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Archived News from September 2015

MURRAY, TERRY SMITH, MACKAIL-SMITH REACTION
23rd September 2015 10:50


We deserved more - Murray
mansfieldtown.net, 19th September 2015

by Nick Lough
Mansfield Town boss Adam Murray feels his side had enough chances to prevent them from leaving empty handed at Kenilworth Road, Luton, this afternoon.

The Stags slipped to a narrow 1-0 defeat to the Hatters after Craig Mackail-Smith scored a second-half penalty and Murray lamented the handful of chances his side had during the match.

Read more at http://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/article/we-deserved-more-murray-2699453.aspx#So93MkQdfcvEy42U.99

“You can’t come away to a place like Luton and miss three one-on-one’s. That’s the bottom line,” said Murray.

“We’ve limited them to chances. [In the] First half, we knew they would come out and have a lot of the ball as they were under pressure to get a win today so we knew they’d come out with a [high] tempo and we weathered that well.

“We had a chance in the first half that we should have scored and in the second half we dominated the game and I felt we gave away a stupid penalty.”

The only goal of the game came through former Peterborough forward Mackail-Smith after he was pulled back inside the penalty area by Ryan Tafazolli and Murray shed some light on what he thought of the decision.

“We got ourselves in to a muddle at the back; to be fair to Mackail-Smith it was super movement and that was the difference today that little bit of movement that they’ve got.

“We weren’t ruthless in the final third today. It’s not bounced for us or we haven’t anticipated where it’s going to go, so it’s disappointing as we should have gotten something out of today.”

The Stags flew out the traps in the second half and Murray said that he told his players to ‘believe’ during the interval and he was impressed by the effect it had on his team.

“We spoke about it before the game that we are good enough to come to places like this and get something and we showed that today.

“In the first half we looked like we were in fear and we had no reason to be, we knew we had to tame them for 45 minutes but we knew we were good enough to get something out of the game. At half-time it was the case of [telling the players] ‘believe in how good you are, you can get something here’ and we should have done.”

Along with the penalty, Luton only registered one shot on target during the 90 minutes which ultimately ended the Stags’ four game unbeaten run in the league. Murray admitted although the defeat is disappointing, he’d rather take a look at the bigger picture.

“We are disappointed, but there is still realism that we are making massive strides forward as we’ve come here to one of the teams that will be in the top half of the league and we should have gotten something out of the game. I’d like to see the stats from the second half as I think Brian [Jensen] only had one shot to save.”

Midfielder Chris Clements hobbled off injured while captain Nicky Hunt will miss next weekend’s game with Plymouth Argyle after he received his fifth yellow card of the season and Murray feels that it was always going to be a case of ‘when’, not ‘if’ this situation was going to occur. It was also confirmed after the match that striker Chris Beardsley had missed today's game with a foot injury

Murray said: “Chris is struggling, it’s his groin.

“This is always going to be the tough part of our season when we do get injuries and suspensions and it’s going to be the testing time now as we are going to miss Nicky Hunt next week, it looks like Clem [Chris Clements] could be out.

“I think we are down to about 16 or 17 players now so it’s tough, but we knew that was going to be the case and like I say, we are positive in terms of where we are as a group at the minute and the direction we are going in.”

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Adam Murray rues a string of missed chances as Mansfield Town lose at Luton
chad.co.uk, by John Lomas, Saturday 19 September 2015

Mansfield Town manager Adam Murray was left rueing a string of missed chances as Mansfield Town got nothing from their brave display in the 1-0 defeat at Luton Town today.

Salt was rubbed into the wounds of this setback with Chris Clements limping off with a groin strain and Nicky Hunt shown a fifth yellow card, both players now set to miss next weekend’s visit of Plymouth Argyle.

“You can’t come away to a place like Luton and miss three one-on-ones - that’s the bottom line,” said Murray after Stags capitulated to a 59th minute Craig Mackail-Smith penalty.

http://www.hucknalldispatch.co.uk/sport/local-sport/adam-murray-rues-a-string-of-missed-chances-as-mansfield-town-lose-at-luton-1-7470666?

“We limited their chances. First half they came out and had a lot of the ball. They were under pressure to get a win. So we knew they would start at a tempo and weathered that and managed that well.

“We had a chance in the first half we should have scored and then in the second half I thought we dominated the game, but gave away a stupid penalty.

“No arguments about that, we got ourselves into a muddle at the back. To be fair to Mackail-Smith it was super movement and that was the difference today.

