Season 22/23 Stagsnet Match Report
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Carlisle United
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Mansfield Town
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Clarke 14, Kilgour 25, Akins pen 29, Hewitt 38
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Attendance: 4,645 (212 from Mansfield)
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Date: 14 February 2023
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Martin Shaw at Brunton Park
“ST VALENTINE’S DAYS MASSACRE Carlisle on the end of a 4-0 pasting by Mansfield” That was the headline on the front of the local newspaper, The News & Star. And it perfectly summed up a remarkable Stags performance in Cumbria last night. The Stags started the day six points behind Carlisle, who were in third place, with a game in hand. It was obviously a big game at the top of League Two. And within 38 minutes, the Stags were 4-0 up. A quite astonishing first half from Mansfield, with brilliant football and brilliant finishing. In the second half, the Stags comfortably held Carlisle at bay, and were so close to adding further goals. Indeed, had Will Swan's shot against the post after 88 minutes gone in to make it 5-0, it would have been the club's record away win in the football league. As it was, the Stags had to settle for equalling the record of margin of victory away from home in the football league (by 4 goals, done 14 times). The Stags have won by bigger margins away in non-league days. An honest assessment from Carlisle manager Paul Simpson after the game: “There's no excuses. We got turned over. I’m not surprised at how well Mansfield played, because I think they’re a good side, but what surprised me was how badly we played. I can’t think of anything we did right. There were unforced errors from everybody when we were in possession and the amount of times we put the ball out of play was incredible.” The first half performance from Mansfield was as good as anything we’ve seen in recent times, blowing away a top 3 side. Lucas Akins had already fired in a couple of shots, one blocked and one saved, before Mansfield took the lead after 14 minutes. Stephen Quinn crossed in from the left and Ollie Clarke rose to send a thumping header into the left corner of the net from 7 yards. Clarke normally scores great goals with powerful shots, such as against Gillingham and Doncaster this season, and this was a rare headed goal. He had a header from a similar position on Saturday and sent it closer to the corner flag than the net, but here his header was perfect. It was 2-0 after 25 minutes. Riley Harbottle’s cross-shot was tipped over the bar by 6 feet 9 inch goalkeeper Tomas Holy. Did Harbottle mean it as a shot? If it was a cross it was terrible with no Stags player near it. If it was a shot it was a brilliant effort. He was applauded by Lucas Akins so that suggests that maybe it was an attempt at goal. From the resulting corner from the left taken by Davis Keillor-Dunn to the far post, Alfie Kilgour thumped a header downwards and into the net from 8 yards. A great set piece delivery from Keillor-Dunn. And another powerful header from Kilgour. His third goal in 4 starts for Mansfield. Good from Akins on the goal-line, holding off defender Morgan Feeney to stop him getting a proper clearance on it and preventing the keeper making an attempt to save it. And 60 seconds after the restart, the Stags had won a penalty to make it 3-0. Jordan Bowery, having a super game at left wing-back, and having teed up Quinn for the cross for the first goal, teed up Kieran Wallace to cross from the left. The cross was in to Keillor-Dunn, just inside the area. Keillor-Dunn rose for a header and was wiped out by an arm from Morgan Feeney as he did so. The referee immediately pointed to the spot. After the game, Carlisle boss Paul Simpson said: “The penalty is a penalty, Morgan got himself frustrated and I’m not sure he’d have made that challenge if it was 0-0, he’d have just let the lad head it up into the air.” After treatment to Keillor-Dunn, Akins stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way from the spot, firing into the left corner of the net. The opposite way to his penalty on Saturday. Another expert finish from the spot, for his 7th goal of the season. Incredibly it was 4-0 after 38 