Season 19/20 Stagsnet Match Report
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Mansfield Town
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Cheltenham Town
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Smith 32, Boyle 52, Addai 86
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Attendance: 3715 (157 from Cheltenham)
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Date: 7 December 2019
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STAGS BEATEN 3-0 AT HOME BY CHELTENHAM AS BAD RUN CONTINUES
Martin Shaw at the One Call Stadium, Field Mill Mansfield Town were beaten 3-0 at home by Cheltenham Town on Saturday afternoon. It was Mansfield’s 6th home defeat in 10 home league games this season, and with only 2 wins achieved, Mansfield’s home record is the 2nd worst in League Two (only Morecambe have picked up fewer points). Cheltenham were the deserved winners. They scored three and created other chances, testing returning keeper Bobby Olejnik on a few occasions, while Mansfield didn’t give visiting keeper Scott Flinders a difficult save to make, though did have a few goalbound shots blocked. It wasn’t all bad from Mansfield. Indeed the side was clapped off at half time. Alex MacDonald, although not captain, led from the front with an all-action display in the first half, and Jacob Mellis also had a good half in midfield. There was determination from the players and the fans responded positively in that first half. The Stags had a bit of bad luck on 13 minutes as Nicky Maynard showed good pace to break through the defence and was blatantly pulled down just outside the area by Charlie Raglan,who was the last defender. Both managers were clear in post match interviews that it was a blatant foul. The only decision the referee should have had to make was whether to issue a red card or a yellow card. He didn’t even give the foul. It was the first in a series of terrible decisions from the hapless referee. But the referee certainly wasn’t the reason that Mansfield lost. Despite the spirited first half display from the Stags, it was Cheltenham who were ahead at the break with a goal after 32 minutes. An overload for the visitors on the left with 3 Cheltenham players versus only two from Mansfield allowed Doyle-Hayes room to cross and Conor Shaughnessy, playing at centre half in this game, allowed Jonte Smith too much space to head into the net unmarked from 6 yards. Poor marking from Shaughnessy, and a tactical error from the side allowing the overload on the left. Indeed it wasn’t the only time Cheltenham created an overload on the wings as Mansfield were out-thought by the visitors. Several times, central defender Charlie Raglan joined the right wing to create an overload on that side as well. After the game, Cheltenham boss Michael Duff explained: “Today we hurt them in loads of areas, our overloads in wide areas for the first goal and chances in the second half, 2 v 1 and they bring someone over to make so we make it 3 v 2 and they bring someone over, so we just put another one over there.” Mansfield had a goal rightly disallowed after 26 minutes as Andy Cook barged into the keeper, knocking him over, before bundling the ball into the net, following a high hanging cross from CJ Hamilton. The Stags best chance to score came on 44 minutes with a great move as Hamilton played inside from the right to Mellis who laid off a perfect ball into the path of Maynard who shot across the keeper from the right and inches wide of the far post. Another good move a couple of minutes later involving Maynard and Mellis, who found Cook who chested down and his shot was blocked straight to the keeper. Into the second half and the Stags went close after 47 minutes as a great run from Hamilton was cynically halted by Chris Hussey, who should have been booked but wasn’t, and from the resulting free kick, Mal Benning curled it just over the angle. We’re nearly halfway through the season now, and the Stags still haven’t scored from this sort of position. But Cheltenham made it 2-0 after 52 minutes with what proved to be a killer goal. Hussey curled a free kick from 30 yards out on the right, into the area, and two Cheltenham players attacked it with Will Boyle heading into the bottom right corner of the net. Central defenders Sweeney, Shaughnessy and Preston just left them to it, and Shaughnessy appealed in the vain for offside. Dreadful defending and after the game boss John Dempster couldn’t understand why his defenders attempted to squeeze up to play for offside as they never work on that, they only work on defending the ball. Mansfield didn’t really look like getting back into the game after that. Cook lobbed over the keeper and just over the bar after 54 minutes and there was a triple chance on 78 minutes following a corner from sub Otis Khan as Mellis had a goalbound shot blocked, then Maynard had a goalbound shot blocked, and finally Mellis’s shot from the edge of the box was