Season 16/17 Stagsnet Match Report
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Colchester United
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Mansfield Town
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Dickenson 20, Szmodics 28
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Attendance: 2526 (172 from Mansfield)
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Date: 14 March 2017
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STAGS BEATEN 2-0 AT COLCHESTER AND MISS ANOTHER HATFUL OF CHANCES
Martin Shaw at the Weston Homes Community Stadium Mansfield Town drew another blank in front of goal despite creating plenty of chances, and fell to a 2-0 defeat in their first ever visit to the Weston Homes Community Stadium in Colchester this evening. It was Mansfield’s fourth game without a goal, incredible given the number of chances having been created in that period. The opening 20 minutes was very even with one good chance for either side as Rekeil Pyke fired just wide for Colchester and then Matt Green fired a great chance over from 7 yards with the goal at his mercy after a good move from the Stags involving Green himself, Alex MacDonald and Hayden White. Colchester took the lead after 20 minutes as the dangerous Brennan Dickensen cut inside from the left, past Hayden White, and fired right footed in off the right post. Brilliant from Dickensen, but not good enough defending from White who shouldn’t have allowed him to cut inside. On 28 minutes Colchester made it 2-0 as Dickensen played a great ball in from the left to Sammie Szmodics who found himself in space between Krystian Pearce and Rhys Bennett with time to turn and shoot past Shearer. A good goal from Colchester’s point of view but poor defending from Pearce and Bennett to give Szmodics so much room. No chance for Scott Shearer on either goal. A hammer blow for the Stags, Colchester now played with increased confidence and deserved to be ahead at the break. Dickensen had given White a torrid half and he was the pivotal player for Colchester. The second half was as one-sided as you will see, as the Stags completely dominated and penned Colchester in their half, but yet again they were unable to turn chances and possession into goals. On 48 minutes, Benning played a good 1-2 with Green and fired wide of the right post. A minute later Danny Rose nodded down to Green who dragged his shot wide from a great position. A terrible miss. On 58 minutes, Ben Whiteman volleyed wide of the right post. On 63 minutes, a double chance when it seemed the Stags had to score, as Bennett’s shot was brilliantly blocked on the line by the keeper, and then Green’s follow up shot was also brilliantly blocked on the line by the keeper. On 72 minutes, Whiteman’s shot was blocked on the line by Elokobi. Then late on, Green, now playing on the right of midfield, pulled the ball back to Benning, whose right foot shot from 12 yards was blocked on the line by Bonne, out to Coulthirst who fired over from 6 yards. So frustrating for Mansfield. The second half was a good display but if you don’t put the ball in the net it counts for nothing. Colchester were potent in the first half with a couple of fine pieces of play from their best player Brennan Dickensen, and the Stags defending in that first half was not good enough. Mansfield slip to 5 points outside the play-offs. With 9 games to go there is still everything to play for but Mansfield do need to bounce back and beat Carlisle on Saturday. The Stags need to keep up the level of performance from the second half here, and the first half against Plymouth, both of which have been good, but have to start finding the back of the net. It was Mansfield’s first ever visit to the Weston Homes Community Stadium. It is a tidy new ground, which is still looking new after 5 years. Similar in size to the Proact Stadium Chesterfield, but much nicer, obviously. On Monday, I visited the site of Colchester’s old ground at Layer Road. It is now a housing estate, called Turnstyle Square, with a patch of grass in the middle and a statue to commemorate it. It had been windy on the morning of the game but thankfully by the evening the wind had completely dropped. The playing surface was excellent. Mansfield travelled on the day of the game in contrast to the away midweek game at Yeovil. The journey to Colchester is about an hour shorter. Mansfield made one change to the side that started against Plymouth and it was a big surprise as Ashley Hemmings came in to the starting XI in place of Hamilton. It was Hemmings’ first league start since December. Steve Evans explained that he had trained well, having been away for a few days after a family illness. Evans did however explain that Alfie Potter had been in the plans to start but had a “sniffle” and was only fit enough for the bench. Asked why he had not made more changes, Evans explained that the team had played so well on Saturday, despite the result, that most were getting another go. Howkins was on the bench. 