minutes. Keillor-Dunn controlled the ball on the edge of the area on the right. He played a fabulous pass inside to Elliott Hewitt, who stroked the ball into the top left corner of the net from 10 yards. A rare goal for Hewitt, his second for the club, after his header at Colchester early last season. Carlisle had a chance to pull a goal back after 45+2 minutes. Kristian Dennis played a through-ball in behind Kilgour and Harbottle for Jon Mellish to run on to. Mellish was through 1-on-1 with Christy Pym, but Pym made a brilliant save getting his right hand down to Mellish’s shot and squeezing it away from goal. An important save just before half time, not giving Carlisle any sniff of a way back into the game. The Stags were 4-0 ahead at half time. The biggest lead at half time in the club’s history is 6-0 (stat from Paul Taylor). Another memorable half time score was 5-0 at home to Port Vale in 1981 (match report here). And a memorable second half was 6 goals against Tranmere in 2002 (video from the lockdown series here). Into the second half. The Stags didn’t give Carlisle any serious chances to get back into the game. Pym comfortably turned a free kick from 26 yards from Owen Moxon over the bar. And it was the Stags who came much closer to scoring and increasing the lead. Bowery had a shot deflected just wide, Kilgour had a header from a corner blocked and smashed the rebound over the bar, Quinn had a fine shot blocked. But the Stags could have made it 5-0 after 88 minutes. Swan did well to knock the ball back to Jason Law on the halfway line, and Law played a super ball forward to set Swan away with a run on goal. Swan cut inside Mellish in the area and from 14 yards curled a shot from the left against the right post. A great effort from Swan, and a super trademark ball forward from Law. What a night for the 212 travelling Stags fans. It’s quite a trip to Carlisle on a Tuesday night and that was a great following. They were rewarded on Valentine’s night with a stunning display. The entire Stags team was excellent. Three assists for Keillor-Dunn, if you include winning the penalty (which I do, see my stats below) makes him my man of the match. But everyone was tremendous, a real team performance. A performance to remember for a long time. And a debut for young right back Taylor Anderson in the final few minutes of the game. A proud moment for him. Not long to savour it though. The Stags are back in action at Tranmere Rovers on Saturday. Tranmere are 8 points behind Mansfield, having played a game more. The Stags are up to 5th, 3 points between Carlisle (3rd) and Northampton (4th), with a game in hand on Carlisle. DETAILED REPORT : Mansfield made two changes from the side that beat Gillingham. Nigel Clough was true to his word by bringing back Christy Pym as soon as he was fully fit, in place of Flinders, who had been excellent in goal for the previous 3 games in his place. Flinders pretty unlucky in my opinion. After the game, Clough said: "Christy is number one, and you see why tonight, his handling, distribution was excellent, but we know if he's struggling at any time what a brilliant back-up we've got (in Scott Flinders)." And Jordan Bowery came in for Maris who was out with a sore Achilles (Clough said: "I would think he is 50:50 for Saturday.") Bowery went in at left wing-back. Wallace moved to in front of the back three. Taylor Anderson came in to the 18 in place of Maris. So six players out with injury: McLaughlin, Oates, Reed, Hartigan, Callum Johnson. Plus Maris. Callum Johnson may be back for the Salford game, a week on Saturday, so earlier than initially feared. Further injury news after the game, from Clough: “Ollie Clarke came off at half-time with a calf, a kick on the back of his calf, didn’t think it was worth risking him at that point.” “Elliott Hewitt was doubtful before tonight, he’s got a whack on his knee.” “Kieran Wallace got a slight head injury, he got a whack when somebody caught him and it brings on this headache which he got a few weeks back. Hopefully he’ll be all right for Saturday.” Carlisle made one change from the side that drew at Wimbledon: John-Kymani Gordon, on load from Crystal Palace, replaced veteran striker Joe Garner. Gordon was up front with Kristian Dennis, who’s having a fantastic season. Dennis, the former Chesterfield and Notts County serial