straight at the keeper. (As an aside, the official post match statistics suggest that Mansfield didn’t have a shot on target and the Cheltenham keeper didn’t make a save - both wrong). But that was about it from Mansfield, and Cheltenham had more chances, as Olejnik saved from the lively Alex Addai on 53 minutes, Ryan Broom fired just wide after 59 minutes, Chris Clements had a shot deflected wide after 67 minutes, and Addai fired over the bar after 83 minutes. Cheltenham made it 3-0 after 86 minutes. Addai played a great 1-2 with Broom, Addai got away from Shaughnessy and slotted under Olejnik from 9 yards. It capped an awful defensive display from Shaughnessy who had a part in all three goals. So another defeat for Mansfield. Despite some reasonable approach play and getting into good areas, they didn’t create anywhere near enough chances, while Cheltenham created more chances and Mansfield’s defending for the goals let them down badly as it has done so many times this season. Cheltenham were efficient, solid and clever in their play and were comfortable winners despite missing four of their best players. It was easy to see why they are now 13 points ahead of Mansfield with a game in hand. Mansfield are simply leaking too many goals, and not scoring enough. Mansfield sit just a single point above 3rd bottom place having taken just 21 points from the first 20 games of the season. After the game, dejected manager John Dempster said he believes we need 17 wins from the final 26 games to get in the play-offs, and described it as “a mountain to climb”. Going back to John Dempster’s press conference on Thursday, he said: “December will be key to my future. So far I have not been good enough as a manager and the players have not been good enough individually. We have a massive month ahead of us. We don’t want the gap getting any bigger. Looking at the games this month, we need 8 or 9 points, at least. The chairman has put faith in me. I intend to repay him. That needs to happen quickly in this next short period otherwise, let's be realistic, there will be changes.” So by “December will be key to my future” and “let's be realistic, there will be changes”, he clearly means there will a change of manager if Mansfield fail to get 8-9 points from what was 5 games in December, and is now 4 games. Whether Dempster means he would fall on his sword or would be sacked is not clear. John Radford has been keen to give Dempster every chance to succeed as a young manager. Here’s what he said in his programme notes for yesterday’s game: “As we enter a significant month, with five games against teams who too have ambitions of a top seven finish, results must be improved both radically and quickly. Let me state that I have faith in John Dempster as manager. This is not a dreaded vote of confidence, but a measured judgement. In today’s football culture of pulling open the trap door after a sequence of poor results, I am of the opinion that people sometimes need a little longer in their roles to perform to their maximum potential. Additionally, the cost of changing a management and bringing in a new one would cost me close to a seven-figure sum. Whilst I have funded over £20m into our beloved club in the past nine years, and will continue to invest, the pursestrings cannot become looser at a whim and it is the long-term sustainability of Mansfield Town Football Club which is, and should always be, my overriding duty. Make no mistake, we remain ambitious this season. The turnaround in results must be considerable, but it is not impossible.” Some people have queried the “close to a seven-figure sum”. What John Radford must be referring to is the cost of changing the outgoing management team, the incoming management team, and an estimate of players an incoming management team would be likely to want to bring in. In fact, director Steve Hymas has separately confirmed on facebook that this is the correct interpretation. But it doesn’t mean that John Radford won't change the manager. I think he’s just giving context to not changing the manager too often. It was actually John Radford’s birthday yesterday. Happy birthday John, even though it wasn’t a great day with a bad result, and thank you very much for looking after the club over the past 9 years. When John took over, Mansfield were a Conference club and one that did not look like getting back into the Football League. Now we are an established Football League club again and in safe hands. His immense contribution to the club cannot be overstated. Mansfield made four changes to the side that lost at Shrewsbury in the FA Cup. One big positive was the return to the league starting line-up after almost exactly a year out for Bobby Olejnik, who came in to replace Conrad Logan. Olejnik is a great keeper. Logan, however, was unlucky to lose his place having been in good form. Kellan Gordon is out for at least 6-8 weeks with a serious back problem. Krystian Pearce was out