Season 22/23 Stagsnet Match Report
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Mansfield Town
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Rochdale
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Boateng 6.
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Dodgson 43.
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Attendance: 6,708 (423 from Rochdale)
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Date: 10 April 2023
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FRUSTRATION AS STAGS DRAW WITH ROCHDALE
Martin Shaw at the One Call Stadium, Field Mill Mansfield Town drew 1-1 with bottom side Rochdale at the One Call Stadium on Easter Monday afternoon. The Stags had 21 shots but could only score once, following on from 27 shots against Crawley, scoring 4, and 9 shots against Swindon, also scoring 4. Nearly 60 shots in 3 games! It was hugely frustrating as the Stags were unable to force victory, with Rochdale keeper Richard O’Donnell making a string of fantastic saves, and the Stags missing too many other chances. Rochdale came to play football, leaving themselves open at the back at times, but they could have also won the game themselves, hitting the bar after 84 minutes while, earlier, Elliott Hewitt made a great block when Ian Henderson seemed likely to score. Mansfield’s frustration was compounded by news that Salford leapfrogged them back into 7th place, scoring after 90+5 and 90+6 minutes to win 3-2 at AFC Wimbledon. The Stags are back down to 8th, one point behind Salford with a game in hand. Mansfield are still only 5 points behind 3rd place with a game in hand, making today’s draw feel even more like a huge opportunity missed. Six games to go, with massive away games at Grimsby (Saturday) and Newport (Tuesday) coming up. The Stags were ahead after just 6 minutes. And it was a beautifully worked goal. Elliott Hewitt played the ball down the line to James Gale on the halfway line. Gale played inside to George Maris who played a nice ball forward to Hiram Boateng 35 yards from goal. Boateng pushed forward, cut inside, and played a ball into the area to Lucas Akins, back to goal 14 yards out. Akins held off his marker then back-heeled for Boateng who had continued his run into the area. Boateng ran on to it and curled a left-footed curling shot into the left of the net. Great play from Boateng. His second goal for Mansfield, coming in consecutive games. And a delightful assist from Akins, his 7th assist of the season (see my stats below). The Stags dominated the opening 25 minutes, playing some super football. Akins had a shot blocked, Gale sent a good effort straight at the keeper, Akins shot just wide, and Keillor-Dunn sent a free kick wide from a tight angle. The Stags were dangerous down both wings with Gale on the right and Keillor-Dunn and Quinn on the left. But the Stags lost some intensity for over 15 minutes from 25-43 minutes allowing Rochdale back into the game. And Rochdale equalised after 43 minutes. Owen Dodgson, on loan from Burnley, played a 1-2 with Abraham Odoh on the left following a throw-in, got away from Gale, then side-stepped Hewitt and fired into the bottom right corner of the net, with Hewitt unable to get in a block. A very good goal from Dodgson, his first career goal. To be hyper-critical, Gale and Hewitt could have done better. The goal shook the Stags from their 15 minute slumber and in the final minutes of the half Keillor-Dunn curled a shot wide and then Quinn seemed certain to score from a great cross from Gale, but somehow keeper O’Donnell blocked Quinn’s shot on the line. 1-1 at the break. The second half was to the see the Stags on the attack almost constantly and have another 14 shots but unable to convert any of them. Brilliant play from Keillor-Dunn who surged forward, cut inside two defenders to create space for a shot and from 22 yards his effort was heading for to the bottom left corner of the net before O’Donnell tipped it wide at full stretch with one of the saves of the season. From the corner, Kilgour shot just wide. Then Kieran Wallace fired in a piledriver that the keeper tipped over before having another shot deflected just wide. A great move involving Boateng finding Gale who dragged his shot wide. Then another double save from the keeper, parrying Boateng’s shot from 22 yards before also saving Keillor-Dunn’s volley sent in on the rebound. It was incessant pressure and shots at goal. Boateng curled a cross-shot inches wide from the right, then Boateng curled another shot again inches wide. An extraordinary miss after 82 minutes as Kilgour headed Jason Law’s corner towards the far post, Keillor-Dunn tried to turn it in from virtually on the goalline