Season 20/21 Stagsnet Match Report
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Mansfield Town
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Cheltenham Town
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Bowery 55, 65, Reid 63.
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Smith 51
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Attendance: behind closed doors
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Date: 9 March 2021
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STAGS PRODUCE GREAT PERFORMANCE TO BEAT LEAGUE LEADERS
Martin Shaw at the One Call Stadium, Field Mill Mansfield Town produced a great performance to beat league leaders Cheltenham Town 3-1 at the One Call Stadium last night. The Stags needed a win after defeats at Barrow and Bradford and were unlucky not to be ahead by half time as Jordan Bowery turned an Ollie Clarke cross against the post and Farrend Rawson’s follow-up effort was superbly blocked on the line by the keeper, Mal Benning had a low shot heading for the bottom corner of the net tipped wide by the keeper, Jamie Reid’s shot from 8 yards was blocked by Ben Tozer and in the follow-up Stephen Quinn had 2 further shots blocked by his own teammates. Also Jamie Reid was brought down by the keeper just outside the area and would have had a shot at goal albeit from an angle but the referee only issued a yellow card as Reid was going away from goal and I think he probably made the correct decision. At the other end, Charlie Raglan headed onto the roof of the net from one of a host of first half long throw-ins from Ben Tozer, and Cheltenham had a goal disallowed when Callum Wright turned the ball into the net but was a yard offside. It was a highly entertaining first half and it was to get even better in the second half. After 51 minutes, Cheltenham took the lead as Chris Hussey put in a superb cross from the left and Sam Smith rose above James Perch to head into the roof of the net. But Mansfield roared back and were level within 4 minutes. Stephen Quinn found Jason Law inside the area, Law slipped a super little pass to Jordan Bowery and Bowery smashed a powerful first time shot past the keeper from 16 yards. The Stags then took the lead after 63 minutes. Jason Law’s corner from the right was beyond the far post, James Perch got up highest and his header was back across goal and went straight back to Law. Law glided past Sean Long to the byline and put in a good cross across the face of goal, Ollie Clarke controlled it and his shot was blocked at point blank range by Ben Tozer but the rebound was turned into the net from close range by Jamie Reid, who was quickest to the loose ball. Within two minutes, Mansfield made it 3-1. Bowery ran towards goal from just inside the Cheltenham half. 30 yards from goal he was tackled by Matty Blair, but Bowery was able to retrieve the ball as it ran loose and despite being surrounded by five Cheltenham players, played a terrific one-two with Reid, controlled the ball again and beat the keeper from 12 yards with a clinical finish. A superb goal with brilliant interplay between Bowery and Reid. The Stags had chances to increase the lead further. After 74 minutes, Reid, with his confidence now high, turned away from Tozer and squared a perfect ball for Law to fire over the bar from 15 yards. It was great play from Reid and it would have been fitting for Law to get a goal as he was excellent again in this match. Three minutes later, a fine run forward from Stephen McLaughlin from the halfway line, he slipped a super ball forward into the path of Reid who fired just wide of the right post from 9 yards with the keeper beaten. Cheltenham had very few chances to get back into the game but a missed clearance from Perch allowed Alfie May a shot which was well-saved by Marek Stech and Finn Azaz fired the rebound wide. Cheltenham also wanted a penalty after 84 minutes when Indiana Vassilev went down in the box but from the video replay he stumbled and was not fouled by George Lapslie. A really good win for the Stags and it was so enjoyable to watch. The Stags played as well as they have all season, and showed character to come back from going a goal down after having been the better side. Jordan Bowery scored two good goals to go into double figures for the season. Jamie Reid was excellent with a goal, an assist and being brought down by the keeper just outside the box. Jason Law continued his impressive form with an excellent game with an assist and playing a part in all three goals. Stephen Quinn impressed in midfield, while Stephen McLaughlin had a good game in a defensive midfield role. At the back, Farrend Rawson had another good game and alongside James Perch did ok but was beaten to the header for the Cheltenham goal. Kellan Gordon had a very good game bouncing back in the best possible fashion from his costly mistakes at Barrow. Marek Stech returned in goal and made a good save late on to prevent Cheltenham getting back into the game. From the substitutes’ bench, there was a very welcome return after 4 weeks out with injury for George Lapslie. How the Stags have missed him! The win took Mansfield 11 points above the