Season 19/20 Stagsnet Match Report
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Cambridge United
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Mansfield Town
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Knibbs 3, Taylor 44. Lambe sent off 59.
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Maynard 36, 71, 81
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Attendance: 3848 (347 from Mansfield)
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Date: 1 January 2020
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MAYNARD HAT-TRICK SEALS FIRST WIN UNDER COUGHLAN
Martin Shaw at the Abbey Stadium A hat-trick from Nicky Maynard sealed Mansfield Town’s first win under new manager Graham Coughlan, and the first win in the league since October, as the Stags came from 1-0 down and 2-1 down to win 3-2 in an entertaining game at Cambridge United. The Stags deserved the win having once again had the lion’s share of the play as they did at Bradford, but this time the difference was that Mansfield created plenty of golden chances and managed to take three of them. Mansfield started poorly though. Cambridge were ahead after just 3 minutes. Jack Roles laid the ball off to the overlapping Harrison Dunk on the left, Dunk chipped the ball into the middle from the byline and Harvey Knibbs nipped in to head into the net unmarked from 6 yards, with Matt Preston and Neal Bishop giving him too much space. Sleepy defending. Cambridge were close to making it 2-0 after 13 minutes but great goalkeeping from Conrad Logan kept them out. The returning Hayden White gave the ball away to Knibbs who squared the ball inside to Sam Smith who shot underneath Logan from 15 yards, but Logan, who’d made himself big, got enough on it to prevent the ball going in as it hit the inside of the right post and Preston was able to clear. Excellent from Logan. White apologised and we’ll excuse that as he was bound to be rusty after returning to the side following three months out with injury. The Stags got themselves into the game after that. On 21 minutes, Nicky Maynard’s acrobatic effort was saved by the keeper. A minute later, excellent play from CJ Hamilton who ran to the edge of the area on the right, cutting inside and firing a powerful shot that was pushed away by the keeper. Then on 35 minutes, great skill from Maynard to get past his man and his early shot was saved at full stretch by the keeper. Mansfield were knocking on the door and equalised after 36 minutes. Mal Benning put in a super cross from the left into a great area, it bounced up and rebounded off Danny Rose in the six yard box to Maynard who was in the right place to head into the net from 4 yards. A great cross from Benning and predatory instinct from Maynard. Cambridge then regained the lead after some abysmal refereeing on 44 minutes. Maynard was penalised for a foul on Roles 32 yards from goal. Cambridge put the ball down to take the free kick from 26 yards and the referee and his assistant didn’t spot that it was in completely the wrong place. Roles, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur has real quality from set pieces and this was a perfect distance for him to get in a dangerous shot, which it would not have been if it had been taken from more than 30 yards out. Roles duly curled a brilliant free kick against the inside of the left post, it rebounded out and former Stag Greg Taylor was left in yards of space to knock into the empty net from 6 yards. Who was supposed to be marking Taylor? Was it Preston or was it Hamilton, I can’t tell from the video? But there were three Cambridge players goalside of the Stags defence waiting to pounce on anything that fell loose. Dreadfully sleepy defending, which manager Coughlan needs to get a handle on. Into the second half, and Mansfield started to get Hayden White in the game down the right side in the Cambridge half. This is what we’ve been missing for so long. Mansfield were getting on top in the opening 10 minutes of the half as Benning’s shot was saved in front of his face by the keeper, Hamilton put in a cross that almost took the keeper out of the game but was just claimed by the keeper, and Rose headed down a dangerous MacDonald cross. After 57 minutes former Stags midfielder Reggie Lambe was booked for a foul on Mellis in the middle of the park. I haven’t had a chance to watch it back but in real time I thought Lambe was unlucky and the foul was the other way. Update: from the video, it was a clear foul by Mellis on Lambe as I original thought! And within two minutes, Lambe picked up a second yellow card and this time it was daft from Reggie as he bundled over the marauding White on the Stags right. This was a clear yellow card and Lambe had to go. So the Stags had half an hour against ten men. Last time Mansfield were in this position they made a pig’s ear of having the extra man at Shrewsbury in the FA Cup. Could they take advantage this time? The answer was yes, by getting men forward, stretching the opposition, and