Season 18/19 Stagsnet Match Report
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Mansfield Town
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Cheltenham Town
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Hamilton 42, 45, Atkinson 77, MacDonald 90+2 .
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Hussey 59, Raglan 69.
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Attendance: 5276 (181 from Cheltenham)
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Date: 2 March 2019
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SUBS SEE STAGS HOME IN TOPSY TURVY GAME
Martin Shaw at the One Call Stadium, Field Mill Mansfield Town beat Cheltenham Town 4-2 in an unusual game at the One Call Stadium this afternoon. The Stags were without top scorer Tyler Walker through suspension but any worries that Mansfield might struggle to find the net were allayed as they knocked in four goals for only the second time in the league this season. After a turgid opening half an hour when neither side created much, manager David Flitcroft changed formation moving CJ Hamilton up front with Nicky Ajose, and switching from 3 at the back, to 4 at the back. It nearly paid dividends on 39 minutes as Willem Tomlinson played a great ball forward to Hamilton, who controlled it superbly outside the area, turned and his shot was deflected over the bar by defender Charlie Raglan. On 42 minutes the Stags took the lead, and it was Tomlinson who threaded another superb ball forward into the path of Ajose. Ajose had Hamilton in space to his left and rather than shooting laid it off to his left. Raglan intercepted, the ball squirmed backwards and keeper Flinders could only palm away straight into the path of Hamilton who rolled the ball into the empty net from 7 yards. On 45 minutes, it was 2-0 as Jacob Mellis lobbed a clever ball forward which Hamilton ran on to, controlled very nicely and then rolled a right footed shot across the keeper and into the bottom left corner of the net from 16 yards. Hamilton didn’t catch his shot particularly cleanly, which seemed to wrong-foot the keeper. It should have been 3-0 on 45+2 minutes. Tomlinson played another great ball forward from inside his own half which Hamilton ran on to, on the left. Hamilton got to the byline and crossed to the far post for Ajose who could only knock wide from 3 yards. A breathless end to the first half and a wonderful 5 minutes for Hamilton after 40 minutes of nothingness. The Stags started the second half as they ended the first, with Hamilton forcing a save from the keeper, and then Pearce and Mellis having shots deflected wide. But the game started to change again on 59 minutes when Mal Benning was booked for foul on the edge of the D. From the video, Benning cleared the ball and Varney fell over him. A ridiculous decision. But Chris Hussey punished the Stags with a superb free kick into the top right corner of the net beating the dive of Jordan Smith. And within 10 minutes, on 69 minutes, Cheltenham were level. Chris Hussey delivered a corner from the right, and Raglan escaped from his marker Benning to glance a header into the net. The Stags were stung and needed to regroup. On 76 minutes, Tomlinson curled a great ball into the box and Jorge Grant stretched to turn it goalwards but the keeper made a great save. From the resulting corner, the ball was cleared to Mellis just outside the box, he fired in a powerful shot which the keeper parried away for another corner. And from that corner, Mansfield regained the lead. Grant’s corner to the far post was headed back across goal towards the far post by Ryan Sweeney, and sub Will Atkinson, who had come on at half time, dived low to head into the net from 2 yards. It was a brilliant moment for Atkinson and his first goal of the season. Even better was to come. Alex MacDonald, who has been out injured for so long, came on as another sub, after 90 minutes. And on 90+2 minutes he scored a fabulous goal to seal the victory. MacDonald intercepted the ball from Raglan 10 yards inside his own half, and showed a great turn of pace to charge nearly 50 yards to the edge of the Cheltenham area and slot the ball wide of the advancing keeper into the net. It was a goal that brought the house down. A proper champagne moment. Just magnificent from MacDonald. And so the Stags sealed the victory. From 2-0 up, pegged back to 2-2, but then scoring twice again in the final 15 minutes through two substitutes. Great fighting spirit from the side. Well done also to David Flitcroft, who has now completed a year in charge of Mansfield, and his formation change moving Hamilton up front in the first half, and then his two substitutions, paid full dividends today. Lincoln, Bury and MK Dons also won today and the top four sides have really pulled away from the rest now. It looks increasingly likely that it will be 3 of the top 4 sides to take the automatic promotion places. 