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Season 17/18 Stagsnet Match Report
English Football League - Sky Bet League Two
Mansfield Town  
1 - 1
 Crawley Town
Hemmings 64.
 
 Ahearne-Grant 7.
Attendance: 4734 (135 from Crawley)
 
Date: 5 May 2018

STAGS MISS CHANCES YET AGAIN AND MISS OUT ON PLAY-OFFS

Martin Shaw at the One Call Stadium, Field Mill

Mansfield Town were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Crawley Town in the final match of the season this afternoon to miss out on the play-offs. Desperately disappointing. The Stags needed to win and hope that either EITHER Coventry lost at home to Morecambe OR Lincoln lost at home to Yeovil. As it happened the other two games also ended in draws, and so Mansfield finished three points behind 6th and 7th place. The Stags were poor in the first half and were behind at the break to a goal on 7 minutes by Karlan Ahearne-Grant. The goal started with Will Atkinson giving the ball away in the middle of the park, Josh Payne played the ball out to the left, where Panutche Camara crossed into the middle for Ahearne-Grant to head home from six yards. A really poor goal all round to concede by Mansfield. Right back Paul Digby stood off Camara allowing him an easy cross rather than trying to close him down, and Krystian Pearce and Rhys Bennett stood watching as Ahearne-Grant headed in, with MacDonald chasing down Ahearne-Grant from behind. The Stags created very little in the first half, though Lee Angol, who had a poor game overall following his outstanding match-winning performance at Yeovil last week, should have put the Stags in front inside two minutes but his shot from close range brought a good save from Crawley keeper Yusuf Mersin. At half time, with Lincoln losing to Yeovil, the Stags knew they had to up their game massively, and did just that with a terrific 30 minute spell from 46 minutes to 75 minutes putting Crawley under enormous pressure and creating an absolute glut of golden chances. Only one of those chances was taken, on 64 minutes, when following a throw-in, Mal Benning put in a great cross from the left and Kane Hemmings volleyed the ball into the net with his right boot from 7 yards. Prior to the goal, there was a catalogue of golden chances: CJ Hamilton cut inside and his low shot was saved, Hemmings flashed a shot wide of the right post after great set-up play by Hamilton, Pearce’s flick towards the bottom right of the net was brilliantly tipped round the post by keeper Mersin, Hemmings flicked wide after great play by Alfie Potter on the right, Potter laid off to Bennett who side-footed wide, and Angol somehow fired over the bar from 8 yards. After the equaliser, with Lincoln still losing, and Mansfield needing just one goal to head into the play-off positions in the live league table, the golden chances kept on coming: great play on the edge of the area from the Stags and a shot from Hemmings brought a great save from keeper Mersin, then Pearce’s shot was blocked into the path of Hayden White whose shot into the ground was bouncing up into the roof of the net before it was brilliantly blocked on the line by left back Josh Doherty. Mansfield did get the ball in the net on 75 minutes when Angol played the ball forward and Hemmings fired in off the left post but the flag was up for offside. Then news came through that Lincoln had equalised against Yeovil. The crowd, who had created a truly fabulous atmosphere, backing the Stags superbly up until that point, went flat, completely understandably, and the side seemed to completely lose the momentum in the final 15 minutes. Indeed the Stags didn’t create another chance until 90+4 minutes, when, with what turned out to be the final kick of the game, Mal Benning fired over the bar from 16 yards following a corner. So a flat end to the season and another draw, Mansfield’s 18th of the season, more than any other club in League Two. Too many draws has cost Mansfield dear, as has the number of games where Mansfield have missed a glut of golden chances. I think people have started to get sick of me creating a video for the club youtube channel of “Mansfield miss chances” time and time again this season. And those chances have come from midfielders and defenders as well as strikers, we certainly can’t just blame the strikers. All desperately disappointing. I wrote extensively about where it all went wrong this season, in my opinion, in my report of the Port Vale game two weeks ago. I won’t repeat all that here (it’s here if you didn’t see it). And just a footnote on to my thoughts on where did it all go wrong: after the game David Flitcroft talked about the squad not being fit enough when he arrived with 12 games to go. It seems he tried to get the fitness better and changed the training methods. Again, if so, it was stupid to change this at the time in my opinion. A poor end to the season under new manager David Flitcroft: no wins in the six home games under him (4 draws, 2 defeats) was not good enough, while the wins at Chesterfield and Yeovil were enjoyable and kept the season alive, but he will be here next season with a chance to mould his side in pre-season and try to mount another promotion challenge. You have to feel desperately sorry for John and Carolyn Radford, as I wrote two weeks ago, but it was at least fitting that they received acclaim with huge applause and chanting from the Stags fans after the game for what they have done for the club and continue to do for the club. We lick our wounds and go again next season.