“It was fine lines today, but we were not ruthless enough in the final third. It is disappointing as we should have got something out of today.”

Murray added: “It was about belief. We said before the game we are good enough now to come to places like this and get something out of it and we showed that today.

“But first half we looked like we were in fear and we had no reason to be. We knew we were going to have to tame them for 45 minutes. But we looked like we were panicking and putting ourselves under pressure.

“At half-time I said you have to believe how good you are and we can go on and get something here.

“I’d like to see the possession stats for the second half and attempts on goal second half as we can’t have that much territory, possession and balls into the final third advantage and not take something from it.

“You have to put 90 per cent of them away when you go through one on one. We had some great chances today and some of the balls we fizzed across the box, you have got to get on the end of them.

“I am disappointed today but there is a realism that we are making massive strides forward.

“We have come here to one of the team that will be in the play-offs or top three at the end of the season and we should have got something out of the game

“Their players were coming up to us and saying we should have got something.

“The group is still positive as we know how good we are.

“This was always going to be the tough part of our season, if we got injuries or suspensions.”

With a small squad, Stags are now down to the bare bones for next week.

“We will miss Nicky next week and it looks like Clem will be out,” said Murray. “We will be down to about 16 or 17 players. It’s tough but we knew that was going to be the case.

“But we are positive where we are as a group at the minute and the direction we are going in.”

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Harris relieved as Town triumph at Kenilworth Road
by Mike Simmonds, lutontoday.co.uk

Hatters assistant boss Terry Harris admitted it was a huge relief to earn a first League Two win of the season at Kenilworth Road yesterday afternoon.

Craig Mackail-Smith’s penalty was enough to defeat Mansfield Town 1-0 and fire to Luton an opening victory on home soil after taking just one point from their previous three games.

http://www.lutontoday.co.uk/sport/luton-town/luton-town-news/harris-relieved-as-town-triumph-at-kenilworth-road-1-6967183

“For the last 30 it was nervous and it will be, but lets hope that 30 minutes gets a bit lower and lower as the games goes on now.”
Terry Harris

Hatters were left hanging on at the end though as Stags piled the pressure on, with Harris saying: “It’s a relief, it was a little bit nervous at the end which is understandable as we’ve conceded four goals in the last minute over a period of time which is something I haven’t experienced in my career.

“So we said to the players, for 60 minutes it was excellent, for the last 30 it was nervous and it will be, but lets hope that 30 minutes gets a bit lower and lower as the games goes on now.

“It’s a nice feeling, because you really, really can’t get across to people how gut-wrenching those last minute goals are and it’s the same for the fans as it is for us.

“We totally understand the fans frustrations, because we know what we’ve got in the squad.

“We have to try and turn the negatives into positives. In our last three games, we’ve beaten Cambridge and the Orient, so stats would say we’ve won three out of four. Maybe we can make it four out of five and then all of a sudden it rolls and it rolls and it rolls.”

Harris was also relieved with a first shut out of the campaign although the defence were indebted to keeper Mark Tyler for a string of excellent saves.

He added: “We’re delighted with the clean sheet as we thought Mark Tyler absolutely superb.

“So were the back four too as Scott Cuthbert came out through his sending off last week and Steve McNulty came in.

“That’s why we’ve got a strong squad and we do a lot of back four work every day. We work our back four, attack our back four sometimes with six, seven or eight players, so I was pleased with the clean sheet.”

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Relief for Terry Harris as win over Mansfield puts end to ‘gut-wrenching’ run
LutonOnSunday, By James Cunliffe

Assistant manager Terry Harris admitted Luton were relieved to hold on against Mansfield for a first home League Two victory after suffering last-gasp sucker punches in each of their previous fourth tier outings at Kenilworth Road.

Craig Mackail-Smith bagged his second from the spot this season - third in total - and it proved the winner as the Hatters saw out a nervy finale.

Read more: http://www.luton-dunstable.co.uk/Luton-Town-Relief-Terry-Harris-win-Mansfield-puts/story-27838679-detail/story.html#ixzz3mOSGVKky

"It's a nice feeling, because you really, really can't get across to people how gut-wrenching those last minute goals are and it's the same for the fans as it is for us," said Harris, adding: "We totally understand the fans' frustrations, because we know what we've got in the squad. We have to try to turn the negatives into positives."

Shutting out a spirited Stags surge also earned a maiden clean sheet of the campaign and Harris said: "It's a relief, it was a little bit nervous at the end which is understandable as we've conceded four goals in the last minute over a period of time, which is something I haven't experienced in my career.