4 players travelled who did not make the 18: McGuire, Baxendale, Hoban, Taft. The Stags again lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Collins and Byrom in front of the back four, and MacDonald (right), Whiteman (centre) and Hemmings (left), behind Green. Colchester made one change to the side that lost 4-0 to Portsmouth, Pyke coming in for Garvan. They were without 2 of their better players, Guthrie and Slater, out for the season with injury. On 5 minutes, Chris Porter headed inside to Pyke who slid a shot from the edge of the box just wide of the right post. The Stags were carved open. On 6 minutes, Green shoulder barged his defender Elokobi off the ball to get himself into a shooting position and fired into the net, but the whistle had gone. From the pitchside video and the main camera video, in my opinion there was no foul and Green would have had the goal his confidence desperately needed, as the keeper attempted to save it and didn’t. On 9 minutes, a high ball into the Stags half, White did well to head back to Shearer under pressure from Dickenson. On 12 minutes, Green flicked on to MacDonald whose ball forward was blocked out to Byrom, 28 yards out. Byrom struck his shot well but over the bar. Byrom is still waiting for his first Stags goal. The Stags should have been in front on 14 minutes as Green fired a great chance over from 7 yards with the goal at his mercy after a good move from the Stags involving Green himself, MacDonald and White. The opening 20 minutes had been very even with one good chance for either side but Colchester then took the lead as the dangerous Dickensen cut inside from the left, past White, and fired right footed in off the right post. Brilliant from Dickensen, but not good enough defending from White who shouldn’t have allowed him to cut inside. On 24 minutes a free kick from MacDonald from the halfway line. Pearce nodded down to Bennett who had a chance to shoot first time left footed but missed his kick right footed and then his shot was blocked for a corner. We had a great view of Evans and Raynor who in unison swung their left legs at an imaginary ball to indicate that Bennett should have been able to strike it first time. On 28 minutes, Whiteman struck a poor shot from 28 yards low and wide of the left post. Within seconds the Stags had conceded again. On 28 minutes Colchester made it 2-0 as Dickensen played a great ball in from the left to Sammie Szmodics who found himself in space between Pearce and Bennett with time to turn and shoot past Shearer. A good goal from Colchester’s point of view but poor defending from Pearce and Bennett to give Szmodics so much room. No chance for Shearer on either goal. On 41 minutes Benning was booked for a foul well inside the Colchester half. On 43 minutes, Szmodics got into the Stags box on the right and his shot was well blocked by Pearce for a corner. Half time and 2-0 to Colchester. The first 20 minutes had been even but the 2 goals were a hammer blow for the Stags, as Colchester then played with increased confidence and deserved to be ahead at the break. Dickensen had given White a torrid half and he was the pivotal player for Colchester. Half time 2-0 Hemmings had had a poor half and was unsurprisingly replaced at the break by Hamilton. Evans also sacrificed Collins, who hadn’t had a bad game, to bring on Danny Rose and switch to 2 up front. It was now 4-4-2. The second half was to be as one-sided as you will see, as the Stags completely dominated and penned Colchester in their half, but yet again they were unable to turn chances and possession into goals. On 48 minutes, Benning played a good 1-2 with Green, into the area and fired wide of the right post. Benning put his head in his hands. He just can’t get a goal this season. A minute later White dinked a high ball to the edge of the area, Danny Rose nodded down to Green who dragged his shot wide from a great position having lost his marker to find space. A terrible miss. White was beaten by Dickensen, but MacDonald got him out of trouble. Whiteman crossed in and Danny Rose could only get a touch on it. On 58 minutes, Whiteman volleyed wide of the right post after Byrom’s free kick came out to him. It was Whiteman’s turn to put his head in his hands. Byrom was booked on 61 minutes for a late tackle, which seemed to be borne of