putting the home side under pressure. From the resulting free kick, another great delivery from Benning and Preston headed just wide of the left post. A coat of paint wide, it was that close. Five minutes later, the Stags went close again as good play from Hamilton gave Rose a chance and he fired a low shot just wide of the left post into the side netting. Moments later, a cross from Hamilton was deflected up and the keeper had to tip over his own bar at full stretch. This was how to play against ten men, stretch them with wide play. And on 71 minutes, the Stags were level. Hamilton brilliantly controlled the ball on the left and he squared a beautiful ball into the middle across the edge of the six yard box for Maynard, who had ghosted in front of his marker George Taft, to slide under the keeper and into the net. Within a minute, Benning crossed in and Rose did well to turn it goalwards but the keeper saved at full stretch. Andy Cook had come on as sub to give an extra striker against the ten men. He did well to win a corner after 80 minutes and from it Mansfield claimed the winner. MacDonald’s high corner from the right was headed goalwards by Cook from the penalty spot, it was headed up in the air by Greg Taylor, Pearce made the loose ball his and headed goalwards again, Taylor headed it up in the air again, Pearce again made it his and headed across goal and Maynard headed into the net from 2 yards. In celebrating the goal, Maynard was accidentally caught in the face by George Taft and there was a delay before the game restarted. So much credit to the determination of Pearce for the goal. This was of course captain Pearce’s first start under the new manager. The Stags continued to make chances. Hamilton half-volleyed just over the bar with venom after 88 minutes. Six minutes of stoppage time was added on. Logan punched away well under pressure. Then good defending by Hamilton and MacDonald putting their bodies on the line to stop ball coming in. Cook should have got a 4th goal after 90+5 minutes. He benefitted from a mis-hit backpass from Taylor to put him 1-on-1 with the keeper. The keeper saved it initially as Cook tried to go around him, but then Cook got the ball back, took another touch and only had to chip the ball over the keeper into the gaping net, but managed to chip wide. It was a bad miss but was not costly as the final whistle soon went. Great celebrations at the end from the players and management in front of the travelling Stags fans. This was thoroughly deserved win and a fine performance aside from some ropey defending in the first half. The Stags have been dogged by poor defending all season and really must improve in that area. But there were some really good performances going forward. Hamilton was a nightmare for the defence, Benning put in some fine crosses, White reminded us what we’ve been missing for so long. And Nicky Maynard scored a hat-trick, all of them from inside the six yard box. He missed a hatful of chances against Crewe, but this was predatory stuff. The Stags of course, now need to build on this with a home win against Grimsby on Saturday. Play like this going forward, and cut out the defensive mistakes, and they surely will do. Mansfield made five changes from the side that lost at Bradford. Sweeney was out with a twisted ankle he picked up in the first half at Bradford. Pearce came in for his first start under Coughlan. Tomlinson was also out with an injury (unspecified what it was) he picked up at Bradford. Mellis came in for Tomlinson. Coughlan explained that he thought Mansfield went long too early at Bradford and so he wanted Mellis to play, to get Hamilton into the game, and go and press the defence. White was back from injury for his first game for 3 months, he came in for James Clarke. White’s a big player for the Stags of course, and his injury last season saw a dip in the Stags form which arguably cost us promotion. Bishop came in for Khan in midfield as MacDonald moved out to the wing. Finally Maynard came in for Cook. Coughlan explained that Cook has played a lot of minutes lately and he wanted to try a different pairing up front just to freshen things up. Coughlan hinted that he wants to keep things fresh so we can probably expect more freshening up against Grimsby by rotating the squad. He also said he wants to give players a chance to show what they can do. Once again, it was a 4-4-2 formation. No place for Sterling-James and Afolayan in the squad again, which would hint that they don’t feature in the manager’s plans, barring injuries that we’re unaware of. Once again, pre-match, Coughlan mentioned that the players are not as fit as he’d like them to be and he said this is a “work in progress”. He mentioned Mellis in particular as a player whose fitness levels need to improve. Mellis does of course, in my opinion, give a quality of passing that we don’t have elsewhere in the squad. Cambridge included three former Stags players in the side: George Taft and Greg Taylor in central defence, and Reggie