and only knocked it along the line before the keeper punched it away. Moments later Kilgour headed wide again. In the dying minutes, Boateng had another shot deflected for a corner, and then sent another shot over the bar and indeed over the stand. Rochdale were under the cosh for almost the entire second half but came close to scoring twice on the break for what would have been an unlikely victory. First Hewitt got in a brilliant block on a shot from Ian Henderson, and then D’Mani Mellor got in behind the Stags defence as the Stags pushed forward, ran from just inside the Stags half into the area, and fired against the bar from 16 yards. That was unlucky for Rochdale, but it would have been a travesty had they won. Indeed the Stags should have won the game comfortably but for O’Donnell’s string of fantastic saves, and the Stags missing too many other chances. This was a good performance from Mansfield despite the frustrating result. Gale, Akins, Keillor-Dunn, Quinn, Boateng were all dynamic going forward, but sadly didn’t have the finishing to match, aside from Boateng’s goal. Despite Gale’s impressive performance on his second league start, I think Mansfield missed Rhys Oates. Oates is out with a groin injury and Nigel Clough said after the game he “could be back for Grimsby but there are no guarantees.” The same with Ollie Clarke who also missed the game. It was another very exciting and entertaining game. Stags fans cannot complain about lack of entertainment this season: the Stags are the equal top scorers in League Two (equal with Salford), and second in the total number of shots in League Two this season (second behind Stevenage). All to play for in what promises to be an exciting end to the season too. On to Grimsby where the Stags will be backed by a big sell-out away following. DETAILED REPORT : Mansfield made three changes from the side that won at Swindon on Good Friday. Oates and Clarke were out with injury from the Swindon game. In came Gale and Boateng. Gale was preferred to Danny Johnson who has not impressed in substitute appearances. And Maris came back into the starting XI having come through 45 minutes at Swindon. He replaced Wallace. It was a back four of Hewitt, Kilgour, Perch, Bowery. Wallace was in front of the back four. Boateng on the right and Quinn on the left in front of Wallace. Then Gale (right) and Keillor-Dunn (left) just behind Akins. Harbottle was back from concussion on the bench. Still out: Reed, McLaughlin, Swan, plus O’Toole, Hartigan. Rochdale had won their last two games, and three out of six, including beating Stevenage. They remained bottom of the league. They were unchanged from their 4-2 win over Walsall on Friday. There was a massive thunderstorm, including lightning and thunder, around 1.10-1.40pm. Thankfully it stopped then and the sun came out. Another hour of that and we might have had a big problem. By the time the game started the pitch was near perfect. There was a wind, blowing into Mansfield’s faces in the first half. It did not prevent goal kicks reaching the halfway line, but was enough to take balls over the top out for goal kicks on several occasions. After 4 minutes, good play on the left as Quinn played a 1-2 with Bowery before feeding Akins with his back to goal just inside the area on the left. Akins turned and his shot was blocked by Max Taylor. The Stags were ahead after just 6 minutes. And it was a beautifully worked goal. Elliott Hewitt played the ball down the line to James Gale on the halfway line. Gale played inside to George Maris who played a nice ball forward to Hiram Boateng 35 yards from goal. Boateng pushed forward, cut inside, and played a ball into the area to Lucas Akins, back to goal 14 yards out. Akins held off his marker then back-heeled for Boateng who had continued his run into the area. Boateng ran on to it and curled a left-footed curling shot into the left of the net. Great play from Boateng. His second goal for Mansfield, coming in consecutive games. And a delightful assist from Akins, his 7th assist of the season (see my stats below). After 10 minutes, Gale sent a good effort from the right straight at the keeper. Maris was a little sloppy, giving the ball away twice in quick succession. After 12 minutes, another great move on the left, then Akins got past one defender before shooting just wide from 20 yards. Yet another good move on the left after 16 minutes and Quinn won a free kick level with the edge of the six yard box outside the area. Keillor-Dunn sent a cross-shot from the free kick wide from what was a tight angle. Great defending from Hewitt after 18 minutes blocking out Mellor on the break. Another super run down the right by Gale after 