David Flitcroft ended the season not having won a home game.

Mansfield made two changes from the side that won at Yeovil. Danny Rose was out with a knock and was replaced by Lee Angol. I expected Angol to replace Rose anyway after Angol’s performance at Yeovil and Rose’s disappointing recent form. And CJ Hamilton came in for Alfie Potter. Hamilton had replaced Potter as an early sub at Yeovil. Omari Sterling-James was back from a successful loan spell at Solihull Moors where he had helped to keep them in the Conference and their season had finished. Hayden White was back from injury and on the bench. Miller and Diamond remained injured.

Before the game, the various player of the season awards were presented as follows:
Jack Retter Youth team player of the season: Lewis Gibbens
Emma Stamp trophy for the most man of the match awards: Alex MacDonald
Shirebrook Stags player of the season: Danny Rose
CHAD readers player of the season: Conrad Logan
Westfield Stags player of the season: Krystian Pearce
Ollerton Stags player of the season: Krystian Pearce
Stags Supporters Association player of the season: Krystian Pearce

Later, Mansfield Town's under-18 side paraded their EFL Youth Alliance (North East) trophy around the pitch half-time. Huge congratulations to everyone involved.

There was a great atmosphere and it was a glorious day.

Lee Angol should have put the Stags in front inside two minutes but his shot from close range brought a good save from Crawley keeper Yusuf Mersin. Hemmings laid the ball off to Angol whose low shot from 8 yards was saved.

A super tackle by Benning on Boldewijn on 5 minutes.

The Stags were behind to a goal on 7 minutes by Karlan Ahearne-Grant. The goal started with Will Atkinson giving the ball away in the middle of the park, Josh Payne played the ball out to the left, where Panutche Camara crossed into the middle for Ahearne-Grant to head home from six yards. A really poor goal all round to concede by Mansfield. Right back Paul Digby stood off Camara allowing him an easy cross rather than trying to close him down, and Krystian Pearce and Rhys Bennett stood watching as Ahearne-Grant headed in, with MacDonald chasing down Ahearne-Grant from behind.

News came through that Yeovil were leading at Lincoln. The Stags need to do their bit though.

On 15 minutes a break from Crawley, Ahearne-Grant to Camara, who laid off to Boldewijn whose shot from 17 yards was well-saved by Logan, palming the ball away.

On 17 minutes, a good 1-2 between Angol and Hemmings just outside the area, and Angol’s low shot from the edge of the area lacked power and was saved low down by the keeper.

A free kick from Benning from the left on 20 minutes was a good ball in, but was cleared.

A good block by Mellis on 25 minutes as Camara found Ahearne-Grant.

A double change by Flitcroft on 27 minutes, as Potter replaced Atkinson and White replaced Digby. Atkinson and Digby had been culpable for the goal, but it was surprising to have a tactical double change so early on.

MacDonald picked a loose clearance on 34 minutes and worked himself space for a shot which he fired just wide from 24 yards. Not a bad effort.

The Stags were just not getting going.

On 40 minutes, good movement from the Stags to the edge of the area, but Mellis and others were guilty of trying to walk the ball in.

On 42 minutes, a free kick from the halfway line, Bennett nodded back to Mellis, and he knocked an awkward high ball over the bar.

Angol got to the byline on 44 minutes, but his cross was behind everyone.

A long range shot from MacDonald was blocked on 45+1 minutes. A minute later an attempted cross from MacDonald was wayward and caught behind the byline by our pitchside cameraman Dan Hussain!

On 45+3 minutes, MacDonald played a good ball forward into the area to Benning, whose shot from the left was going wide and tipped further wide.

A poor first half from the Stags.

Half time 0-1

With Lincoln losing to Yeovil, the Stags knew they had to up their game massively, and did just that with a terrific 30 minute spell from 46 minutes to 75 minutes putting Crawley under enormous pressure and creating an absolute glut of golden chances:

46 minutes, Hamilton crossed from the left, Hemmings headed down straight to the keeper.

47 minutes, a brilliant run from White from halfway inside his own half, to Hamilton who cut inside and his low shot was saved.