Lambe in midfield. Detailed report: Just 35 seconds into the game, Bishop found Benning who crossed in and Hamiltin fired over the bar. Cambridge were ahead after just 3 minutes. Jack Roles laid the ball off to the overlapping Harrison Dunk on the left, Dunk chipped the ball into the middle from the byline and Harvey Knibbs nipped in to head into the net unmarked from 6 yards, with Matt Preston and Neal Bishop giving him too much space. Sleepy defending. After 8 minutes, Lewis fouled Bishop, a nasty tackle. Bishop was hurt but able to play on. Lewis should have been booked but wasn’t. Cambridge were close to making it 2-0 after 13 minutes but great goalkeeping from Conrad Logan kept them out. The returning Hayden White gave the ball away to Knibbs who squared the ball inside to Sam Smith who shot underneath Logan from 15 yards, but Logan, who’d made himself big, got enough on it to prevent the ball going in as it hit the inside of the right post and Preston was able to clear. Excellent from Logan. White apologised and we’ll excuse that as he was bound to be rusty after returning to the side following three months out with injury. Twice in a minute there was good defending from MacDonald. On 15 minutes a poor cross from Bishop was out for a goalkick. The Stags were getting themselves into the game though. On 21 minutes, Maynard’s acrobatic effort was saved by the keeper to his right following a MacDonald long throw. A minute later, excellent play from Hamilton who ran to the edge of the area on the right, cutting inside and firing a powerful shot that was pushed away by the keeper. Hamilton was fouled on the right after 26 minutes on the byline. Benning’s free kick to the far post was headed down by Preston but the whistle had already gone. MacDonald gave the ball away after 30 minutes, Sam Smith got into the area but lost his footing. Bishop played a good 1-2 and got into the area but couldn’t get a shot away. On 35 minutes, great skill from Maynard to get past his man and his early shot was saved at full stretch by the keeper. Mansfield were knocking on the door and equalised after 36 minutes. Mal Benning put in a super cross from the left into a great area, it bounced up and rebounded off Danny Rose in the six yard box to Maynard who was in the right place to head into the net from 4 yards. A great cross from Benning and predatory instinct from Maynard. Cambridge then regained the lead after some abysmal refereeing on 44 minutes. Maynard was penalised for a foul on Roles 32 yards from goal. Cambridge put the ball down to take the free kick from 26 yards and the referee and his assistant didn’t spot that it was in completely the wrong place. Roles, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur has real quality from set pieces and this was a perfect distance for him to get in a dangerous shot, which it would not have been if it had been taken from more than 30 yards out. Roles duly curled a brilliant free kick against the inside of the left post, it rebounded out and former Stag Greg Taylor was left in yards of space to knock into the empty net from 6 yards. Who was supposed to be marking Taylor? Was it Preston or was it Hamilton, I can’t tell from the video? But there were three Cambridge players goalside of the Stags defence waiting to pounce on anything that fell loose. Dreadfully sleepy defending, which manager Coughlan needs to get a handle on. Half time 2-1 Into the second half, and Mansfield started to get Hayden White in the game down the right side in the Cambridge half. This is what we’ve been missing for so long. Mansfield were getting on top in the opening 10 minutes of the half as Benning’s shot was saved in front of his face by the keeper on 51 minutes, then Hamilton put in a cross that almost took the keeper out of the game but was just claimed by the keeper on 55 minutes, and Rose headed down a dangerous MacDonald cross on 56 minutes. After 57 minutes former Stags midfielder Reggie Lambe was booked for a foul on Mellis in the middle of the park. I haven’t had a chance to watch it back but in real time I thought Lambe was unlucky and the foul was the other way. Update: from the video, it was a clear foul by Mellis on Lambe as I original thought! And within two minutes, Lambe picked up a second yellow card and this time it was daft from Reggie as he bundled over the marauding White on the Stags right. This was a clear yellow card and Lambe had to go. So the Stags had half an hour against ten men. Last time Mansfield were in this position they made a pig’s ear of having the extra man at Shrewsbury in the FA Cup. Could they take advantage this time? The answer was yes, by getting men forward, stretching the opposition, and putting the home side under pressure. From the resulting free kick, another great delivery from Benning and Preston headed just wide of the left post. A coat of paint wide, it was that close. Five minutes later, the Stags went close again as good play from Hamilton gave Rose a chance and he fired a low shot just