"So we said to the players, 'for 60 minutes it was excellent, for the last 30 it was nervous and it will be, but let's hope that 30 minutes gets a bit lower and lower as the games goes on.'

"We wanted to get the train rolling again and I thought we played some good football."

Goalscorer Mackail-Smith, who had a stunning overhead kick scrubbed out for a dubious offside, was instrumental in easing injury time nerves as he helped keep the ball deep in Mansfield's half.

"I thought Craig Mackail-Smith was absolutely magnificent up front," said Harris, adding: "He ran his socks off and didn't give the back two a minute's rest and then deservedly worked hard for the penalty.

"I'm really, really disappointed that the overhead kick didn't stand. Was it offside? I really don't know, I couldn't tell. Craig didn't think it was and that would have been a top, top goal to see, but unfortunately it was disallowed.

"He gets frustrated because he's not getting chances or he's not scored, but all the while he's working for the team and everybody will feed off him. We're absolutely delighted with him."

The victory, only their second of the League Two campaign, also saw Harris praise goalkeeper Mark Tyler who pulled off a string of saves to earn the man-of-the-match gong.

The assistant said: "We're delighted with the clean sheet as we thought Mark Tyler absolutely superb.

"So were the back four. Scott Cuthbert came out, through his sending off last week, and Steve McNulty came in.

"That's why we've got a strong squad and we do a lot of back four work every day. We work our back four, attack our back four sometimes with six, seven or eight players, so I was pleased with the clean sheet."

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Mansfield Town’s Ryan Tafazolli should have been sent off, says Luton Town matchwinner Craig Mackail-Smith
chad.co.uk, by John Lomas, Saturday 19 September 2015

Luton Town matchwinner Craig Mackail-Smith admitted he was surprised that Mansfield Town’s Ryan Tafazolli wasn’t sent-off for the foul that gave him the crucial penalty in yesterday’s 1-0 win.

Tafazolli appeared to be the last man as he hauled down the former Scottish international star, Mackail-Smith making him pay from the spot.

“I was just about to pull the trigger and he’s pulled me,” said Mackail-Smith.

“It was nice to have the penalty and score as, in those positions sometimes, you get fouled and you don’t score and you get really disappointed.

“I took a touch across him so I could get a shot away as it felt like the ball was too straight.

http://www.hucknalldispatch.co.uk/sport/local-sport/mansfield-town-s-ryan-tafazolli-should-have-been-sent-off-says-luton-town-matchwinner-craig-mackail-smith-1-7470821?

“I was surprised that there wasn’t a red card to be honest as he was the only one who was chasing me down.

“That’s the referee’s decision to show him a yellow, but it was nice that the ball went in the back of the net or it would have left a bit of a sour taste.”

Once the kick was awarded, there was no way Mackail-Smith was letting anyone else have the honours.

“I have belief and confidence in myself that I will step up and score,” he smiled.

“Penalties are for strikers as goals add up at the end of the season. I believe in myself that when the ball is put on the spot I am going to beat the keeper.

Earlier on he had seen a spectacular overhead finish ruled out for offside.

“It was disappointing as I thought I was onside,” he said.

“I know that I started offside when Josh (McQuoid) cut in, but I made up the ground to get back onside and when I hit the shot and it went in, the defender was behind me.

“So it was disappointing the decision went against me and maybe they could give the benefit of the doubt to the striker, but it’s gone now and the goal didn’t stand.”

Mansfield piled on the pressure in the second half and were unlucky not to grab a point.

Mackail-Smith continued: “We were under a lot of pressure near the end and the boys stood up to that.

“In previous games we’ve conceded goals in the last minute, so it’s a great confidence-booster for everyone knowing we can go the full 95 minutes and keep a clean sheet.

“I can’t really affect it too much and sometimes I’m just standing there watching and praying that ball doesn’t go near the goal.

“But they stood up fantastically to the aerial assault towards the end. It shows we can concentrate for that amount of time and win games.

“First 60 minutes I thought we dominated the game and it was disappointing to maybe not get more than a one goal lead.

“On the other hand Mansfield won 4-0 the other day against Crawley. So we know they can attack. I think the defence stood up well and it’s a good building block for us for next week.”

Tell us what you think about the penalty by emailing sport@chad.co.uk or join the debate by using #ChadStags

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Nathan Thomas @Naththomas19 (reference to C5 Football League Tonight)
Wonder why they didn't mention Lutons one shot on target to our 8

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Latest | September 2015