relegatee, if I might be permitted to invent such a word, is the top scorer in League Two. It was a slightly damp evening in Cumbria, after a little rain in the afternoon. After 7 minutes, Hewitt got into the Carlisle box, went down and appealed for a penalty after a challenge by Mellish, but Mellish had got a toe on the ball first. After 10 minutes, at the other end, a shot from Moxon was blocked. The first shot from the Stags was after 12 minutes as Lucas Akins cut inside and his shot from the edge of the area was blocked. A minute later, a brilliant run from Akins to the edge of the area and his low shot was saved by Holy getting down to his left. Mansfield took the lead after 14 minutes. Stephen Quinn crossed in from the left and Ollie Clarke rose to send a thumping header into the left corner of the net from 7 yards. Clarke normally scores great goals with powerful shots, such as against Gillingham and Doncaster this season, and this was a rare headed goal. He had a header from a similar position on Saturday and sent it closer to the corner flag than the net, but here his header was perfect. Good defending by Bowery after 19 minutes, outpacing Gibson to get back inside his own half. A great break by Hewitt after 20 minutes, his low cross found Quinn, but Quinn fired a shot well over the bar. A nice catch from Pym from a Gibson cross after 22 minutes. It was 2-0 after 25 minutes. Riley Harbottle’s cross-shot was tipped over the bar by 6 feet 9 inch goalkeeper Tomas Holy. Did Harbottle mean it as a shot? If it was a cross it was terrible with no Stags player near it. If it was a shot it was a brilliant effort. He was applauded by Lucas Akins so that suggests that maybe it was an attempt at goal. From the resulting corner from the left taken by Davis Keillor-Dunn to the far post, Alfie Kilgour thumped a header downwards and into the net from 8 yards. A great set piece delivery from Keillor-Dunn. And another powerful header from Kilgour. His third goal in 4 starts for Mansfield. Good from Akins on the goal-line, holding off defender Morgan Feeney to stop him getting a proper clearance on it and preventing the keeper making an attempt to save it. And 60 seconds after the restart, the Stags had won a penalty to make it 3-0. Jordan Bowery, having a super game at left wing-back, and having teed up Quinn for the cross for the first goal, teed up Kieran Wallace to cross from the left. The cross was in to Keillor-Dunn, just inside the area. Keillor-Dunn rose for a header and was wiped out by an arm from Morgan Feeney as he did so. The referee immediately pointed to the spot. After the game, Carlisle boss Paul Simpson said: “The penalty is a penalty, Morgan got himself frustrated and I’m not sure he’d have made that challenge if it was 0-0, he’d have just let the lad head it up into the air.” After treatment to Keillor-Dunn, Akins stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way from the spot, firing into the left corner of the net. The opposite way to his penalty on Saturday. Another expert finish from the spot, for his 7th goal of the season. Incredibly it was 4-0 after 38 minutes. Keillor-Dunn controlled the ball on the edge of the area on the right. He played a fabulous pass inside to Elliott Hewitt, who stroked the ball into the top left corner of the net from 10 yards. A rare goal for Hewitt, his second for the club, after his header at Colchester early last season. After 44 minutes, a corner from Moxon was over Pym and just curled past the far post. A lucky escape for Pym. Carlisle had a chance to pull a goal back after 45+2 minutes. Kristian Dennis played a through-ball in behind Kilgour and Harbottle for Jon Mellish to run on to. Mellish was through 1-on-1 with Christy Pym, but Pym made a brilliant save getting his right hand down to Mellish’s shot and squeezing it away from goal. An important save just before half time, not giving Carlisle any sniff of a way back into the game. The Stags were 4-0 ahead at half time. The biggest lead at half time in the club’s history is 6-0 (stat from Paul Taylor). Another memorable half time score was 5-0 at home to Port Vale in 1981 (match report here). And a memorable second half was 6 goals against Tranmere in 2002 (video from the lockdown series here). Half time 0-4 Boateng replaced Clarke at the start of the second half. Clough explained: “Ollie Clarke came off at half-time with a calf, a kick on the back of his calf, didn’t think it was worth risking him at that point.” After 48 minutes, Dennis sent an overhead kick well wide. After 49 minutes, great play by Bowery who cut inside from the left and had a shot deflected just wide. Then Boateng played in to Akins, who had a shot blocked back to him, and then miscued the rebound well wide. Harbottle was booked for a foul after a poor header from Hewitt after 55 minutes. An important touch by Perch at the back to get the ball away after 59 minutes. On 62 minutes, Kilgour had a header from a Keillor-Dunn corner blocked and smashed the rebound over the bar. A minute later at the other end, a good defensive block by Harbottle. The ball came out to sub Jayden Harris who fired well over the bar from 25 yards. On 65 minutes, Boateng’s low cross was cleared by Holy with his legs, and the Stags had the ball in the area but couldn’t fashion a shot. Pym comfortably turned a free kick from 26 yards from Owen Moxon over the bar after 66 minutes, after Boateng had fouled sub Joe Garner. From the resulting corner, Feeney glanced a header miles wide. O’Toole replaced Wallace after 69 minutes. Clough explained: “Kieran Wallace got a slight head injury, he got a whack when somebody caught him and it brings on this headache which he got a few weeks back. Hopefully he’ll be all right for Saturday.” On 74 minutes, Quinn had a fine shot blocked after a Keillor-Dunn corner reached him. Two more changes after 75 minutes: Law replaced Quinn, Swan replaced Keillor-Dunn. Sub Omari Patrick crossed after 84 minutes and Mellish headed well over the bar. We had expected some sort of onslaught by Carlisle in the second half, but it never came, as the Stags were always able to get a foot it and clear before it came to anything and Carlisle eventually lost heart, making a long series of awful passes, numerous straight out of play. Carlisle manager Paul Simpson said after the game: “There were unforced errors from everybody when we were in possession and the amount of times we put the ball out of play was incredible.” Taylor Anderson came for his debut after 88 minutes, replacing Hewitt. A proud moment for him. Clough explained after the game: "I wanted to get Danny Johnson on, but Elliott Hewitt got a knock and with Taylor getting on and making his debut that was more important. Danny will get an opportunity when we need a goal. But when you don't need one, I thought it was more important to give Taylor his debut.” The Stags could have made it 5-0 after 88 minutes. Swan did well to knock the ball back to Jason Law on the halfway line, and Law played a super ball forward to set Swan away with a run on goal. Swan cut inside Mellish in the area and from 14 yards curled a shot from the left against the right post. A great effort from Swan, and a super trademark ball forward from Law. After 90+1 minutes, a block by Kilgour inside his six yard box from a Gordon shot. And on 90+2, sub Jack Robinson volleyed well over the bar after a free kick from 45 yards into the box. As the referee blew the full time whistle, Swan had the ball in the area, and knocked the ball into the corner of the net with the outside of his right boot from an angle on the right, but the keeper made no attempt to save it with the whistle gone. A second successive clean sheet for the Stags. The Stags are now second top scorers in League Two with 47 goals, one behind Carlisle. On to Tranmere. Man of the match: Davis Keillor-Dunn Here’s a running tally of various stats this season: Goals (league and cup): Swan 9, Akins 7, Lapslie 7, Hawkins 5, Maris 5, Clarke 4, Oates 4, Harbottle 3, Kilgour 3, Bowery 2, Gale 1, Gordon 1, Hewitt 1, McLaughlin 1, Quinn 1. 