frustration. On 63 minutes, a double chance following a free kick from MacDonald when it seemed the Stags had to score, as Bennett’s shot was brilliantly blocked on the line by the keeper, and then Green’s follow up shot was also brilliantly blocked on the line by the keeper. Both shots struck with power and on target. Coulthirst replaced MacDonald on 64 minutes. MacDonald had been involved in some good moments but overall probably hadn’t done enough. Green moved to the right of midfield, with Coulthirst up front. On 69 minutes, Sean Murray got past Benning and fired well wide of the right post. It was such a rare foray into the Stags half by Colchester. On 72 minutes, Whiteman’s shot was blocked on the line by Elokobi, after Benning’s stab goalwards had come out to him. It was all Mansfield, while Colchester were defending desperately throwing their bodies on the line. On 77 minutes Green got to the byline and cross towards Rose but the keeper just claimed in front of Rose. On 79 minutes, Benning played forward to Rose, who flicked on to Coulthirst on the edge of the area. The referee blew for a foul without giving the Stags a moment to see if they would have an advantage by playing on. On 90 minutes, Green pulled the ball back into the middle from the right to Benning, whose right foot shot from 12 yards was blocked on the line by Bonne, out to Coulthirst who fired over from 6 yards. The ball just wouldn’t go in. So frustrating for Mansfield including the 172 fans who had made the long journey in midweek. The Stags need to keep up the level of performance from the second half here, and the first half against Plymouth, both of which have been good, but have to start finding the back of the net, starting against Carlisle on Saturday. I expected Danny Rose to start here, and surely he will against Carlisle. I’d guess Coulthirst will start alongside him. Maybe Arquin will get a chance as he has hardly played lately, or maybe he hasn’t been training well enough, who knows. Man of the match: Again very hard to do player ratings with so many chances going begging from so many players and so much frustration. No-one was outstanding. Joel Byrom just shades it for me. |
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Report by: Martin Shaw at the Weston Homes Community Stadium
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Line Up:
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(4-2-3-1)
Shearer 6 No chance with the two goals. Otherwise didn’t have a shot to save. White 5 Given a torrid game defensively by Dickensen. But did some good things going forward. Bennett 5 Along with Pearce, gave Szmodics too much room for the second goal. Had a couple of chances to score but the ball won’t go in for him. Pearce 5.5 Along with Bennett, gave Szmodics too much room for the second goal. One good block. Benning 6 Defended ok. Had two good chances to score but just cannot buy a goal this season after last season’s exploits. Collins 6 Didn’t have a bad game but sacrificed at half time. Byrom 7 Struck one shot well from 28 yards but over the bar. Still waiting for his first Stags goal. Set pieces were ok but not outstanding. Decent game from open play. MacDonald 6.5 Involved in some good moments but overall probably hadn’t done enough when he was subbed. Whiteman 6.5 Three chances to score but his goals have sadly dried up. Good game otherwise. Hemmings 5 A poor first half and was unsurprisingly replaced at the break. Green 5 Two bad misses. And another close range shot blocked by the keeper. Did well when he was switched to right midfield. |
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Sub Line Up:
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Hamilton (for Hemmings, 46 mins) 5.5 Unable to create anything.
D.Rose (for Collins, 46 mins) 7 Won some good headers. No chances fell to him. Coulthirst (for MacDonald, 64 mins) - One chance in the final minute. Subs not used: Jensen, Howkins, Potter, Arquin. |
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Opposition Line Up:
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(3-5-2): Walker; James (sub Vincent-Young, 90), Elokobi, Briggs; Wright, Lapslie, Murray, Pyke (sub Wynter, 64), Dickenson; Szmodics (sub Bonne, 81), Porter. Unused subs: Barnes, Fosu, Kinsella, Edge.
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Referee:
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Nicholas Kinseley 5 Wrongly penalised Green for a foul before Green converted, in my opinion. Blew for a foul without giving the Stags a moment to see if they would have an advantage by playing on, late in the game.
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