relegation zone, and with a game in hand on Southend who have just 12 games left. DETAILED REPORT: Mansfield made three changes to the side that lost at Barrow. Stech replaces the injured Stone in goal for his first game since the FA Cup tie at Cheltenham. Perch came in for the suspended Sweeney in central defence. And McLaughlin returned from injury in place of Charsley who dropped to the bench. The Stags switched formation from recent games to a 4-4-2, with Bowery and Reid up front, and a diamond formation in midfield with Law in the attacking midfield position just behind the front two, and McLaughlin in a defensive midfield role in front of the defence. Lapslie returned to the bench after injury. Third choice goalkeeper Jamie Pardington, on loan from Wolves, was in the matchday squad for the first time. Cheltenham arrived in Mansfield top of the table, having won their last 4 games, and taken 22 points from 9 games since they had played Manchester City in the FA Cup having knocked out Mansfield in the previous round. Former Stag Matty Blair was at right wing-back. A significant change from the games against Mansfield earlier in the season was that centre half Will Boyle was out through injury. Boyle was the major threat to get on the end of the monster long throws from Ben Tozer. Also out through injury was former Stag Chris Clements. It was a pleasant evening in Mansfield, and the pitch was in reasonable condition with little rain in recent days. The Stags had strategically placed the frost and rain pitch covers a yard from both touchlines from the byline to level with the edge of the penalty area in an attempt to counter-act those long throw-ins. Cheltenham were not happy with this when they arrived. But inside the opening 90 seconds when the visitors had 3 throw-ins level with the penalty area, Tozer was to get around the problem by simply moving them slightly to create a gap! The Stags cleared each of the throws. After 5 minutes, Benning had a low shot heading for the bottom corner of the net tipped wide by the keeper, after good play from Law and Quinn. It was a good effort from Benning. Four minutes later, good play from Law on the left, he played forward to Reid who shot wide of the left post. After 10 minutes, Reid was brought down by the keeper just outside the area and would have had a shot at goal albeit from an angle but the referee only issued a yellow card as Reid was going away from goal and I think he probably made the correct decision. Anyone who knew Mansfield’s recent record from this sort of position would know it wasn’t much reward for the Stags though as Law’s free kick was duly straight into the wall. On 13 minutes, following another free kick from Law into the box, Reid’s shot from 8 yards was blocked by Ben Tozer and in the follow-up Quinn had 2 further shots blocked by his own teammates (Rawson first then Clarke). After 19 minutes, Sam Smith’s shot from 30 yards was well over the bar. Then after 24 minutes, Charlie Raglan headed onto the roof of the net from long throw-in from Tozer. A minute later, Alfie May tried a cheeky effort from 40 yards which wasn’t far over the bar. The Stags were unlucky after 26 minutes as Bowery turned an Ollie Clarke cross against the post and Rawson’s follow-up effort was superbly blocked on the line by the keeper. Cheltenham had a goal disallowed when Callum Wright turned the ball into the net but was a yard offside after 30 minutes. Blair’s cross from the right was headed out by McLaughlin to Liam Sercombe whose wayward shot was turned goalwards by Smith and then turned into the net by Wright to wrong-foot Stech, but Wright was clearly offside. A great low ball in from Gordon was into a good area after 36 minutes, Reid and Raglan went for it and it deflected off Raglan to the keeper. Three minutes later at the other end, a diagonal ball from Sercombe into the area for Smith who headed the ball up and Stech held it just under his own bar. It was a highly entertaining first half, and the Stags were unlucky not to be ahead by the break. Half time 0-0 After 51 minutes, Cheltenham took the lead as Chris Hussey put in a superb cross from the left and Sam Smith rose above James Perch to head into the roof of the net. Three minutes later, Tozer had a shot blocked by Rawson after Clarke had headed away a Hussey cross to Tozer just inside the area. But Mansfield roared back and were level after 55 minutes. Quinn found Law inside the area, Law slipped a super little pass to Bowery and Bowery smashed a powerful first time shot past the keeper from 16 yards. The Stags then took the lead after 63 minutes. Law’s corner from the right was beyond the far post, Perch got up highest and his header was back across goal and went straight back to Law. Law glided past Sean Long to the byline and put in a good cross across the face of goal, Ollie Clarke controlled it and his shot was blocked at point blank range by Ben Tozer but the rebound was turned into the net from close range by Reid, who was quickest to the loose ball. Within two minutes, Mansfield made it 3-1. Bowery ran towards goal from just inside the Cheltenham half. 30 yards from goal he was tackled by Matty Blair, but