Season 20/21 Stagsnet Match Report
|
|
|
||
|
Walsall
|
|
Mansfield Town
|
||
|
Melbourne 23.
|
O.Clarke 31
|
|||
|
Attendance: behind closed doors
|
||||
|
Date: 9 February 2021
|
||||
|
STAGS DRAW AT WALSALL ON FREEZING NIGHT
Martin Shaw at the Banks’s Stadium (Bescot Stadium) Mansfield Town drew 1-1 at Walsall last night in an even game in difficult conditions with the temperature below freezing. Both sides were playing their first game for two and a half weeks and both managers were happy to settle for a point in the circumstances, so much so that they agreed with the referee to play no stoppage time at the end of the game in order to prevent any late injuries on the frozen pitch. Equally unusual was the very late decision to bring the kick-off time forward by 15 minutes only an hour before the scheduled start with the officials rightly worried that the pitch would freeze up completely later on. The Stags had the best chance of the opening stages as George Lapslie won the ball in the centre circle after 5 minutes and drove forward before finding Jamie Reid who controlled the ball nicely and fired across the goalkeeper and just wide of the left post from the edge of the area. There was really bad news for the Stags after 12 minutes as Lapslie limped off with a hamstring injury. Manager Nigel Clough expects Lapslie to be out for about four weeks. Bad timing, with 2 games per week coming up for the next 6 weeks. Clough revealed after the game that his assistant Gary Crosby had tried to persuade him not risk Lapslie who had felt his hamstring in training last week but Clough did and he admitted candidly “he [Gary Crosby] is right, I’m wrong, and he’s probably missing four weeks.” Lapslie was replaced by Ollie Clarke, happily returning from injury himself. Walsall took the lead after 23 minutes thanks to some sleepy defending from the Stags. A free kick from 32 yards was curled into the area by Tyreik Wright, Walsall’s best player, on loan from Aston Villa. It was into a good area between the Stags defence and goalkeeper Aidan Stone, and Walsall left back Max Melbourne got away from his marker Kellan Gordon to turn it into the net on the volley from 4 yards. Poor defending from Gordon, not alert enough to the situation, while Stone could also have done better with the ball into his six yard box. Sloppy from the Stags at the back, perhaps understandable due to the lack of competitive action recently. A debut goal for Melbourne, on loan from Lincoln. The Stags were level after 31 minutes with a wonderfully worked goal. Jordan Bowery intercepted a loose ball from Alfie Bates and played a superb one-two with Jamie Reid before sliding the ball from the edge of the area across to his right to Ollie Clarke who slid his shot under the keeper from 10 yards. Tremendous interplay between Bowery and Reid and a cool finish from Clarke. The Stags had two chances to take the lead before half time as Harry Charsley fired wide from 25 yards, and then Jordan Bowery’s shot from the edge of the area was turned around the post by the keeper. Bowery’s chance came from a sensational ball forward from Ollie Clarke from inside his own half which set Bowery away. The vision from Clarke for the pass was quite stunning and I can’t remember a better pass all season. There were fewer chances in the second half. Walsall’s best chance came after 53 minutes as Tyreik Wright’s free kick from the left was headed a yard wide from 4 yards by Caolan Lavery at the near post. Mansfield’s best chance to win it came after 81 minutes when Stone’s huge kick forward bounced into the area, Bowery held off his defender with his back to goal, turned and flicked the ball goalwards but the keeper saved at point blank range. It rebounded to Harry Charsley who fired wide from 12 yards under pressure from a defender. Really good play from Bowery to get the shot in and it was so close to creeping past the keeper who did very well. A minute later Ollie Clarke fired high and wide from 25 yards. And that was the end of the chances as both sides settled for a point. So the Stags’ winning run of 5 games comes to an end but the run of four postponed games had robbed the side of all that momentum. A fair result, though the Stags did have more good chances. The biggest positive of the night, aside from completing the game, was the form of Ollie Clarke, who was superb on his return from injury. The biggest negative of course was losing Lapslie, who has been playing so well in Mansfield’s good run of form. The Stags visit out-of-form Colchester United on Saturday. Hopefully the game will survive the weather