Season 22/23 Stagsnet Match Report
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Mansfield Town
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Salford City
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Keillor-Dunn 35, Bowery 88.
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Lund 18, 56, Hendry 21, Bolton 50, Vassell 81
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Attendance: 6,868 (115 from Salford) (note this it is essentially tickets sold, including season tickets)
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Date: 25 February 2023
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STAGS OUTPLAYED AND THRASHED 5-2 BY SALFORD
Martin Shaw at the One Call Stadium, Field Mill Mansfield Town were outplayed and thrashed 5-2 by Salford City at the One Call Stadium this afternoon. The Stags had been on a very good run, unbeaten in 6 games, taking 14 points, and with 3 consecutive wins with clean sheets. Mansfield were looking to make it 4 consecutive wins with clean sheets for the first time in the Football League for 46 years, since May 1977. Optimism was high. But Salford City were superb, while the Stags were dreadful. It finished 5-2. It could have been more as Salford had several near misses. Back down to Earth with a bump. The Stags should not get too down-hearted though and look no further than the 3 teams they beat in the last 3 games. Gillingham have bounced back since the Stags beat them comfortably, by winning 3 games. Carlisle have bounced back since they were thrashed 4-0 at home by Mansfield a week and a half ago, by winning twice (including 5-2 away from home today). And Tranmere bounced back from being totally outplayed by Mansfield last Saturday, by winning away at second placed Stevenage today. The Stags need to bounce back in similar fashion from this result. Carlisle have moved into second place today. They are six points ahead of Mansfield having played a game more. Stevenage drop down to third, five points ahead of Mansfield having played a game fewer. Salford’s win took them above the Stags on goal difference, having played a game more. Salford took the lead after 18 minutes as Matty Lund got away from Kilgour to head home from an Ibou Touray cross from the left. Three minutes later Callum Hendry fired in from 12 yards after a corner wasn’t properly cleared. Luke Bolton, down the right, and Louie Barry, down the left, were causing Mansfield all kinds of problems. Mansfield pulled a goal back after 35 minutes as a long throw from Hewitt was cleared as far as Perch, who fired in a low shot from 19 yards which the keeper Alex Cairns didn’t hold and Keillor-Dunn turned home the rebound from 6 yards. Just 2-1 at the break. Salford had looked dangerous every time they went forward. It got worse early in the second half. After 49 minutes, Hendry fired against the post. A minute later it was 3-1 as Luke Bolton outpaced Bowery down the right to fire past Pym. And after 56 minutes it was 4-1 as Bolton pulled back to Lund, completely unmarked, who fired low into the corner of the net from 18 yards. It was nearly 5-1 after 77 minutes as Pym saved brilliantly from sub Conor McAleny. It was 5-1 after 81 minutes as Theo Vassell outjumped sub Callum Johnson to head home from a corner. A consolation goal for the Stags after 88 minutes as Callum Johnson got to the byline and put in a great cross for Bowery, now in midfield, to turn into the net from close range. It could have been 6-2 as Salford sub Callum Morton fired wide from 12 yards after 90+3 minutes. It finished 5-2. Salford were excellent. Bolton and Barry down the right and left respectively were too much for the Stags to handle. Bolton had too much pace for Bowery, and then for Hewitt when he moved to the left. And they are two of the quicker players in the Stags side. Hendry was also excellent for Salford in the middle. The Stags were really poor throughout the side. Pym can perhaps be excused having made one or two good saves and not really being to blame for the goals. Harbottle was awful in the first half, and was subbed at half time having been ill. Kilgour was well off form having been outstanding since signing in January. Perch looked very poor. Hewitt has been in tremendous form, today he was dreadful. As was Bowery when at wing-back. Akins was totally ineffective up front. Quinn and Wallace were poor in midfield. Probably Keillor-Dunn and Clarke were Mansfield’s best outfield players. Mansfield’s subs were no better. Danny Johnson, on after 59 minutes, didn’t get into the game and barely touched the ball. Boateng and Law, who came on at the same time were also ineffective. An awful day at the office. Mansfield need to bounce back quickly with a good performance next Saturday at AFC Wimbledon. DETAILED REPORT : Before the game there was a minute’s applause for Mansfield Town legend Kevin Bird, who passed away last week. Plenty of Bird’s former teammates were part of the tributes including Rod Arnold, Sandy Pate, Barry Foster, Jim McCaffrey, Mick Laverick, Ian Wood, Terry Austin, Dudley Roberts and