Archived News from February 2018
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EVANS, DAVID FLITCROFT, MATT TAYLOR REACTION
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Stags deserved more from Swindon display - boss
mansfieldtown.net, Saturday 10 February 2018 Stags’ boss Steve Evans dubbed this afternoon’s 1-0 defeat away to Swindon Town ‘the harshest result of the season’ after seeing his dominant side’s nine-match unbeaten run come to an end at the County Ground. Winger Matt Taylor’s first half strike was the difference between the sides, despite Stags laying siege to the Robins’ area. And the boss is in no doubt that his side deserved at least a point from this afternoon’s encounter, if not all three. “I think without a doubt it’s the harshest result of the season. I think we were the better team by a long, long way and a goalkeeping error costs us going behind,” the Stags’ chief said. https://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/2018/february/evans-post-swindon/ “We had enough dominance, especially in the second half, to go and get something from the game but it wasn’t to be. “I think that’s harsh on us today, given the dominance of the team. Even with the removal of ball boys late on, with ten minutes to go, it’s a trick from the 1980s but that never stopped the waves of attack. “I think if we’d have got one with a sensible time left, we’d have won the game but well done to Flicker (Dave Flitcroft) and to Futch (Ben Futcher). They’re two good lads. This is a good club so we wish them well.” Despite being understandably disappointed at not attaining something from this afternoon’s contest, the manager made reference to the competitive nature of Sky Bet League Two. “You take disappointment but you take a little bit of satisfaction in the dominance we had in certain periods of the game. “This is a good side; it’s a team that’s gone above us into the top five or six today and they might have played a game more but our job is to haul the likes of them back and others. “We can see with the results around the league today, it’s a difficult league. It’s tough to get results but maybe in our performance in other games, have we deserved to win? Not always. We deserved a minimum of one point today, if not all three.” Stags’ players may be discouraged this evening after slipping to only their sixth defeat of the season, but the manager insists he will quickly restore spirits on the training ground tomorrow and prepare for Tuesday’s visit of Newport County. “I’m not like some of the other managers around the league who thinks when you get beat you should worry about picking them up. They should be down. “We need to work hard about picking them up when we go on the training ground tomorrow but they should be down. They’re not going to be happy chappies when they get beat. “It’s hard to take today given the second half, especially the last 20 minutes. You can see they’re hanging on but it’s gone now. We can only affect Tuesday, not today.” Supporters can login to iFollow Stags to view the manager’s full post-match interview. ------------------ Steve Evans on ‘harshest’ result of the season chad.co.uk, Saturday 10 February 2018 Steve Evans said today’s defeat at Swindon was the ‘harshest’ results of the season for his Stags side. Mansfield Town were beaten 1-0 away from home and dropped to sixth in League Two. Evans said it was a goalkeeping error that cost them a point, but insisted Stags made enough chances to win the game. “It was the harshest result of the season,” said the Stags manager. “We were the better team by a long, long way. “A goalkeeper error cost us. “Conrad made the error but then made two or three good saves after that. “In the second half we had dominance and we deserved to get something from the game.” Read more at: https://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town/steve-evans-on-harshest-result-of-the-season-1-9011473 Evans says Mansfield won’t be too dejected this evening however, given their position in the table and a midweek chance to bounce back against Newport at home. “We’ll let people around us celebrate today, we know there’s another 15 tough games. “We go away disappointed and freshen up and get ready for Tuesday. “We take a little bit of satisfaction in the dominance we had in certain periods. “We deserved a point today, if not all three. “We’re very much in contention so we won’t get too down.” -------------------- twitter @Matt_Penney7 Nice to make my debut today, disappointing result and deserved more but we keep pushing! Focus on Tuesday now... #stags ----------------- Swindon Town boss David Flitcroft thrilled with 'important' home win over Mansfield Town Harry Abbott @harryabbott gazetteandherald.co.uk, Saturday 10 February 2018 DAVID Flitcroft felt victory over Mansfield Town this afternoon was imperative for Swindon Town’s ambitions this season after they secured an excellent 1-0 win at the Energy Check County Ground. After picking up just one point from away trips to fellow promotion hopefuls Lincoln City and Accrington Stanley over the past week, Swindon welcomed a Stags side also in the thick of the play-off battle to SN1. Flitcroft stressed the significance of the contest to his players in the build-up to the match and they responded in fine fashion, claiming a fourth straight home victory through Matt Taylor’s first-half strike to climb up to fifth in the table and move within two points of the automatic promotion places. “It is an important win. We built it up before the game to the players just how important it was. Losing against Accrington made it more important,” said Flitcroft. http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/sport/swindontown/news/15986426.Town_boss_Flitcroft_thrilled_with__important__win_over_Mansfield/ “To keep the home form really positive was really important and the fans were just brilliant today, there was a real energy in the stadium in the second half. “I felt as though we didn’t look vulnerable and looked safe and I am just delighted for the players, they have dug in. “Mentally, the last two games have been tough to take so we have had to get the players back to ground zero and imprint what the last 15 games of the season could mean. “They have done that to a man. They have backed each other up and run themselves into the ground and really performed excellently.” Mansfield arrived at the County Ground on a run of nine matches without defeat in League Two but were not allowed to hit top gear by a superb Swindon performance. Town could have had more goals than the they did get from Taylor six minutes before the break, with Stags stopper Conrad Logan pulling off a number of fine saves, while the home defence ushered out Mansfield threats in resolute