1 OG Assists (league and cup): Lapslie 8, Hewitt 5, Maris 5, Akins 4, Gordon 4, Quinn 4, Keillor-Dunn 3, McLaughlin 3, Boateng 2, Hartigan 2, Bowery 1, Clarke 1, C.Johnson 1, Flinders 1, Hawkins 1, Law 1, Oates 1, Wallace 1 (notes on assists: in the case of a penalty, the player who earns the penalty gets an assist, such as Lapslie against AFC Wimbledon. In the case of a solo goal, such as Maris against Newport at home last season, nobody gets an assist. In the case of the scorer scoring from the rebound after a shot is saved or blocked, the player who had the shot saved gets an assist, such as Lapslie against Stockport. In the case of an own goal, the player who caused the own goal gets an assist, for example McLaughlin against Newport away last season where his shot was deflected in for an own goal. In the case of a cross that is headed away before the goal is scored, such as Clarke’s goal at Doncaster, nobody gets an assist.) Yellow cards (league only, alphabetical order): Boateng 1, Bowery 1, Clarke 6, Harbottle 4, Hartigan 1, Hawkins 4, Keillor-Dunn 1, Lapslie 3, Law 1, Maris 5, McLaughlin 2, O’Toole 5, Oates 1, Perch 4, Pym 1, Quinn 6, Reed 1, Swan 2, Wallace 3. Red cards (league and cup): Boateng 1, Bowery 1, Maris 1, Perch 1. (note: red cards count across competitions apart from Papa John’s Trophy; yellow cards are competition specific) (note: 5 yellow cards before the end of the 19th league game will result in a one match ban; 10 yellow cards before the end of the 37th league game will result in a two match ban; 15 yellow cards before the end of the 46th league game will result in a three match ban) |
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Report by: Martin Shaw at Brunton Park
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Line Up:
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(3-5-2)
Pym 8 Brilliant save from a 1-on-1 just before half time. Good handling. One fortunate escape when a corner sailed over him. Harbottle 8.5 Defended well. One good block. Cross-shot tipped over the bar. Kilgour 9 Powerful header for his third goal in 4 starts. Defended well, one good block. Perch 8.5 Also defended well, one important touch to clear a dangerous ball. The defensive three is working well together, and easily snuffed out the threat of the serial relegatee. Hewitt 9 Terrific finish into the top left corner of the net for just his second goal for the club. Got forward well. What great form he is in. Clarke 8.5 Scored with a thumping header for the opening goal, his second goal in successive games. Came off at half time after a kick on the back of his calf. Wallace 8.5 Played well in front of the back three. Put in the cross that led to the penalty. Clough picked him out after the game: "I wanted to say how well Kieran Wallace did. He was as good as anybody in there tonight. The only reason he came off, he got a little knock in the head and his headache came on which happened a few weeks ago so we'll keep an eye on him." Quinn 8.5 Great assist with a cross for Clarke’s goal. One fine shot blocked. Bowery 8.5 Had a super game at left wing-back. One great piece of defending, outpacing Gibson to get back inside his own half. One good shot deflected wide. Clough said after the game: “Jordan Bowery was excellent tonight.” Keillor-Dunn 9.5 Great set piece delivery from the corner for the second goal. Won the penalty for the third goal. Controlled the ball on the edge of the area and played a fabulous pass inside to Hewitt for the fourth goal. Three assists, if you include winning the penalty (which I do, see my stats above) make him my man of the match. Akins 9 Led the line superbly. Did well to hold off defender Morgan Feeney on the line for Kilgour’s goal. Another expert finish from the penalty spot, his second in two games. |
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Sub Line Up:
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Boateng (for Clarke, 46 mins) 7.5 Set up Akins for a shot. One other good cross.
O’Toole (for Wallace, 69 mins) - Slotted in really well. Clough said: "I thought John-Joe O'Toole was excellent when he came on." Law (for Quinn, 75 mins) - Super trademark ball forward to set Swan away to fire against the post. Swan (for Keillor-Dunn, 75 mins) - Unlucky not to score when he hit the post. Anderson (for Hewitt, 88 mins) - Proud moment coming on as a late sub. Subs not used: Flinders, D. Johnson. |
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Opposition Line Up:
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(3-5-2) Holy; Feeney, Huntington (Harris 46), Mellish; Senior (Patrick 46), Gibson (Garner 46), Guy, Moxon, Armer; Dennis (Robinson 76), Gordon. Subs not used: Kelly (gk), Whelan, McCalmont.
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Referee:
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Ben Toner 8 Got the penalty right. Handled the game well.
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