Graham Brown. There was a magnificent huge wreath in the shape of a Stags shirt with 'Bird 6' on it, on the pitch. It was a great tribute to one of the best players to ever play for the club, who clocked up an incredible 463 appearances, and despite being a defender, scored 63 goals. If you weren’t lucky enough to watch Kevin play, I wrote this profile of him which I hope did him some justice. Mansfield were without 8 players through injury again. Callum Johnson returned from injury to take his place on the bench. Maris was not recovered enough to be back in the squad, but should be back for next weekend. The starting XI was unchanged. Clough revealed after the game that Harbottle was ill: “He felt ill before the game, and I asked him if he was fit and he said ‘yes’ but he obviously wasn’t so I should’ve taken that out of his hands before the game.” The other 7 injured players (McLaughlin, Reed, Oates, Swan, O’Toole, Hartigan, Gale) will not be back imminently. Youth teamers Taylor Anderson and McKeal Abdullah, who both played for the youth team in a 1-0 win at Bolton in the morning, with Anderson captaining the side and Abdullah scoring the goal, were on the bench. Anderson came on for the final 5 minutes, thus playing twice on the same day. Salford made four changes from their last game, including bringing in the nippy Callum Hendry up front in place of battering ram Matt Smith, and Matty Lund in central midfield for Ethan Galbraith, as well as Louie Barry on the left wing in place of McAleny. A bit of history for the Stags with Lund after he should have been sent off in the TV game on the May Bank Holiday last season when he deliberately stamped on Matty Longstaff, it was missed by the ref, he went on to score the equaliser, then later was charged by the FA on TV evidence and banned. Richard Nartey was on the bench for Salford, on the way back from injury. One of the Salford co-owners, Ryan Giggs, was in the director’s box watching the game. Roy Keane was at the game at Salford at the start of the season, while Gary Neville has been to the One Call Stadium previously. The game was a near sell-out for home fans, having been made all-ticket earlier in the week. 6,753 tickets sold for home fans, just 150 or so short of a sell-out. The highest number of home fans this season, 41 more than the Northampton game on Boxing Day. And the Stags fans were great despite the performance, with Q Block still in good voice at 5-2 down. Just 115 fans from Salford, the equal lowest visiting support of the season (equal with Newport, but that was on a Tuesday night). It was a windy day, but whilst it felt windy in the West Stand upper tier, it did not affect the game at pitch level. The first chance for either side came after 7 minutes as Watt lifted a ball over the Stags defence for Barry to run on to into the area, he got almost to the byline, and fired a cross-shot with the outside of his right boot across the face of goal. It actually hit the corner flag and then stayed in play. A minute later at the other end, Hewitt did well on the right to keep the ball in play and crossed into the middle. It was headed away to Bowery who had a free shot at goal from 12 yards but Watt did well to get in a block. A glorious opportunity. Seconds later, Hewitt crossed in again, Quinn headed down, but Ryan Watson cleared. Hendry kept the big clearance in play on the right, Bolton found Barry on the left, he cut inside Hewitt and fired into the side netting from 17 yards. Perch was booked for a late tackle on Hendry after 12 minutes. Harbottle gave the ball away under no pressure after 15 minutes. Kilgour eventually cleared. Salford took the lead after 18 minutes as Matty Lund got away from Kilgour to head home from an Ibou Touray cross from the left. The cross came after Barry tried to cut inside Hewitt, Hewitt got a boot on it and it fell for Touray with space to cross. Lund celebrated in front of the Mansfield fans, in a deliberately provocative manner, for a prolonged time, probably after what happened last season (see above). The referee should have stepped in. After 20 minutes, Lund played a great ball forward down the line for Bolton to run on to. Bolton crossed into the middle and Kilgour cleared, just past his own post. It was 2-0 to Salford after 21 minutes from the resulting corner. Callum Hendry fired in from 12 yards after the corner wasn’t properly cleared, and Watt pulled the ball back from the byline to Hendry. A chance for the Stags after 26 minutes. Clarke crossed from the right, it was partially cleared up in the air, and as the ball came down, Keillor-Dunn volleyed wide from 13 yards. It was a good chance, but he just didn’t quite catch the volley cleanly. Just a minute later, Hewitt pulled back to Keillor-Dunn from the right and Keillor-Dunn fired over the bar from 12 yards. On 31 minutes, a long throw from Hewitt came out to Wallace who fired just over the bar from 17 yards. Harbottle gave the ball away again unnecessarily after 32 minutes, and again Kilgour rescued him well. Mansfield pulled a goal back after 35 minutes as