Archived News from April 2007
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STAGSNET`S STATISTICAL PREVIEW
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Field Mill fixtures between the Stags and Rochdale since a goal-less draw on March 28, 2000, have more often than not ended in 1-0 wins for the Stags, the exception being a 3-1 on February 2, 2002, when both sides were chasing auto promo from the basement tier. All Field Mill fixtures since then have ended in 1-0 Stags three-pointers, the latest due to a Danny Reet strike on January 21, 2006.
Traditionally, the basement stalwarts Rochdale, being stuck since our first Championship season way back in 1974-75, have found it hard to win at Field Mill and haven't done so since April 16, 1994, when Thackeray scored the only goal of the game in front of 2362. That Rochdale side also included Steve Whitehall, a few seasons later bagging in loads of goals for the Stags, but after that 1997-98 term he left because of a certain person. In previous 43 Field Mill visits (see below), Rochdale have only won six games compared to 28 for the Stags. Played for the Stags on April 16, 1994, did i.e. Steve Parkin and current Watford manager Adrian Boothroyd. Not only have the Stags faced Rochdale on a final day of a promotion season – May 2, 1992, when a 2-1 win and a Blackpool defeat 34 miles away at Lincoln clinched it – but also on a promotion season opening day. This happened in 1962-63, when the commencing game was at home to Rochdale on August 18, 1962, in front of 6121 who saw Ken Wagstaff net the only goal of the game. Mansfield and Rochdale have now crossed their league swords in 44 league seasons, and the first encounters took place in 1932-33 – and in fact the Stags won five ALL the pre-world-war-II Field Mill encounters to a score of 19-3. On October 12, 1932, Readman, Prior (2), and Bowater netted for the Stags in front of 4441. Worse was to follow on February 24, 1934, with a 5-0 stuffing thanks to two goals apiece from Johnson and Bytheway, also one from Munnings. In the Harston record-breaking season, 1936-37, he almost single-footed routed “Dale” with five of the six Stags goals, Atkinson getting the other in front of 7404 on September 9, 1936. Away games at Rochdale have only seen seven Stags wins and fourteen draws out of 44 outings, also a 1-7 mauling on March 4, 1950, oddly enough in a defensively strong Stags season in 8th position, Antonio netting the consolation goal. This is the biggest-ever Stags defeat in a game against Rochdale – and the latest at Spotland ended in a 0-2 defeat after a poor showing on September 17, 2005. That game was also the last for Carlton Palmer as Stags manager due to his resignation only a few minutes after the final whistle. And the first away win at Spotland was recorded on September 1, 1936 due to Ted Harston's first hat-trick in his 55-goals season. One week later it was to be worse for Rochdale (see above). Memorable post-world-war II fixtures: - The biggest Stags win at Rochdale was a 4-1 on November 1, 1980, the last of six consecutive league wins that season. A Terry Austin hat-trick including a penalty was his last Stags haul before being sold to Huddersfield, the other scorers being the late Arthur Mann for the Stags and O'Loughlin for Rochdale. - Two away wins have been achieved in promotion seasons. The first was on March 1, 1975 when Ray Clarke hit the only goal of the game – and the second was on October 12, 1991 when 3671 saw Paul Holland and Phil Stant strike for the Stags. - The teams fought against each other for