Bowery was able to retrieve the ball as it ran loose and despite being surrounded by five Cheltenham players, played a terrific one-two with Reid, controlled the ball again and beat the keeper from 12 yards with a clinical finish. A superb goal with brilliant interplay between Bowery and Reid. After 67 minutes, a great block by Benning on May’s shot from a tight angle, then moments later a good clearance from Benning. George Lapslie made a welcome return to the action after 73 minutes, replaced Ollie Clarke who was not so full of energy as usual, as pointed out Nigel Clough after the game. The Stags had a great chance to increase the lead after 74 minutes. Reid, with his confidence now high, turned away from Tozer and squared a perfect ball for Law to fire over the bar from 15 yards. It was great play from Reid and it would have been fitting for Law to get a goal as he was excellent again in this match. Three minutes later, a fine run forward from McLaughlin from the halfway line, he slipped a super ball forward into the path of Reid who fired just wide of the right post from 9 yards with the keeper beaten as it crashed off the back stanchion. Cheltenham had very few chances to get back into the game but a missed clearance from Perch after 80 minutes allowed Alfie May a shot which was well-saved by Stech and Finn Azaz fired the rebound wide. Cheltenham then wanted a penalty after 84 minutes when Indiana Vassilev went down in the box but from the video replay he stumbled and was not fouled by Lapslie. Mansfield made their second change after 88 minutes as Charsley replaced Quinn. There was one final chance for the Stags in the first minute of stoppage time as Law set Reid away down the left, Reid cut inside and his powerful shot from 23 yards hit Sean Long square in the face and the play was stopped because Long was floored. The shot was on target. That was the last significant action as Mansfield completed a tremendous victory. So many good performances from Mansfield players as I’ve already listed. Special mention for Jason Law. It's remarkable .. he was signed by Adam Murray in 2016. And none of Adam Murray, Steve Evans, David Flitcroft, John Dempster or Graham Coughlan has ever really given him a chance, until now. On to Crawley on Saturday. The Stags would have beaten Crawley comfortably at the One Call Stadium had it not been for a purple patch from Max Watters who came on as a half-time substitute and within 15 minutes Crawley were 3-1 up. The Stags pulled it back to draw 3-3. Watters has left Crawley now of course in January. Crawley have just hit form though, having won their last 3 at home, including beating Salford on Tuesday, and also winning away at Tranmere on Saturday. Man of the match: Jordan Bowery |
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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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(4-4-2, diamond in midfield)
Stech 7 Returned in goal for his first start since the FACup game at Cheltenham and made a good save late on from Alfie May to prevent Cheltenham getting back into the game. Gordon 8 Had a very good game bouncing back in the best possible fashion from his costly mistakes at Barrow. Rawson 8 Had another very good game. Perch 6.5 Did ok but was beaten to the header for the Cheltenham goal. Also a missed clearance allowed that late Alfie May shot which was well-saved by Stech. Benning 7 Had a good shot heading for the bottom corner of the net tipped wide by the keeper. Also a great block and a good clearance. McLaughlin 8 Had a good game in a defensive midfield role. One fine run forward to set up a chance for Reid. O.Clarke 6.5 Did ok but not so full of energy as usual as pointed out Nigel Clough after the game. Put in the cross for Bowery’s effort against the post. Quinn 8 Impressed in midfield. Had a couple of shots blocked. Law 9 Continued his impressive form with an excellent game, with an assist and playing a part in all three goals. Reid 9 Excellent, with a goal, an assist and being brought down by the keeper just outside the box. Bowery 9 Scored two good goals to go into double figures for the season. Also hit the post. |
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Sub Line Up:
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Lapslie (for O.Clarke, 73 mins) - Great to see him back.
Charsley (for Quinn, 88 mins) -. Subs not used: Pardington, O'Keeffe, Wright, Ward, Sinclair. |
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Opposition Line Up:
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(3-5-2): Griffiths; Raglan (Vassilev 76), Tozer, Long; Blair, Thomas, Wright (Azaz 60), Sercombe (Lloyd 88), Hussey; Smith, May. Subs not used: Flinders, Williams, Freestone, Horton.
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Referee:
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Scott Oldham 7 Correctly waved away Cheltenham appeals for a penalty. In my opinion, he was also correct to only show the Cheltenham keeper a yellow card for bringing down Reid, though it wasn’t much reward for the Stags. It was the only yellow card of the game.
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