with temperatures not set to rise above freezing before Saturday. Mansfield were unchanged from the side that won at Southend 2.5 weeks ago. There were 3 changes on the bench with Ollie Clarke returning from injury, the inclusion of new signing Oli Sarkic, and Tyrese Sinclair also coming on to the bench. Sarkic has signed on loan from Blackpool. He was with Clough at Burton last season and played against the Stags in the EFL Trophy last season coming on as a half-time substitute. He can play up front, on the right, the left or down the middle. He came on for the final 18 minutes here and played on the left of Reid with Bowery on the right. The three players not on the bench from the last game were Andy Cook and Nicky Maynard who have departed on loan during the transfer window, and Corey O’Keeffe. O’Keeffe had travelled to the game and watched from the stand. A word on the transfer window. It was generally good for the Stags but I think the Stags have left themselves one short in the striker department and it is to be hoped that none of the 3 strikers, Reid, Bowery and Sarkic, gets injured. Burton manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink confirmed to the press on Friday that Mansfield had tried to sign striker Lucas Akins but that it had fallen through on transfer deadline day at the last minute as Burton had not been able to get their target. Hasselbaink also confirmed that Mansfield had tried to sign defender John Brayford. Walsall were without two players who departed in the transfer window, since the game should have been played 10 days earlier, defender Zak Jules who went to League One MK Dons, and striker Elijah Adebayo who went to Championship side Luton. They included Tyreik Wright, signed on loan from Aston Villa in the transfer window, and defender Max Melbourne, signed on deadline day from Lincoln City, and both were involved in the Walsall goal. Former Stag Hayden White was at right back. The game was in doubt all day in such cold conditions. Nigel Clough admitted afterwards that it was a little surreal as both sides really didn’t know if the game would finally go ahead. It did go ahead but the referee made the very late decision to bring the kick-off time forward by 15 minutes only an hour before the scheduled start, worried that the pitch would freeze up completely later on. It’s the coldest conditions I can recall the Stags playing in since a 0-0 draw with Brentford on an icy, snowy, frozen pitch at Field Mill in February 2003. The Stags had the best chance of the opening stages after 5 minutes as Lapslie won the ball in the centre circle after 5 minutes and drove forward before finding Reid who controlled the ball nicely and fired across the goalkeeper and just wide of the left post from the edge of the area. There was really bad news for the Stags after 12 minutes as Lapslie limped off with a hamstring injury. It happened as he tried to backheel the ball. Manager Nigel Clough expects Lapslie to be out for about four weeks. Bad timing, with 2 games per week coming up for the next 6 weeks. Clough revealed after the game that his assistant Gary Crosby had tried to persuade him not risk Lapslie who had felt his hamstring in training last week but Clough did and he admitted candidly “he [Gary Crosby] is right, I’m wrong, and he’s probably missing four weeks.” Lapslie was replaced by Ollie Clarke, happily returning from injury himself. Clarke took over the captain’s armband from Sweeney. Walsall took the lead after 23 minutes thanks to some sleepy defending from the Stags. A free kick from 32 yards was curled into the area by Tyreik Wright. It was into a good area between the Stags defence and goalkeeper Stone, and Walsall left back Max Melbourne got away from his marker Kellan Gordon to turn it into the net on the volley from 4 yards. Poor defending from Gordon, not alert enough to the situation, while Stone could also have done better with the ball into his six yard box. Sloppy from the Stags at the back, perhaps understandable due to the lack of competitive action recently. Stephen Quinn was booked after 25 minutes after being beaten for pace by Wright and fouling him. Stephen McLaughlin fired wide from 30 yards after 27 minutes. The Stags were level after 31 minutes with a wonderfully worked goal. Bowery intercepted a loose ball from Alfie Bates and played a superb one-two with Reid before sliding the ball from the edge of the area across to his right to Ollie Clarke who slid his shot under the keeper from 10 yards. Tremendous interplay between Bowery and Reid and a cool finish from Clarke. The Stags had a chance