23 minutes, he fired in a cross but no-one was on the end of it. The Stags had dominated the opening 25 minutes, playing some super football. The Stags were dangerous down both wings with Gale on the right and Keillor-Dunn and Quinn on the left. But the Stags then lost some intensity for over 15 minutes from 25-43 minutes allowing Rochdale back into the game. Good play from Dale after 33 minutes, as Danny Lloyd got away from Perch outside the area on the right and fired across Pym and wide of the left post. Maris was forced to go off after 38 minutes. He was clearly upset pulling his shirt up over his face. Nigel Clough explained after the game: “George has a sore Achilles again. We wanted to get him out there for fresh legs for 60-70 minutes. It's flared up and it’s a recurrence of what he has been out with for a good few weeks now. He came through Friday no problem, didn't do a lot yesterday but felt okay but (today) just couldn't quite push off for the sprinting. He could do a certain pace but with them being quite sharp couldn't continue. It's another player we've lost in a first half and I think that’s the eighth player out injured, which seems about the average for most games at the moment.” Wallace came on in his place in front of the back four. Wallace had played well there in recent games. After 40 minutes, a great tackle by Kilgour on Henderson in the area. Then Rochdale put a corner onto the roof of the net, underestimating the strength of the wind. Rochdale equalised after 43 minutes. Owen Dodgson, on loan from Burnley, played a 1-2 with Abraham Odoh on the left following a throw-in, got away from Gale, then side-stepped Hewitt and fired into the bottom right corner of the net, with Hewitt unable to get in a block. A very good goal from Dodgson, his first career goal. To be hyper-critical, Gale and Hewitt could have done better. The goal shook the Stags from their 15-20 minute slumber and in the final minutes of the half created two more chances. After 44 minutes, a good move on the left, Quinn laid off to Keillor-Dunn who curled a shot wide. Then on 45+3 minutes, Quinn seemed certain to score at the far post on the left from a great cross from Gale, but somehow keeper O’Donnell blocked Quinn’s shot on the line. 1-1 at the break. The Stags had started really well for the opening 25 minutes taking the lead, but then lost intensity from 25-43 minutes and allowed Rochdale back into the game to equalise, before the Stags finished the half strongly with two more chances. 7 shots from the Stags in the first half. Half time 1-1 The second half was to the see the Stags on the attack almost constantly and have another 14 shots but unable to convert any of them. After 47 minutes, Quinn crossed and it agonisingly just evaded Gale. Nigel Clough commented that Swan might have got on the end of it. Gale then gave the ball away with a loose square pass after 54 minutes allowing Rochdale to break. The Stags were close taking the lead after 56 minutes. Brilliant play from Keillor-Dunn who surged forward, cut inside two defenders to create space for a shot and from 22 yards his effort was heading for to the bottom left corner of the net before O’Donnell tipped it wide at full stretch with one of the saves of the season. From the corner, Kilgour shot just wide. Then on the hour Wallace fired in a piledriver that the keeper tipped over before having another shot deflected just wide. On 62 minutes, a great move involving Boateng finding Gale who dragged his shot wide. Then on 65 minutes, another double save from the keeper, parrying Boateng’s shot from 22 yards before also saving Keillor-Dunn’s volley sent in on the rebound. It was incessant pressure and shots at goal. After 67 minutes, Boateng curled a cross-shot inches wide from the right, then 4 minutes later Boateng curled another shot again inches wide. In between those two chances, a great and important interception by Bowery to stop George Lloyd getting through on goal. A good block by Kilgour on a cross after 72 minutes. Perch was booked after 73 minutes for diving in on Odou. Hewitt got in a brilliant block on a shot from Ian Henderson after 75 minutes, a rare chance for Rochdale who were under incessant pressure. A minute later, Pym was out quickly to dive on the ball. Mansfield made a double change after 78 minutes bringing on Law and Callum Johnson for Hewitt and Gale. Callum Johnson went in at right back. Then on 81 minutes, Danny Johnson replaced Quinn. An extraordinary miss after 82 minutes as Kilgour headed Jason Law’s corner towards the far post, Keillor-Dunn tried to turn it in from virtually on the goalline and only knocked it along the line before the keeper punched it away. Moments