11 games to go, strap yourself in for the ride. On to Port Vale next Saturday where Mansfield will surely take a huge following. It was another good crowd, with over 5000 Stags fans, aided by the great initiative of letting under 18’s in for free for the third and final time this season. The Stags made two enforced changes to the side that beat Forest Green. Tyler Walker was out through suspension. He was replaced by Nicky Ajose. And Matt Preston missed out with a knee problem that he’s been carrying for some weeks. He was replaced by Ryan Sweeney who returned from suspension. Preston should only be out short term, according to Flitcroft. The Stags started with a 3-4-2-1 formation, with Ajose on his own up front, and at the back a central defensive 3 of Sweeney (right), Pearce (middle), Benning (left). But the Stags switched to 4-4-2 after about half an hour with Benning moving to left back, and Pearce (right) and Sweeney (left) in central defence, as Hamilton moved up front. With the Stags short of four strikers through injury and suspension, Zayn Hakeem came onto the bench. He’s been on loan at Coalville up to January, then had a slight injury but is now fit and was in the matchday squad for the first time in around two years. Cheltenham had lost their last 4 away games, without scoring a goal, though had won their last 4 home games to move well clear of the relegation zone. They included former Stag Chris Clements on the bench, but January signing Rakish Bingham, who scored some vital goals for the Stags four years ago, was not in the squad. Unusually, Mansfield kicked towards the Quarry Lane end in the first half. I’d guess that Cheltenham must have won the toss and chosen to kick towards the North Stand in the first half. There was a slight wind, perhaps they were influenced by that, or maybe just wanted to disrupt Mansfield’s usual routine. Cheltenham created the first chance off the game inside two minutes. A long throw from Tozer came out to Chelsea loanee Maddox who fired well over the bar from 16 yards. A minute later, a long ball forward to Ajose from Tomlinson but the keeper was out quickly to head away. Great control by Hamilton on 4 minutes, he played inside to Ajose, whose low shot was blocked. A long period followed of 19 minutes without any attempts at goal for either side. It was a scrappy midfield battle. Ajose was on his own up front, working hard, and winning a few throw-ins, but the formation wasn’t working for the Stags. On 23 minutes, Grant shot from 30 yards but it lacked power and deflected through to the keeper. On 25 minutes, Mellis did well to play in Hamilton on the byline, Hamilton crossed and Bishop had a sight of goal but he couldn’t get a clean connection on his shot. A minute later at the other end, Cheltenham left wing-back Hussey got to the byline, crossed in and Benning headed away. On 29 minutes, Maddox shot from 25 yards, and Bishop did well to block the shot over the bar for a corner. A big moment on 30 minutes. Dawson and Varney played a one-two to get Dawson into the area. Dawson went down in the box but the referee gave a free kick to Mansfield for a dive. From the video, Dawson was clearly looking for the penalty and it was a good decision from the referee. Dawson was booked. A free kick was taken quickly on 34 minutes to Ajose, he had a shooting opportunity but pulled it across instead and the chance was gone. A minute later, Ajose was away down the left but tried to play across to Mellis and it didn’t reach him. On 38 minutes, Mellis did well to win the ball, he set Grant away down the right, but Grant put in a terrible cross, summing up the performance so far. It had been a turgid opening half an hour when neither side created much, and manager David Flitcroft changed formation around the 30 minute mark moving CJ Hamilton up front with Nicky Ajose, and switching from 3 at the back, to 4 at the back. It nearly paid dividends on 39 minutes as Tomlinson played a great ball forward to Hamilton, who controlled it superbly outside the area, turned and his shot was deflected over the bar by defender Charlie Raglan. From the resulting corner, Mellis found space on the edge of the box but his shot was blocked by the defence. On 42 minutes the Stags took the lead, and it was Tomlinson who threaded another superb ball forward into the path of Ajose. Ajose had Hamilton in space to his left and rather than shooting laid it off to his left. Raglan intercepted, the ball squirmed backwards and keeper Flinders could only palm away straight into the path of Hamilton who rolled the ball into the empty net from 7 yards. On 45 minutes, it was 2-0 as Mellis lobbed a clever ball forward which Hamilton ran on to, controlled very nicely and then rolled a right footed shot across the keeper and into the bottom left corner of the net from 16 yards. Hamilton didn’t catch his shot particularly cleanly, which seemed to wrong-foot the keeper. Hamilton is into double figures for the season now. It should have been 3-0 on 45+2 minutes. Tomlinson played another great ball forward from inside his own half which Hamilton ran on to, on the left. Hamilton got to the byline and crossed to the far post for Ajose who could only knock wide from 3 yards. A breathless end to the first half and a wonderful 5 minutes for Hamilton after 40 minutes of nothingness. Half time 2-0 Mansfield made a change at half time bring on Will Atkinson for Gethin Jones at right back in the 4-4-2 formation. Manager Flitcroft explained afterwards that he wanted Atkinson on with his experience and calmness against the dangerous Hussey. The Stags started the second half as they ended the first, with Hamilton forcing a save from the keeper on 49 minutes: Ajose did well to win the ball, he played forward to Hamilton who got into the area and his low shot was deflected wide by the keeper. From the resulting corner, Mellis played the ball back into to Pearce who turned and his shot went just wide via a deflection. Moments later, a shot from Mellis from the edge of the area was deflected wide. On 54 minutes, Ajose lost the ball on the right but won it back and his left footed shot was blocked. But the game started to change again on 59 minutes Mal Benning was booked for foul on the edge of the D. From the video, Benning cleared the ball and Varney fell over him. A ridiculous decision. But Chris Hussey punished the Stags with a superb free kick into the top right corner of the net beating the dive