wide of the left post into the side netting. Moments later, a cross from Hamilton was deflected up and the keeper had to tip over his own bar at full stretch. This was how to play against ten men, stretch them with wide play. And on 71 minutes, the Stags were level. Hamilton brilliantly controlled the ball on the left and he squared a beautiful ball into the middle across the edge of the six yard box for Maynard, who had ghosted in front of his marker George Taft, to slide under the keeper and into the net. Within a minute, Benning crossed in and Rose did well to turn it goalwards but the keeper saved at full stretch. White was down with cramp after 74 minutes but insisted on carrying on. Twice in a minute Benning inexplicably let the ball under his feet. James Clarke replaced White after 78 minutes. Andy Cook replaced Bishop after 79 minutes. Cook was on to give an extra striker against the ten men. Cook did well to win a corner after 80 minutes and from it Mansfield claimed the winner. MacDonald’s high corner from the right was headed goalwards by Cook from the penalty spot, it was headed up in the air by Greg Taylor, Pearce made the loose ball his and headed goalwards again, Taylor headed it up in the air again, Pearce again made it his and headed across goal and Maynard headed into the net from 2 yards. In celebrating the goal, Maynard was accidentally caught in the face by George Taft and there was a delay before the game restarted. So much credit to the determination of Pearce for the goal. This was of course captain Pearce’s first start under the new manager. After 84 minutes, a good catch by Logan under pressure. The Stags continued to make chances. Hamilton half-volleyed just over the bar with venom after 88 minutes. Six minutes of stoppage time was added on. Logan punched away well under pressure. Then good defending by Hamilton and MacDonald putting their bodies on the line to stop ball coming in. Cook should have got a 4th goal after 90+5 minutes. He benefitted from a mis-hit backpass from Taylor to put him 1-on-1 with the keeper. The keeper saved it initially as Cook tried to go around him, but then Cook got the ball back, took another touch and only had to chip the ball over the keeper into the gaping net, but managed to chip wide. It was a bad miss but was not costly as the final whistle soon went. There was just time though for Mellis to pick up a yellow card. From the video, it is not clear what for, and you can see Mellis asking the ref: “Ref, what is that for?” Back to the One Call Stadium on Saturday and there should be a good atmosphere as Grimsby come to town, backed by over 1000 fans and new manager Ian Holloway. Man of the match: Nicky Maynard |
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Report by: Martin Shaw at the Abbey Stadium
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Line Up:
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(4-4-2)
Logan 7 Great save when he turned a shot onto the post to prevent it becoming 2-0. Good catch and good punch under pressure new the end. White 7 Back from injury after 3 months. Rusty early on but really got into the game after that with some marauding runs, and one typical run led to the sending off of Lambe. Reminded us what we’ve been missing for so long. Preston 5.5 Could perhaps have done better for both goals. Pearce 7 His first start under Coughlan. Showed real determination to win two headers in the build-up to the winning goal. Benning 7 Great cross for the first goal. Another great cross for a Preston header. MacDonald 7 Good corner for the winning goal. One other dangerous cross. Some good defending. Mellis 6.5 Decent game. Bishop 6 Should have done better for the first Cambridge goal. Hamilton 8 A nightmare for the defence with plenty of great attacking play, including a great assist for the second goal. Rose 6 Did ok. Maynard 9 Hat-trick, all of them from inside the six yard box. |
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Sub Line Up:
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Clarke (for White, 78 mins) -
Cook (for Bishop, 79 mins) - Did well to earn the corner which led to the winner. Should have scored in stoppage time. Subs not used: Olejnik, Smith, Khan, Davies, Knowles. |
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Opposition Line Up:
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(4-4-2): Burton; Darling, Taylor, Taft (Dallas, 90), Dunk; Hannant (Maris, 65), Lambe, Lewis, Roles; Knibbs (Jones, 70), Smith. Subs not used: Mitov, Norville-Williams, Richard, O’Neil.
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Referee:
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Neil Hair 4 Very poor. Allowed Cambridge to take free kick from 26 yards instead of 32 yards, which was a critical difference, enabling a shot which led to the second goal. The first booking of Lambe was a terrible decision, with Mansfield benefitting when he was sent off two minutes later.
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