48 minutes, a low cross from Potter was well-held by the keeper.

49 minutes, Hemmings flashed a shot wide of the right post after great set-up play by Hamilton.

50 minutes, Mellis’s shot was deflected for a corner.

From the resulting corner, the ball was headed forward and Pearce’s flick towards the bottom right of the net was brilliantly tipped round the post by keeper Mersin.

51 minutes, great defending by Hamilton tracking back into his own half.

53 minutes, Hemmings flicked wide after great play by Alfie Potter on the right. That was so close.

54 minutes, a quick free kick by Crawley from the halfway line found Jimmy Smith who was somehow not offside and only had Logan to beat but Logan made himself big and made a good save.

55 minutes, Mellis laid off to MacDonald who shot well wide from 25 yards.

57 minutes, Potter laid off to Bennett who side-footed wide, after some great movement from the Stags in the Crawley half. How did Bennett miss that?

62 minutes, Angol somehow fired over the bar from 8 yards after a Mellis corner came out to him.

The Stags finally did score on 64 minutes, when following a throw-in, Mal Benning put in a great cross from the left and Kane Hemmings volleyed the ball into the net with his right boot from 7 yards.

With Lincoln still losing, and Mansfield needing just one goal to head into the play-off positions in the live league table, the golden chances kept on coming:

65 minutes, MacDonald back-heeled to Mellis whose shot was deflected over the bar.

67 minutes, great play on the edge of the area from the Stags and a shot from Hemmings brought a great save from keeper Mersin.

From the resulting corner, Pearce’s shot was blocked into the path of Hayden White whose shot into the ground was bouncing up into the roof of the net before it was brilliantly blocked on the line by left back Josh Doherty.

70 minutes, great defending by Hamilton chasing back to dispossess Ahearne-Grant.

71 minutes, Potter surged into the area but lost his footing.

72 minutes, Hemmings turned on the edge of the area and shot wide. A difficult chance.

74 minutes, a quick break from Crawley, and Ahearne-Grant’s low shot was comfortably saved by Logan.

Mansfield did get the ball in the net on 75 minutes when Angol played the ball forward and Hemmings fired in off the left post but the flag was up for offside.

79 minutes, Camara’s low shot was well wide from 25 yards.

Then news came through that Lincoln had equalised against Yeovil. The crowd, who had created a truly fabulous atmosphere, backing the Stags superbly up until that point, went flat, completely understandably, and the side seemed to completely lose the momentum in the final 15 minutes.

82 minutes, Boldewijn’s shot was blocked for a corner.

89 minutes, a poor corner from Benning, to add to an earlier poor free kick.

Pearce was now up front.

90+1 minutes, another terrible cross from Benning.

90+3 minutes, Boldewijn shot well wide.

90+4 minutes, with what turned out to be the final kick of the game, Mal Benning fired over the bar from 16 yards following a corner, which keeper Logan had come up for.

Huge disappointment at the final whistle.

The game was a microcosm of the final quarter of the season. The Stags passed the ball around very prettily without scoring. The goal came from a throw in, cross, volley, goal. Sometimes football is that simple.

Just a footnote on to my thoughts on where did it all go wrong. After the game David Flitcroft talked about the squad not being fit enough when he arrived with 12 games to go. It seems he tried to get the fitness better and changed the training methods. Again, if so, it was stupid to change this at the time in my opinion.

Man of the match: Alex MacDonald


FOOTNOTE: PLAYER OF THE SEASON
Following this final game of the season, these are my average player ratings based on the 55 league+cup games this season (top 9 players):

Mellis 6.94, MacDonald 6.89, Potter 6.83, Diamond 6.83, Hamilton 6.82, Benning 6.77, Logan 6.75, Pearce 6.73, Rose 6.73.

Note: only ratings for players starting a game are included - ie. sub appearances not included.
Minimum appearances: 15.