fashion throughout the 90 minutes. “We created so many chances. Matt Taylor’s crossing was on a different level and Conrad Logan, who is one of the best keepers in this league, has pulled off four or five saves on the line from balls that are going in. He was just incredible,” said Flitcroft. “That is a tough team to beat. They have been on fantastic run and have a manager that wins football matches. “He has built a top, top squad and that was on show today but anything they threw at us, we dealt with. “Danny Rose and Kane Hemmings are two of the liveliest and most hard-working strikers in the league and we nullified them down to not many chances. “I am absolutely delighted with the performance against a very good Mansfield team.” ------------------------- REACTION: Flitcroft - It Is An Important Win swindontownfc.co.uk, Saturday 10 February 2018 Swindon Town Boss Dave Flitcroft sat down with the local press in the wake of our 1-0 win against Mansfield Town earlier today. Here are the key points from what he had to say... https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/2018/february/reaction-flitcroft---it-is-an-important-win/ ON THE RESULT AND PERFORMANCE: "It was an important win. "We built it up before the game to the players in terms of just how important it was and losing against Accrington made it more important. "To keep the home form really positive was important and the fans were just brilliant today - there was a real energy inside the stadium in the second-half. "We didn't look vulnerable, we looked safe and I'm delighted for the players because they dug in. "It was a tough one to take mentally in terms of the last two games and we have had to get them back to ground zero and imprint what the last 15 games meant and could mean. "They backed each other up today, ran themselves into the ground, they performed brilliantly and they created so many chances. "Matty Taylor's cross in was a different level and Conrad Logan, for me, is one of the best keepers in this league and he's pulled off four or five incredible saves. "That is a tough team to beat. "They have had a fantastic run, they've got a manager who just wins football matches and he's built a top, top squad and that was on show today. "Anything they threw at us we dealt with and Danny Rose and Kane Hemmings are two of the hardest working strikers in the league and we limited them to not many chances, so I'm absolutely delighted with the performance against a very good Mansfield team." ON THE DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE: "Rico (Marc Richards) sets the tone upfront by closing down and he takes Nozza (Luke Norris) on that journey, he takes Keshi Anderson on that journey to go and close down and it means everything to him. "When you have a skipper who leads from the front then you can stay on the front-foot and it was a real front-foot performance. "You've got to deal with the aerial threat because Danny Rose probably wins 60% of his duels with his hang and his leap. "The conditions at time made it difficult to pick up the flight of the ball but we had the advantage of playing with the wind in the second-half, and we've done that well this season. "I'm delighted. "I'm really impressed with the boys today." ON THE TEAM: "I enjoyed a lot of today's work, it was very industrious and we've got quality on show. "Timi Elsnik is class, Ollie Banks doesn't waste many passes and he's always looking to build and create. "Nozza and Rico were always wanting the ball and Keshi Anderson was a threat in that pocket and that was backed up by brilliant defending. "Mansfield score so many goals late on and they never die but we dealt with it. "They were outstanding to a man." ------------------- Taylor - It Is A Big Result swindontownfc.co.uk Matty Taylor was happy to contribute to a big victory against Mansfield Town and was full of praise for the collective effort put in by his team-mates. The defender scored the only goal of the game just before half-time, finishing off a wonderful counter-attacking move which was started by Keshi Anderson. The victory propelled Town into the Play-Off places and Taylor was well aware of the importance of the three points. "It was a swift counter-attack which was surprising given that I was involved in it! The end result was the winning goal and that was nice because we haven't won too many games by that scoreline," he said. https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/2018/february/taylor---it-is-a-big-result/ "We defended very well and, in my opinion, thoroughly deserved the three points. "I recognised the space, it was played nicely to me by Timi (Elsnik), it just opened up and the goalkeeper probably shouldn't get beaten at his near post, to be quite frank. "It was nice to see it go in and it got us on the way to what was a vital three points. "Mansfield are a very strong team, they hadn't been beaten in near enough eighteen or so games, so it was a big result for us today. "That's what we've got to do from now until the end of the season if we want to be successful. "We've got to pick up some points along the way and we've now got another difficult game against a direct rival coming up on Tuesday night. "If we are going to be successful this season then it is going to be down to what we do in the building with the group of players we've got." And Taylor was also full of praise for young wing-back Kyle Knoyle, who enjoyed a fine display this afternoon. "Kyle has at times doubted himself too much, whereas I don't doubt him, his team-mates don't doubt it but that is the type of person he is and hopefully today he will take great pride from being part of a good team performance," he added. "I thought he was exceptionally good going forward, he was great in the air and hopefully it will help him along the way in realising his potential as a footballer. "He was a young lad in the youth set-up at West Ham when I was there and it is just nice to see him carving out a career for himself in the game, so hopefully it will continue. "He will grow and hopefully today will help him along that road. "It is difficult as a young player, especially when you come into a team that has been successful and you wait and you bide your time and that's part and parcel of learning. "I've been through it, all the players that I know have been through it, especially the successful ones, because it can't always go right and you will make mistakes. "It is like having a reset button and allowing yourself to make that mistake and move on. "Kyle is a great kid and if I can help him in any way shape or form, then that will be vitally important and it is about giving the young players a voice, which we have at this football club." ---------- |
Latest | February 2018