promotion in 2001-02. On February 2, 2002, a good crowd of 4876 watched Greenacre net twice and Pemberton once in the 3-1 home win, a crucial one in the final reckoning. (In fact, Rochdale – like Cheltenham – drew more than double of the league games compared to the Stags and that contributed to Dale's 5th position – just one more win and Rochdale had overhauled the Stags in the 3rd position race). The away game on September 29, 2001 was lost 3-1 with Greenacre getting the Stags goal. - The biggest Stags win in a low-scoring 1984-85 season was achieved very early on, and thus in the first home fixture that campaign. On September 1, 1984, 2627 witnessed a 5-1 mauling thanks to two goals from Caldwell, one apiece from Vinter, Kearney and Lowery. The 2004-05 season was the first since the 2001-02 season in which Rochdale finished in the top half. But just too many draws stopped Dale from being play-off candidates. In the 2003-04 season, former Walsall hot-shot Alan Buckley resigned after the home defeat against York, just two days after the game at Field Mill which saw Colin Larkin capitalize on a defensive mistake to hit the only goal of the game. Buckley was replaced by ex-Stags manager Steve Parkin, then in his second Rochdale managerial spell. And at Rochdale, the Stags put in one of the worst away performances in the 2003-04 season, losing 3-0. Last term was a topsy-turvy one for Rochdale, especially after the sale of Grant Holt to Nottingham Forest. But Dale played no 0-0 game last term but have some more already this campaign. After starting with four consecutive 1-0 defeats, Rochdale recovered for a while, crushed Darlington away 5-0 for instance, but faltered lost and four games on the trot to a score of five for, sixteen against, among them a 1-7 at Lincoln (see below) Overall, only THREE games at Spotland as well as THREE at Field Mill over the years between the sides have ended goal-less. Both sides have been very inconsistent this term, to say the least. Hitting a bad patch before Christmas including a 1-7 rout at Lincoln, Rochdale's only win in ten games then was a 2-0 at home to the Stags on November 25, 2006, and nearly as always in recent years at Spotland, the Stags played poorly. After Christmas, Rochdale have fared better and when they win, Dale win heavily as well as home and away. The proof: 5-0 at Darlington, 4-0 at Grimsby, 5-0 at home to MK Dons, and most notably, 7-2 at Stockport recently. And without the 1-7 at Lincoln, Rochdale's goal difference had nearly equalled those of promotion-chasing sides!!!! The Stags haven't won since the 2-1 victory against Chester a month ago, but that is mainly due to injuries to several key players. Our poor spells this term have coincided with injuries, notably to Dawson. About time to end the spell of three straight home defeats when the previewer is watching on Saturday! Some well-known names have managed Rochdale. Among them are Bob Stokoe in two spells, one before and one after Sunderland's FA Cup triumph in 1973, Harry Catterick (later for Everton, there succeeded by ex-Stags manager Billy Bingham), Jimmy Greenhoff, Eddie Gray and Alan Buckley, latter now having returned to Grimsby. Another – maybe not so well-known - fact is that the Birmingham defence horror man of April 3, 1990, Steve Wilkinson, spent a loan spell without playing for Rochdale before signing for the Stags, but had a short loan spell at Crewe prior to putting on a Stags shirt for the first time. But there are, see below, quite a number of players having appeared for both sides. One of them, John