ill. Alistair Smith dropped out of the side after a poor performance in the EFL Trophy at Port Vale on Tuesday. In came Bishop, MacDonald and Benning, who all played in the EFL Trophy at Port Vale on Tuesday. Hamilton switched to right wing back. Conor Shaughnessy played in central defence, alongside Preston and Sweeney. It was great see Danny Rose return to the bench after injury. Omari Sterling-James was unlucky not to start after another goal from the sub’s bench on Tuesday. There was a change in captaincy with Ryan Sweeney taking over the armband. Benning has been captain in the absence of Pearce previously. Cheltenham included former Stag Chris Clements. Cheltenham were without key players including Ben Tozer (ill), Reuben Reid (injured), Luke Varney (injured). Within the first 5 minutes, Bishop gave the ball away twice in quick succession. After 8 minutes, a great run from Hamilton who won a corner. The Stags had a bit of bad luck on 13 minutes as Maynard showed good pace to break through the defence and was blatantly pulled down just outside the area by Charlie Raglan,who was the last defender. Both managers were clear in post match interviews that it was a blatant foul. The only decision the referee should have had to make was whether to issue a red card or a yellow card. He didn’t even give the foul. Preston did well after 16 minutes to ensure that Addai couldn’t get in a cross. On 19 minutes, Olejnik made a good save from an Addai shot from 10 yards. Three minutes later, another shot from Addai, straight at Olejnik, this time from a tight angle, it went for a corner. MacDonald did well to block a cross-shot after 23 minutes, then he sprinted away and forced a foul from Doyle-Hayes, who was booked. A minute later, what looked like a great challenge from MacDonald. The hapless ref decided (wrongly) that it was a foul and booked MacDonald. MacDonald was playing really well, as was Bishop at this point after Bishop had started poorly. Mansfield had a goal rightly disallowed after 26 minutes as Cook barged into the keeper, knocking him over, before bundling the ball into the net, following a high hanging cross from Hamilton. After 27 minutes Addai clearly fouled Shaughnessy. The ref didn’t give it. This was laughable from the ref. Boss Dempster was booked for booting the ball away in frustration. However ironically the poor performance from the ref, the passion shown by Dempster and his booking, coupled with the spirited performance of the side had brought the home crowd together. But, despite the spirited start from the Stags, it was Cheltenham who went ahead with a goal after 32 minutes with a sucker punch. An overload for the visitors on the left with 3 Cheltenham players versus only two from Mansfield allowed Doyle-Hayes room to cross and Conor Shaughnessy, playing at centre half in this game, allowed Jonte Smith too much space to head into the net unmarked from 6 yards. Poor marking from Shaughnessy, and a tactical error from the side allowing the overload on the left. Indeed it wasn’t the only time Cheltenham created an overload on the wings as Mansfield were out-thought by the visitors. Several times, central defender Charlie Raglan joined the right wing to create an overload on that side as well. After the game, Cheltenham boss Michael Duff explained: “Today we hurt them in loads of areas, our overloads in wide areas for the first goal and chances in the second half, 2 v 1 and they bring someone over to make so we make it 3 v 2 and they bring someone over, so we just put another one over there.” After 35 minutes, another shot from Addai, from the edge of the area, gave an easy save for Olejnik. After 38 minutes, a brilliant turn and run from Maynard and he was brought down. The ref this time correctly awarded a yellow card. Mellis took the resulting free kick, from 23 yards out, to the right of centre, and fired it into the wall and behind for a corner. The Stags best chance to score came on 44 minutes with a great move as Hamilton played inside from the right to Mellis who laid off a perfect ball into the path of Maynard who shot across the keeper from the right and inches wide of the far post. Another good move a couple of minutes later involving Maynard and Mellis, who found Cook who chested down and his shot was blocked straight to the keeper. On 45+3 minutes, a great tackle from Preston on Addai for a corner. From the corner, Jacob Greaves headed well wide. The Stags were clapped off at half time, despite trailing. MacDonald, although not captain, had led from the front with an all-action display in the first half, and Mellis also had a good half in midfield. Bishop had an odd half, starting badly, playing really well, and then finishing the half badly. Half time 0-1 The Stags went close after 47 minutes as a great run from Hamilton was cynically halted by Hussey, who should have been booked but wasn’t, and from the resulting free kick, Benning curled it just over the