a long throw from Hewitt was cleared as far as Perch, who fired in a low shot from 19 yards which the keeper Alex Cairns didn’t hold and Keillor-Dunn turned home the rebound from 6 yards. Keillor-Dunn’s second goal for Mansfield. Perch’s first assist of the season. The keeper should have done better. Good defending by Bowery after 37 minutes as he did enough to stop Bolton getting in a cross. After 42 minutes, Hewitt lost the ball to Barry halfway inside the Salford half. Barry lifted the ball over the Stags defence for Hendry to run on to. Hendry was through 1-on-1 with Pym but slid his shot wide of the right post. After 45+2 minutes, Kilgour tried his luck with a shot from 38 yards but it was wide. Ambitious effort but space opened up for him. A minute later at the other end, Barry got past Harbottle putting the ball between his legs, ran through on goal and fired goalwards from 16 yards. Pym did well to palm it away. It came after a clear foul on Perch was missed by the referee. 2-1 to Salford at the break. Salford had looked dangerous every time they went forward. Luke Bolton, down the right, and Louie Barry, down the left, were causing Mansfield all kinds of problems. Half time 1-2 Callum Johnson replaced Harbottle at the start of the second half. Hewitt moved from right wing-back to the right of the central defensive three (where Harbottle had been playing). Callum Johnson went to right wing-back. Harbottle had had a very poor first half. Clough revealed after the game that Harbottle was ill: “He felt ill before the game, and I asked him if he was fit and he said ‘yes’ but he obviously wasn’t so I should’ve taken that out of his hands before the game.” After 47 minutes, Bolton got the better of Bowery on the right to pull a cross into the area, and Hewitt did well to clear with Barry trying to get on the end of it. After 49 minutes, Watt slid a great ball forward for Hendry to run on to, getting between Kilgour and Hewitt. Hendry got to the edge of the D and fired against the right post. A minute later it was 3-1 as Watt slid yet another ball forward, Bolton outpaced Bowery down the right and fired past Pym. A deserved goal for Bolton, for a brilliant performance. His first goal since August. Clarke was booked after 52 minutes. He was stretching to try to get in a shot on the edge of the area, and ended up chopping down Watson and missing the ball. Clarke’s 7th booking of the season. Incidentally, he is the only player remotely close to a ban, and even he would need 3 bookings in the next 5 games to get a ban After 56 minutes it was 4-1 as Hendry played a good ball out to the right for Bolton, Bolton played inside to Hendry, back to Bolton, and Bolton pulled back to Lund, completely unmarked, who fired low into the corner of the net from 18 yards. Wallace could have got tighter on Lund for the shot. Mansfield made a triple change after 59 minutes: Danny Johnson, Boateng and Law, on for Wallace, Quinn, and Akins. The Stags switched to 4 at the back: Callum Johnson (right back), Kilgour and Perch (centre halves), Hewitt (left back). Bowery moved to left midfield. The Stags then created six chances in 15 minutes: On the hour, a long throw from Hewitt was cleared to Keillor-Dunn whose shot from 10 yards was blocked for a corner. Perch headed over the bar from Keillor-Dunn’s resulting corner. Four minutes later, a cross from Boateng was cleared to Keillor-Dunn whose powerful shot from 12 yards was blocked by Watson. Then after 68 minutes, Boateng’s volley from the edge of the area was deflected and gave the keeper an easy save. On 70 minutes, Callum Johnson crossed from the right, Danny Johnson got his head on it, but could only glance it well wide with Kilgour just missing it at the far post. And on 73 minutes, Clarke’s shot from 28 yards was blocked. It was nearly 5-1 to Salford after 77 minutes. Bolton got in behind Hewitt and eased him away from the ball to cross from the byline into the middle for sub Conor McAleny who turned the ball goalwards from 6 yards but Pym saved brilliantly with his right leg. After 78 minutes, Bowery tried to cut past Lund in the area and went down very easily over Lund’s leg. The referee rightly booked Bowery for diving over Lund’s leg trying to win a penalty. No complaints from the Stags players. A minute later at the other end, Bolton got behind Hewitt to put in another cross which Pym pushed behind for a corner. It was 5-1 after 81 minutes as Theo Vassell outjumped sub Callum Johnson to head home from a Watt corner. Watt’s third assist of the game. Disappointing defending from a corner. Danny Johnson was booked for a foul after 83 minutes. McAleny fired straight at Pym from 18 yards after 84 minutes. Young academy right back Taylor Anderson made his second substitute appearance after 85 minutes, in place of Keillor-Dunn. Anderson went in to right midfield. He had captained the youth team in the morning. A consolation goal for the Stags after 88 minutes as Callum Johnson got to the byline and put in a great cross for Bowery, now in midfield, to turn into the net from close