Doolan, played his first Rochdale game AGAINST the Stags at Field Mill on January 21, 2006, when Danny Reet (now on loan to Rochdale!) hit his FIRST Stags goal, the only one of the game. Another one, who played for the Stags in the 2001-02 season, Martin Pemberton, starred earlier this season for Conference North side Farsley Celtic in their FA Cup games, one replay, against Milton Keynes Dons. Played for both sides: Wilfried Barks, Phillip Bartley, Eric Betts, Andy Carr, Iyseden Christie, Darrell Clarke, Jamie Clarke, Simon Coleman, Ossie Collier, Graeme Crawford, John Doolan, John Dungworth, Thomas Dutton, Desmond Fawcett, Tony Ford, David Frain, Robert Frith, Paul Gibson, David Goodwin, Neville Hamilton, Wally Hunt, Ged Keegan, Noel Luke, John Meehan, Terence Melling, John Moore, Ernie Moss, Martin Pemberton (one game on loan from Stockport, loan period cancelled due to injury according to reports), Kevin Pilkington, Danny Reetm Karl Rose, Ted Roseboom, Adam Rundle, John Ryan, Frank Spriggs, Steve Taylor, Reg Trotman, Keith Welch, Paul Wheatcroft, Steve Whitehall, Doug Wragg Managed both sides: Steve Parkin. Home stats: P 43, W 28, D 9, L 6, GF 89, GA 40 Away stats: P 44, W 7, D 14, L 23, GF 42, GA 70 Season Home Date Away Date 1932-33 4-1 1932-12-10 1-2 1932-10-01 Div 3 (N) 1933-34 5-0 1934-02-24 2-2 1933-10-14 Div 3 (N) 1934-35 1-0 1935-02-23 0-1 1934-10-13 Div 3 (N) 1935-36 3-0 1935-11-09 1-3 1936-02-29 Div 3 (N) 1936-37 6-2 1936-09-09 3-1 1936-09-01 Div 3 (N) 1947-48 1-1 1947-10-18 2-1 1948-03-06 Div 3 (N) 1948-49 2-0 1949-04-30 0-1 1949-04-04 Div 3 (N) 1949-50 1-1 1950-01-28 1-7 1950-03-04 Div 3 (N) 1950-51 1-0 1951-04-16 0-0 1951-04-14 Div 3 (N) 1951-52 1-1 1951-09-17 0-1 1951-09-04 Div 3 (N) 1952-53 2-1 1952-12-13 0-1 1953-04-29 Div 3 (N) 1953-54 2-0 1954-02-20 0-1 1953-10-03 Div 3 (N) 1954-55 3-2 1955-03-26 0-2 1954-11-06 Div 3 (N) 1955-56 6-0 1956-03-24 1-1 1955-11-12 Div 3 (N) 1956-57 2-3 1956-08-20 0-0 1956-08-29 Div 3 (N) 1957-58 2-4 1957-08-24 0-3 1957-12-21 Div 3 (N) 1958-59 0-0 1959-03-30 2-2 1959-03-27 Div 3 (old) 1960-61 0-2 1960-08-22 2-1 1960-08-30 Div 4 (old) 1961-62 0-1 1961-12-26 2-3 1962-04-11 Div 4 (old) 1962-63 1-0 1962-08-18 1-3 1962-12-15 Div 4 (old) 1969-70 1-2 1969-11-03 1-2 1969-11-24 Div 3 (old) 1970-71 3-2 1970-10-03 1-1 1971-04-12 Div 3 (old) 1971-72 3-1 1972-03-18 1-2 1971-08-21 Div 3 (old) 1974-75 2-0 1974-08-30 1-0 1975-03-01 Div 4 (old) 1980-81 2-2 1981-04-04 4-1 1980-11-01 Div 4 (old) 1981-82 4-3 1981-11-14 1-1 1982-04-03 Div 4 (old) 1982-83 2-1 1982-09-25 2-2 1983-02-05 Div 4 (old) 1983-84 3-0 1983-11-01 0-0 1984-02-14 Div 4 (old) 1984-85 5-1 1984-09-01 1-2 1985-05-14 Div 4 (old) 1985-86 3-2 1985-11-30 1-1 1986-04-26 Div 4 (old) 1991-92 2-1 1992-05-02 2-0 1991-10-12 Div 4 (old) 1993-94 0-1 1994-04-16 1-1 1993-11-02 Div 3 1994-95 1-1 1995-03-07 3-3 1994-10-29 Div 3 1995-96 2-2 1996-04-16 1-1 1995-09-16 Div 3 1996-97 0-0 1996-08-31 1-0 1997-04-05 Div 3 1997-98 3-0 1998-01-03 0-2 1997-08-16 Div 3 1998-99 3-1 1999-03-13 0-1 1998-11-07 Div 3 1999-2000 0-0 2000-03-28 1-2 1999-11-14 Div 3 2000-01 1-0 2000-11-11 0-1 2001-04-28 Div 3 2001-02 3-1 2002-02-02 1-3 2001-09-29 Div 3 2003-04 1-0 2003-12-26 0-3 2004-02-07 Div 3 2004-05 1-0 2004-09-18 1-1 2005-01-15 League Two 2005-06 1-0 2006-01-21 0-2 2005-09-17 League Two 2006-07 (at Rochdale) 0-2 2006-11-25 League Two Svante Bernhard aka Sweden Stag (pictured, above right) Details from various sources (player updates compared to the preview of the away game in 2003-2004 are courtesy of the players who's who on the history CD) |
Latest | April 2007