Archived News from December 2006
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WOEFUL STAGS BEATEN BY TWO-SHOT BURY
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Mansfield Town 0 - 2 Bury
Pugh 18, Hurst 51. Att 2597 (193 from Bury) Martin Shaw at Field Mill Mansfield Town put in a woeful second half display at Field Mill this afternoon to go down to a terrible 2-0 defeat against Bury. It really hurts to lose to a team that are rubbish, and despite what I've seen elsewhere, I thought Bury were rubbish. The Stags started brightly and Carl Muggleton didn't touch the ball until 15 minutes, but on 18 minutes he was picking the ball out of his net. The Stags created a few first half chances and were robbed when Boulding's effort on 37 minutes was wrongly ruled out for offside. Had that goal stood, things could have been very different. But Bury's second goal on 51 minutes, predictably by Glyn Hurst, knocked the stuffing out of Mansfield who were feeble from then on. Only the central defensive pairing of Hjelde and Baptiste can hold their head high this evening, as many players put in poor performances. PLAYER RATINGS IN THE MATCH CENTRE ------------ CHAD report: Stags flop at home MANSFIELD TOWN 0 BURY 2 Mansfield Town paid the ultimate price for two dreadful lapses in defence as Bury somehow walked out of Field Mill with all three points for the second successive season. Stags completely dominated the first half but could not find a way through, although Michael Boulding did have what looked a good effort disallowed. But Marc Pugh's 18th minute strike separated the sides at the break after the visitors were allowed too much space in the box. At that point it seemed that if Stags continued how they played in the first half after the break it would only be a matter of time before they levelled. Instead they had the stuffing knocked out of them by a soft Glynn Hurst goal within six minutes of the restart - again from sloppy defending. Disappointingly, Stags never looked likely to find a way back after that blow as they lost for the fourth time in six games. After two games unbeaten, Stags were unchanged for the third successive game. The home side began well and might have taken a third minute lead had Barker produced some more composed finishing. Good skill from Boulding in midfield saw him play a one-two with Coke and then loft a ball over the defence with both Brown and Barker in pursuit. Barker took responsibility on the edge of the box but hurriedly sliced his finish wide when he might have gone on further. A ball in from Buxton was controlled well by Boulding in the box but he has lost his bearings on goal and sent a scissor kick well wide. Free kicks by both Jelleyman and Hamshaw were over-hit and both sailed through the box to safety. Boulding, with Brown better placed to his left, tried a shot on the turn which was blocked by Barry-Murphy. Scott was lucky not to be booked for going in high with studs showing on Barker, Brown getting scolded more for his protests. The home crowd grew even more frustrated when both Barry-Murphy and Challinor went through Brown and again no card was shown. Bury then grabbed the lead against the run of play on 18 minutes. Hurst was away down the left after Buxton missed his tackle. He slipped the ball behind the defenders where it seemed John-Baptiste or Coke would clear. But they allowed the ball to run to Bishop who sidestepped Muggleton only to see John-Baptiste stretch out a leg to block it from goal. However, the ball ran loose and kindly towards Pugh who rammed it home from eight yards before being booked for his celebrations with the away fans behind the goal. A Hamshaw corner was easily caught by stand-in keeper Jones. Then Bury won a corner which Stags struggled to get clear and John-Baptiste had to head away a powerful goal bound Challinor header. The ball came out to Baker whose low shot was straight at Muggleton. Stags won another corner which was cleared and soon after Barker headed well over as the home side looked for a quick way back into a game they had been dominating. On 29 minutes Hamshaw exchanged passes with Brown to burst into the box but could not find any power on a tame low finish straight at Jones. Home frustration increased on 36 minutes when it seemed Boulding had timed his run to perfection onto a Brown through ball. He slotted the ball past the keeper but an offside flag curtailed celebrations. Brass got in the way of a powerful close range Brown shot and, from the resulting corner, Hjelde saw his firm header bragged by Jones. Two more home corners followed, Coke bundling a header over from the second. Hamshaw almost slipped Barker through but Jones was down quickly at the striker's feet. In stoppage time Coke got in a 20 yard shot which Jones seemed to see very late and turned it away at the last minute. Somehow we had reached the halfway stage with Bury ahead after Stags had completely dominated the first 45 minutes. Not surprisingly referee Mr Laws was booed off at the break. Mansfield started the second half in control again though passing was sloppy on a tricky surface. Bury might have had a penalty claim on 50 minutes when Jelleyman halted Burst in the box and the former Notts County man looked at the referee with arms out wide. But Hurst was all smiles on 51 minutes as dreadful home defending saw four players all leave the clearance to each other and Hurst nipped in to get away a tame shot at goal which somehow found its way inside Muggleton's left hand post. It was a soft goal from start to finish and gave the game a quite incredible scoreline. Mullins replaced Coke, who had started the second half looking tired after a midweek illness, and Buxton was pushed into midfield with Mullins going to right back. Three minutes later D'Laryea limped off with an ankle injury to be replaced by Lloyd. The home fans were calling for Reet but booed when he was brought into the action on the hour in place of Brown. Reet immediately clattered into Baker who stayed down for a time and, on getting up, was substituted by Turnbull. On 71 minutes Reet seemed to be swung round and onto the floor by Brass as they rose for a free kick but no penalty was given. But from then on it really was a case of both sides desperately wanting the final whistle and the home fans raising the volume on their anti-Keith Haslam protests against the club's chief executive. It really was an afternoon to forget. |
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