to take the lead after 33 minutes as Charsley fired wide from 25 yards, after McLaughlin’s free kick was cleared to him. A minute later, Kellan Gordon fired well over the bar from 28 yards. And two minutes after that, Clarke fed the overlapping Gordon and his cross-shot was blocked for a corner. After 38 minutes, Maris did well to stop Lavery getting on the end of a knock-down in the area. A great move from the Stags after 43 minutes as Quinn won the ball at the back, then super play from Reid who found Maris, and Maris in turn found Bowery on the right. But Bowery’s ball forward to the overlapping Gordon let him down. A minute after that, Clarke found Bowery on the right with a great ball, and Bowery’s cross from the byline was put behind for a corner. After 45+1 minutes, the Stags went close as Bowery’s shot from the edge of the area was turned around the post by the keeper. Bowery’s chance came from a sensational ball forward from Ollie Clarke from inside his own half which set Bowery away. The vision from Clarke for the pass was quite stunning and I can’t remember a better pass all season. All square at the break. The Stags had responded well to going a goal down and had chances to go in front. Half time 1-1 After 48 minutes, Clarke found Gordon on the right touchline with another beautiful pass. Gordon’s cross was flicked on by Reid and more or less hit Charsley and ran through to the keeper. A chance for Walsall after 53 minutes, and it turned out to be their only chance of the half as Tyreik Wright’s free kick from the left was headed a yard wide from 4 yards by Caolan Lavery at the near post. A long period with no chances for either side. Oli Sarkic came on for Quinn after 72 minutes. It was Sarkic’s debut for the Stags. He played on the left of the front 3 with Reid in the middle and Bowery on the right. After 78 minutes, a very good block by Gordon on Wes McDonald’s cross. Mansfield’s best chance to win it came after 81 minutes when Stone’s huge kick forward bounced into the area, Bowery held off his defender with his back to goal, turned and flicked the ball goalwards but the keeper saved at point blank range. It rebounded to Charsley who fired wide from 12 yards under pressure from a defender. Really good play from Bowery to get the shot in and it was so close to creeping past the keeper who did very well. A minute later Ollie Clarke fired high and wide from 25 yards. And that was the end of the chances as both sides settled for a point. Kellan Gordon was booked for a deliberate foul on Melbourne after 86 minutes. As we were expecting about 3 minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the final whistle on the stroke of 90 minutes. Man of the match: Ollie Clarke |
||||
|
Report by: Martin Shaw at the Banks’s Stadium (Bescot Stadium)
|
||||
|
Line Up:
|
(4-3-3)
Stone 5.5 Could have done better with the ball into his six yard box for the goal. Little else to do though his accurate kick down the middle nearly gave Bowery an assist. Kellan Gordon 5.5 Lost his man for the goal, not alert enough to the situation. One very good block on a cross. Rawson 7.5 Very solid game. Sweeney 7 Good game. One good block. McLaughlin 6 Three misplaced passes down the wing in the first half. Otherwise did ok. Quinn 6.5 Steady in midfield. Maris 7 One good piece of defending. Good game. Lapslie - Limped off with a hamstring injury. Charsley 6.5 Had a couple of chances. Should have done better with the rebound from Bowery’s chance in the second half. Worked very hard. Reid 7.5 Had a good game, often showing good close control. Great one-two with Bowery in the build-up to the goal. Went close early in the game with a good effort. Bowery 7.5 Great assist for the goal. Struggled initially against Hayden White. Did really well after switching to the right. |
|
Sub Line Up:
|
O.Clarke (for Lapslie, 12 mins) 9 Superb on his return from injury. Great passing throughout the game. Good goal. The vision for his pass for Bowery’s first half chance was quite stunning and I can’t remember a better pass all season.
Sarkic (for Quinn, 72 mins) - On for his debut. Subs not used: Stech, Benning, Perch, Sinclair, Law. |
|
Opposition Line Up:
|
(4-4-2): Roberts; White, Scarr, Sadler, Melbourne; Wright (Nolan 63), Bates (Vincent 77), Kinsella, McDonald; Josh Gordon, Lavery (Osei Yaw 77). Subs not used: Rose, Norman, Cockerill-Mollett, Osadebe.
|
|
Referee:
|
Alan Young 8 Handled the game very well in tricky conditions. Both managers praised the way he managed to get the game finished safely, with the absence of stoppage time at the end of the game very unusual.
|
|
|