how poor we’d been, to fight back and scrape something out the game, you could see the team spirit when we score goals. We all like winning and it’s a winning business. “Full credit to Yoann. To sit on the sideline for quite a few weeks and then to come on and put that into the top bin showed a lot of character. “He deserves the plaudits for saving us. I remember he scored a very similar goal in his trial game, which is what we signed him for. “He is a great talent and hopefully he will now start getting a few more goals for us.” Collins said there would be an inquest, but then everyone needed to move on quickly. “We won’t brush it under the carpet as there is a lot that needs sorting out after that performance, but we will assess it and move on,” he said. “We were poor, but we can’t be too down. It’s one of them. Football is a strange game. “Accrington are an anomaly away from home - they are always difficult, but we shot ourselves in the foot and we are disappointed with that.” ----------------- Attacking flair pleases Coley accringtonstanley.co.uk, by Dany Robson, 14/02/2017 John Coleman was disappointed with conceding a late equaliser against Mansfield but was pleased with his side’s attacking flair in the 4-4 draw. Stanley were ahead 2-0 and 3-1 but were denied by a 90th minute wonder goal which gave both sides a point. “The lads have given their all and that’s all you can ask for,” said Coleman. “They had the bit between the teeth as they knew they didn’t perform for half an hour against Portsmouth. http://accringtonstanley.co.uk/2017/02/attacking-flair-pleases-coley/ “I am disappointed we lost a two-goal lead twice and we had to deal with some dubious decisions but we scored some great goals and could have had more. It was a great advert for League Two football. “We are disappointed we conceded four goals but I am glad to be back scoring goals again and coming here and getting a point is a good point. “We showed lot of spirit, we played some unbelievable football and we had to rise above adversity on more than one occasion as some decisions didn’t go our way and to keep 11 on the pitch with some of the bookings was an achievement. “But all in all we have got to be happy to be involved in one of the classic League Two games of the season.” ----------------------------- BBC Radio Lancashire John Coleman: "You only have to look at how much the Mansfield fans had an impact on Tuesday. We've got to make sure our fans rally round us." --------------------- ‘Mad’ Mansfield game: Shay accringtonstanley.co.uk, by Dany Robson Shay McCartan admitted it was a ‘mad game’ in the 4-4 draw at Mansfield - but Stanley can take a lot from it. Omar Beckles and McCartan put Stanley 2-0 up within the half hour, both scoring goals from inside the box after Mansfield failed to clear their lines. The Stags got one back before Billy Kee scored a wonder chip to regain the Reds two-goal cushion on 44 minutes. However Mansfield came back again on the stroke of half-time to make it 3-2 at the break. A penalty for the Stags made it 3-3 before Kee slotted home a spot kick of his own and then a 90th minute wonder goal meant the spoils were shared. “It was a mad game,” said McCartan. “You don’t get results like that every week but we showed if we played like that every week we can score goals and can get results anywhere. http://accringtonstanley.co.uk/2017/02/mad-mansfield-game-shay/ “We pressed and we passed the ball well and to score four goals away from home, at Mansfield who are chasing promotion, then it just shows what we can do. If we had done that all season, then the season would have been better. “Me and Omar scored identical goals - they were both scrappy but we will take them any way they go in. “Then we were disappointed they came back and we are not happy to concede four goals but to score four, it’s a start and we can take confidence from that. We need to kick on from that now.” ---------------- Shaq Coulthirst @ShaqCoulthirst Great Atmosphere Again Last Night. Could Be A Important Point Earned. On To Saturday... #stags JAMIE MCGUIRE @JAMIEMCGUIRE23 Crazy game lastnite boys dug deep for point entertainment for the fans great backing again ! We go again Saturday @mansfieldtownfc ------------------ |
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