range. After 90 minutes, Kilgour headed over the bar from a Boateng corner. It could have been 6-2 as Salford sub Callum Morton fired wide from 12 yards after 90+3 minutes. It finished 5-2. Salford were excellent. Luke Bolton was simply outstanding. The best performance I’ve seen in League Two this season. The fact that his goal was his first since August might suggest he isn’t always this good. He had too much pace for Bowery, and then for Hewitt when he moved to the left. And they are two of the quicker players in the Stags side. Barry on the other wing was also excellent. Hendry was excellent for Salford too in the middle. And the supply from Watt in midfield was fabulous, including 3 assists. The loathsome Lund was also superb in midfield. While Salford were superb, Mansfield were terrible. Very significant comments from Clough after the game: “It's been a difficult week in terms of training because we can't have a normal week and be full-blooded as we're petrified of getting further injuries. We are now going to have to take that chance. That's the way that we've been training for the last 18 months or 2 years, and take our chance with injuries. It's very difficult to do that when you know you've only got 12 people training.” This certainly contributed in a big way. But above all, Salford were simply too good for Mansfield, in the way Mansfield were simply too good for Carlisle a week and a half ago. On to AFC Wimbledon. Man of the match: Keillor-Dunn and Clarke, Mansfield’s best outfield players 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, Harbottle 4, Oates 4, Bowery 3, Kilgour 3, Keillor-Dunn 2, Gale 1, Gordon 1, Hewitt 1, McLaughlin 1, Quinn 1. 1 OG Assists (league and cup): Lapslie 8, Hewitt 5, Maris 5, Quinn 5, Akins 4, Gordon 4, Keillor-Dunn 3, McLaughlin 3, Boateng 2, Clarke 2, C.Johnson 2, Hartigan 2, Bowery 1, Flinders 1, Hawkins 1, Law 1, Oates 1, Perch 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 2, Clarke 7, Harbottle 5, Hartigan 1, Hawkins 4, Keillor-Dunn 1, D.Johnson 1, Lapslie 3, Law 1, Maris 5, McLaughlin 2, O’Toole 5, Oates 1, Perch 5, 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) Average home league attendance: 6646 (average away fans: 562, average home fans 6084) (see Tranmere report for explanation of how attendance is calculated: it is essentially tickets sold, including season tickets) |
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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)
Pym 6 Made one or two good saves and not really to blame for the goals. Harbottle 4 Awful in the first half, and was subbed at half time with Clough revealing after the game: “He felt ill (flu-like symptoms) before the game, and I asked him if he was fit and he said ‘yes’ but he obviously wasn’t so I should’ve taken that out of his hands before the game.” Kilgour 5 Lund got away from him to head home the first goal. Well off form having been outstanding since signing in January. Clough revealed 3 days later: “He was struggling with his heal, he didn't train all week and you could see he was struggling to get off the ground and win his headers.” Perch 4.5 Very poor game after an early booking for a mistimed tackle. Did get an assist for his shot that was saved before the first Stags goal. Hewitt 4.5 Has been in tremendous form, here he was dreadful, albeit up against the brilliant Bolton in the 2nd half, and earlier the impressive Barry. Clarke 7 My joint man of the match. All action. Wallace 5 Poor in midfield. Could have got tighter on Lund for the 4th goal. Quinn 5 Poor game. Nigel Clough revealed 3 days later: "If we'd have everybody fit on Saturday, a couple wouldn't have played including Quinny with his ankle and groin.” Bowery 4 Dreadful game when at left wing back, albeit up against the brilliant Bolton. Did score his third goal of the season late on. Keillor-Dunn 7 Scored his second goal in a week. Lively. Akins 5 Totally ineffective up front. |
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Sub Line Up:
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C.Johnson (for Harbottle, 46 mins) 6 Assist for Bowery’s goal. Outjumped by Vassell for the 5th goal.
D.Johnson (for Wallace, 59 mins) - Didn’t get into the game and barely touched the ball. Boateng (for Quinn, 59 mins) - Ineffective. Law (for Akins, 59 mins) - Also ineffective. Taylor Anderson (for Keillor-Dunn, 85 mins) - Subs not used: Flinders, McKeal Abdullah. |
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Opposition Line Up:
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(4-2-3-1) Alex Cairns; Jason Lowe, Theo Vassell, Ryan Leak, Ibou Touray; Elliot Watt, Ryan Watson (Mallan 76); Luke Bolton, Matty Lund (McLoughlin 88), Louie Barry (McAleny 70); Callum Hendry (Morton 76). Subs not used: Bellagambi, Smith, Nartey.
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Referee:
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Marc Edwards 7 Generally handled the game well. Should have stepped in on Lund’s celebrations for the 1st goal.
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