of Jordan Smith. On 66 minutes, a long ball over the top for Varney, and Sweeney did well to get back and block. And within 10 minutes of the first goal, on 69 minutes, Cheltenham were level. Chris Hussey delivered a corner from the right, and Raglan escaped from his marker Benning to glance a header into the net. The Stags were stung and needed to regroup. On 73 minutes, good play on the left from the Stags, Ajose played the ball down the left, Hamilton ran on to it and his cross evaded everyone. On 76 minutes, Tomlinson curled a great ball into the box and Grant stretched to turn it goalwards but the keeper made a great save. From the resulting corner, the ball was cleared to Mellis just outside the box, he fired in a powerful shot which the keeper parried away for another corner. And from that corner, Mansfield regained the lead. Grant’s corner to the far post was headed back across goal towards the far post by Sweeney, and Atkinson dived low to head into the net from 2 yards. It was a brilliant moment for Atkinson and his first goal of the season. Mansfield brought on Ben Turner to shore up the defence, and revert to three at the back, on 79 minutes. He replaced Jorge Grant who’d been poor, apart from a couple of good corners, including for the third goal. Even better than the third goal was to come. Alex MacDonald, who has been out injured for so long, came on as another sub, after 90 minutes, replacing Ajose. And on 90+2 minutes he scored a fabulous goal to seal the victory. MacDonald intercepted the ball from Raglan 10 yards inside his own half, and showed a great turn of pace to charge nearly 50 yards to the edge of the Cheltenham area and slot the ball wide of the advancing keeper into the net. It was a goal that brought the house down. A proper champagne moment. Just magnificent from MacDonald. Tomlinson was booked for a foul just outside his own area on 90+5 minutes. It looked like a good tackle, but the referee must have deemed he used too much force. Another chance for Hussey to show his dead ball skills, as he fired the free kick inches wide of the right post from 23 yards. Full time and great character from the Stags to win 4-2 after being pegged back to 2-2. By the way, Benning’s booking took him to 8 yellow cards. Bishop and Preston are on 9 yellow cards, and both are one booking away from a two game suspension. However if they can avoid being booked in the next 2 games, they will avoid a suspension (the cut-off for suspension is 37 games). Man of the match: Willem Tomlinson. Hard to split Tomlinson and Hamilton who were both excellent, but I’ll give it to Tomlinson for the repeated quality of his through-balls. |
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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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(3-4-2-1)
Smith 6 No chance with the goals. Little else to do. Sweeney 7 Assist for the third goal when he headed across for Atkinson to score. One good piece of defending in the second half getting back to block from Varney. Started on the right side of central defence and looked more comfortable when he moved to the left. Pearce 7 Solid game. Benning 6.5 Had a good game apart from losing his marker from a corner for Cheltenham’s second goal. Unlucky to be penalised and booked for the free kick which led to the first Cheltenham goal, as he certainly played the ball from the video replay. One good header away in the first half. Jones 6 Replaced at half time by Atkinson. Manager Flitcroft explained afterwards that he wanted Atkinson on with his experience and calmness against the dangerous Hussey. Bishop 7 Good game in midfield. One great block. Tomlinson 9 Threaded four superb incisive balls forward to create chances including the first goal. Hamilton 9 Two goals, two other good efforts that were on target, and a great cross for Ajose’s chance. Excellent. Mellis 8 Clever ball forward for Hamilton’s second goal. Plenty of other good passes. Brought a good save from the keeper. Grant 5 Poor, apart from a couple of good corners, including for the third goal. Brought a good save from the keeper from close range. Ajose 6.5 Worked hard on his own up front, winning a few throw-ins before the change in formation. Unselfish in his part in the first goal, albeit with the ball reaching Hamilton off the defender and goalkeeper. Missed a great chance at the end of the first half. |
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Sub Line Up:
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Atkinson (for Jones, 46 mins) 7 Dived low to head into the net for his first goal of the season, a great moment. Solid and assured at right back.
Turner (for Grant, 79 mins) - MacDonald (for Ajose, 90+3 mins) - Came on after 90 minutes and scored a magnificent goal after 90+2 minutes. A proper champagne moment for the player who has been out for 6 months with injury. Subs not used: Logan, Alistair Smith, Khan, Hakeem. |
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Opposition Line Up:
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(3-4-2-1): S Flinders; C Raglan, B Tozer (T Barnett 46), W Boyle; R Broom, J Tillson, C Thomas, C Hussey; K Dawson (G Lloyd 85), J Maddox (B Waters 82); L Varney. Subs not used: F Lapworth, J Forster, C Clements, C Pring.
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Referee:
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Alan Young 6 Mixed game. Did well in correctly not awarding Cheltenham a penalty in the first half. Terrible decision to give a free kick against Benning in the second half, and book him, which led to Cheltenham’s first goal.
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