angle. We’re nearly halfway through the season now, and the Stags still haven’t scored from this sort of position. Great tracking back by Hamilton after 49 minutes after he had initially lost the ball. A minute later, a good header away by Benning under pressure. But Cheltenham made it 2-0 after 52 minutes with what proved to be a killer goal. Bishop gave away a free kick for a late challenge on Hussey that deserved a booking but didn’t get it. Hussey curled the free kick from 30 yards out on the right, into the area, and two Cheltenham players attacked it with Will Boyle heading into the bottom right corner of the net. Central defenders Sweeney, Shaughnessy and Preston just left them to it, and Shaughnessy appealed in the vain for offside. Dreadful defending and after the game boss John Dempster couldn’t understand why his defenders attempted to squeeze up to play for offside as they never work on that, they only work on defending the ball. Olejnik pushed away yet another Addai shot after 53 minutes. Cook lobbed over the keeper and just over the bar after 54 minutes. A minute later, a great run forward by Benning, but his squared ball found no-one. Then another good move after 57 minutes as Mellis played a 1-2 with MacDonald but Mellis was offside. Preston gave the ball away needlessly after 59 minutes. Broom powered forward and sent a blockbuster just wide. Khan replaced Bishop after 62 minutes. More poor refereeing after 64 minutes as Maynard and Greaves were both shown yellow cards, but Maynard didn’t deserve one. And more poor refereeing after 66 minutes as MacDonald clearly won the ball but was penalised for a foul. Good skill from Clements after 67 minutes as he sold a dummy on the edge of the area and his shot was deflected for a corner. Rose made a welcome return from injury after 71 minutes, replacing Cook. On 74 minutes, Sterling-James replaced Benning. Hamilton switched from right wing-back to left wing back. There was a triple chance for the Stags on 78 minutes following a corner from sub Otis Khan as Mellis had a goalbound shot blocked, then Maynard had a goalbound shot blocked, and finally Mellis’s shot from the edge of the box was straight at the keeper. (As an aside, the official post match statistics suggest that Mansfield didn’t have a shot on target and the Cheltenham keeper didn’t make a save - both wrong). Addai fired over the bar after 83 minutes, in a quick Cheltenham break. Cheltenham made it 3-0 after 86 minutes. Addai played a great 1-2 with Broom, Addai got away from Shaughnessy and slotted under Olejnik from 9 yards. It capped an awful defensive display from Shaughnessy who had a part in all three goals. And that was that. A terrible result and Cheltenham the deserved winners. Man of the match: MacDonald |
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Report by: Martin Shaw at the One Call Stadium, Field Mill
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Line Up:
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(3-5-2)
Olejnik 6.5 Big positive was his return to the league starting line-up after almost exactly a year out. Made a few saves. Preston 5.5 At fault for the second goal along with the other central defenders. Shaughnessy 4 Awful defensive display, had a part in all three goals. Sweeney 5.5 Took the captain’s armband. At fault for the second goal along with the other central defenders. Otherwise not too bad. Hamilton 7 Several good runs and a couple of good crosses. MacDonald 7 Although not captain, led from the front with an all-action display in the first half. Bishop 5.5 Had an odd game, starting badly, playing really well, and then finishing badly. It turned out later that he had suffered concussion. Mellis 6.5 Good first half and at least got in a couple of shots in the second half. Benning 5 Didn’t do enough. Maynard 6.5 Showed good pace to break through the defence and was blatantly pulled down early on which should have brought a red card but didn’t even bring a foul. Shot just wide in the first half. Cook 5 Goal disallowed after he barged into the keeper. |
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Sub Line Up:
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Khan (for Bishop, 62 mins) -
Rose (for Cook, 71 mins) - Sterling-James (for Benning, 74 mins) - Subs not used: Logan, Clarke, Smith, Knowles. |
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Opposition Line Up:
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(3-5-2): Flinders; Raglan, Boyle, Greaves; Long (Horton 90+3), Doyle-Hayes, Clements, Broom, Hussey; Addai, Smith. Subs not used: Lovett, Sheaf, Debayo, Lloyd, Reilly, Ince.
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Referee:
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Sam Purkiss 4 Horrendous performance with mistake after mistake after mistake. And re-watching the game afterwards, the mistakes didn’t look any better.
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