Comment:

Mellis 6.94
Mellis started fewer than half of Mansfield’s games this season (27 out of the 55 games played). He was consistent in that he had a rating higher than 6 in 21 of his 27 games started.
MacDonald 6.89
MacDonald was been a player who covered every blade of grass on the pitch. His form tailed off after Evans left (he was not alone in that), but he returned to form in the last few games of the season. His goal return of just 3, including the memorable one away to Coventry, was disappointing, while his set pieces were also disappointing. From open play, he was very good.
Potter 6.83
It may be a bit of a surprise to see Potter towards the top of the list (he’s also at the top of the list for fans’ average ratings, see below). However he only started 20 games out of the 55 played this season, and of those 20 games, Mansfield won 12. That suggests he should have started more.
Diamond 6.83
Diamond, the club captain, also started fewer than half of Mansfield’s games this season (21 out of the 55 games played). Had a stinker at home to Crewe (he wasn’t alone) when he was subbed early but otherwise was good in the games he’s played.
Hamilton 6.82
Hamilton came on leaps and bounds this season, creating shed-loads of chances from his pacey runs down the left. Still room for improvement in his final product, but it got so much better this season. I still believe he may earn the club a lot of money one day and I’ll be looking for my cut :-)
Benning 6.77
Benning lost his place during the season a couple of times to Hunt, but was mostly consistent and ended the season in top form, with a memorable winner at Chesterfield.
Logan 6.75
Logan saved Mansfield on many occasions this season with fabulous saves. Kicking was excellent too. Some costly errors started to creep into his game towards the end of the season.
Pearce 6.73
Pearce was commanding in the air and good on the floor and a rock in central defence. Like his central defensive partner Bennett, his goal return of just 2 for the season was disappointing.
Rose 6.73
Rose was the top scorer with 17 league and cup goals, but his season stalled after Evans left, not scoring under Flitcroft. Good in the air, with lots of goals from headers and with both feet too.

There would be an argument for excluding those players who started fewer than half of the games (which would be Mellis, Potter and Diamond). I decided to include them.
You'd be left with the top six players as MacDonald, Hamilton, Benning, Logan, Pearce, Rose. Those six picked up all the player of the season awards between them and deservedly so.

As an interesting aside, my average player ratings just for the 43 league+cup games played under Steve Evans were (top 9 players):
Potter 7.19, MacDonald 7.15, Mellis 7.00, Diamond 7.00, Rose 6.97, Hamilton 6.92, Pearce 6.85, Benning 6.83, Logan 6.81.

Thanks to Pete Wright for his spreadsheet.

On the Stagsnet messageboard, throughout the season, fans have been giving their player ratings for each game. Eggy has been working hard to collect this data and Pete Wright has summarised. Up to the Luton away game, the top 4 players were: Potter 7.30, MacDonald 7.12, Pearce 7.06, Diamond 7.05.
Many thanks to Eggy and Pete for their hard work on this, and to all the fans who have entered their ratings. This data will be updated by Pete and Eggy shortly as we reach the end of the season.


Report by: Martin Shaw at the One Call Stadium, Field Mill



Line Up:
(4-4-2)
Logan 6.5 Two good saves. Otherwise a fairly quiet afternoon.
Digby 5.5 Stood off Camara allowing him an easy cross for the Crawley goal, rather than trying to close him down. Hauled off after 27 minutes.
Pearce 6 With Bennett, stood watching as Ahearne-Grant headed in for the goal.
Bennett 6 With Pearce, stood watching as Ahearne-Grant headed in for the goal. Side-footed a good chance wide.
Benning 6 Great cross for the goal. But ended the game badly with a series of dreadful set pieces.
MacDonald 7.5 All action performance, continually trying to drive the team forward.
Atkinson 5.5 Gave the ball away in the build-up to the Crawley goal. Hauled off after 27 minutes.
Mellis 7 Creative game.
Hamilton 7.5 Great second half, creating chances and some super defensive work.
Angol 5 Had a poor game overall following his outstanding match-winning performance at Yeovil last week. Should have put the Stags in front inside two minutes and missed a great chance in the second half.
Hemmings 7 Scored one, had one disallowed, brought one great save, and narrowly missed with two other chances.
Sub Line Up:
Potter (for Atkinson, 27 mins) 7 Great play to set up a chance for Hemmings, and also set up a chance for Bennett.
White (for Digby, 27 mins) 7 Brilliant run to set up a chance for Hamilton. One chance which was superbly blocked on the line
Subs not used: Olejnik, King, Byrom, Sterling-James, Jordan Graham.
Opposition Line Up:
(4-4-1-1): Mersin; Young, Connolly, Yorwerth, Doherty; Boldewijn, Bulman, Payne (Tajbakhsh 63), Ahearne-Grant; Smith; Camara. Subs not used: Morris, Djalo, Evina, McNerney, Sanoh.
Referee:
Ben Toner 7 Handled the game well.


Season 17/18 Reports