later Kilgour headed wide again from a cross. After 84 minutes, D’Mani Mellor got in behind the Stags defence as the Stags pushed forward, ran from just inside the Stags half into the area, and fired against the bar from 16 yards. A let off for Mansfield. Then on 86 minutes, Mellor played inside to Lloyd whose shot was deflected tamely wide. After 89 minutes, Boateng had another shot deflected for a corner, and then on 90+3 minutes he sent another shot over the bar and indeed over the stand. Huge frustration for Mansfield who played most of the game (around 75 minutes) on the front foot. Rochdale were under the cosh for almost the entire second half but did come close to scoring twice on the break for what would have been an unlikely victory. The Stags should have won the game comfortably and but for O’Donnell’s string of fantastic saves, and the Stags missing too many other chances, they would have done so. Credit to Rochdale, their keeper, the centre halves Max Taylor and Ethan Ebanks-Landell who played well, as did goalscorer Dodgson. Rochdale played with plenty of spirit, but the point does not help Rochdale much and I think they have too much to do to stay up. That is a shame as they are a club that I like. For Mansfield, my man of the match was Boateng, who looks like the player who impressed so much in pre-season but has rather disappointed for much of the season until now. The Stags go to Grimsby and Newport next. Games against two teams who are not going up and not going down might prove easier than against teams fighting and scrapping for every point. We’ll see! Man of the match: Hiram Boateng Here’s a running tally of various stats this season: Goals (league and cup): Akins 9, Swan 9, Lapslie 7, Clarke 5, Harbottle 5, Hawkins 5, Keillor-Dunn 5, Maris 5, Oates 5, Kilgour 4, Bowery 3, Boateng 1, Quinn 2, Gale 1, Gordon 1, D.Johnson 1, Hewitt 1, McLaughlin 1. 1 OG Assists (league and cup): Lapslie 8, Quinn 8, Akins 7, Hewitt 7, Maris 5, Gordon 4, Boateng 3, Keillor-Dunn 3, McLaughlin 3, Clarke 2, C.Johnson 2, Hartigan 2, Oates 2, Bowery 1, Flinders 1, Hawkins 1, Law 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 8, Gale 1, Harbottle 6, Hartigan 1, Hawkins 4, Hewitt 1, Keillor-Dunn 1, D.Johnson 1, Lapslie 3, Law 2, Maris 5, McLaughlin 2, O’Toole 5, Oates 1, Perch 6, Pym 2, Quinn 9, Reed 1, Swan 2, Wallace 5. Red cards (league and cup): Boateng 1, Bowery 1, Maris 1, Perch, Quinn 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: 6649 (average away fans: 541, average home fans 6108) (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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(4-1-2-3)
Pym 7 Had almost nothing to do. Not at fault for the goal. Hewitt 7 Made a great block when Henderson seemed likely to score. To be hyper-critical, he could have done better with the Rochdale goal. Kilgour 7 One great tackle and a good block. Had a couple of chance to score. Perch 6 Allowed Danny Lloyd to get away from him and get in a shot. Bowery 7 Solid enough at left back. One important interception. Some good attacking down the left. Maris - Had to go off injured after 38 minutes. Boateng 8.5 Great goal, his second goal for Mansfield, coming in consecutive games. Went close on several other occasions Quinn 8 Plenty of good attacking down the left. Gale 7.5 Good game, though to be hyper-critical, he could have done better with the Rochdale goal. Praised by Nigel Clough after the game that he “played really well and was a threat”. Akins 8 Delightful assist for the goal, his 7th assist of the season. Dynamic going forward, but didn’t have the finishing to match. Keillor-Dunn 7 Brilliant effort just after half time that bought a wonderful save. Plenty of efforts but unable to score. |
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Sub Line Up:
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Wallace (for Maris, 38 mins) 7 Denied the winner when his piledriver was brilliantly saved.
Law (for Hewitt, 78 mins) - C.Johnson (for Gale, 78 mins) - D.Johnson (for Quinn, 81 mins) - Again didn’t make any impact, as he didn’t against Sutton and Grimsby. Subs not used: Flinders, Harbottle, McKeal Abdullah. |
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Opposition Line Up:
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(4-4-2): O’Donnell; Keohane, Taylor, Ebanks-Landell, Dodgson; Lloyd (Graham 87),Brierley, Kelly, Mellor; Odoh, Henderson. Subs not used: Eastwood, Seriki, Ball, Quigley, Mullarkey, Ehimamiegho.
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Referee:
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Anthony Backhouse 8 Handled the game well.
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