Archived News from March 2006
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SHIRTLIFF,BARKER,BAP, DAWSON & CALDERWOOD REACTION
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Audio interview with Peter Shirtliff from Mansfield 103.2: listen here ----------- Audio interview with Richard Barker and man-of-the-match Alex John-Baptiste from Mansfield 103.2: listen here -------- Audio interview with Stephen Dawson from Mansfield 103.2: listen here -------- Audio interview with Peter Shirtliff from BBC Radio Nottingham (RealPlayer needed) http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/realmedia/football/2006/stags_northampton_home_shirtliff.ram -------- Audio interview with Alex John-Baptiste from BBC Radio Nottingham (RealPlayer needed) http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/realmedia/football/2006/stags_northampton_home_player.ram -------- CHAD: Afterwards manager Peter Shirtliff refused to be drawn on promotion talk, simply saying: "We will take each game as it comes." But he did heap praise on his side after a fantastic second half fight back. For the Stags had been under the cosh throughout the first half, at times struggling to get out of their own half. But they were totally dominant in an equally one-sided second half and ended up thoroughly deserving the vital victory. Shirtliff added: "My players responded well in the second half. I thought they all did well, but Richard Barker was excellent. He led the line superbly, made some excellent challenges and got a great goal. It was a lovely move leading to the goal, a great cross and a great header. "We have a lot of young players in the team and sometimes their confidence takes a knock. At half-time I just told them to be more positive, to be better on the ball. And to be fair to them they did that. "At this level the first half can be a war of attrition, but the second half then becomes more open. That is what happened today." The Stags also needed a huge slice of luck when Sean Dyche's 39th minute close range piledriver - after Kevin Pressman failed to hold onto a corner - came back off the underside of the bar. Northampton appelaed loudly that the ball had crossed the line as it bounced down, but the linesman ruled that the ball had not crossed the line. However, Cobblers boss Colin Calderwood - back at the ground where he started his career as a young player in England, said: "The players thought it was well over and so did John Deeham sat in the stands. But the video evidence is inconclusive. The angle doesn't give a clear view and there were too many bodies to see clearly." And Shirtliff admitted: ""I do have to be honest and I think that the ball was in. In my experience, when the ball bounces out like that it means it has gone over the line." -------------- official Northampton site: Calderwood frustrated by Stags loss Colin Calderwood was left to reflect on a frustrating afternoon as the Cobblers slipped to consecutive defeats for the first time this season. "We had the better of the first half but we did not get ahead," he said. "We needed to get the lead that we deserved before half time but in the second half we did not do anywhere near as well as we did in the first half. It's another kick in the teeth for us but we are still in there fighting as other results have been kind to us. As we have said before it's all well and good the other results going for us but we have to help ourselves. "We created plenty of good chances in the first half. We also had some good crossing opportunities but we hit the first man too many times. We spent a lot of time last week working on our forward play, with our crossing and moving but we need to translate that from the training ground to a game." The main talking point of the game was the assistant referee's decision that Sean Dyche's shot had not crossed the line just before half time. "Martin Smith is convinced that the ball crossed the line," said the Cobblers boss. "The video is not conclusive as it is filmed at a difficult angle. We thought it was in - the linesman said no so that is the end of it. "We had the wind behind us in the second half but we did not create many chances. We did not use the ball well and that meant we made life hard for ourselves. "We need to find a reaction when we go a goal behind. We need to show more composure and a steadying influence. Towards the end of the game we had the opportunity to create chances but we did not use the ball well. "Scott McGleish has his hernia problem and we know Jason Lee can't play on Wednesday so we left Scott on the bench today, especially as Eoin Jess has been in good form, to make sure Scott is fine for midweek. Martin Smith came off with cramp but he should be OK for Wednesday." --------------- |
Latest | March 2006