Archived News from July 2017
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MATLOCK 0-4 MANSFIELD
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Pre-Season Friendly
Matlock Town 0 - 4 Mansfield Town Angol 15, 87, Atkinson 72, Mellis 86. Attendance: 349 Date: 25 July 2017 Martin Shaw at Causeway Lane Mansfield Town sent half of the first team squad to Matlock Town this evening and the other half to Gainsborough Trinity, so that all of the first team squad who are fit would get 90 minutes, just 11 days ahead of the first league game at Crewe. I travelled to the game at Matlock. Craig Priest went to Gainsborough and has written a report for Stagsnet here. The Stags put in an impressive performance going forward at Matlock, to eventually run out 4-0 winners. Matlock are in the Northern Premier League, three leagues below League Two, but as you’d expect, they were very competitive. In the first half, the Stags scored on 15 minutes when Paul Digby found Paul Anderson on the left and he squared for Lee Angol who tapped in from 3 yards. The Stags weren’t able to increase their lead until 72 minutes when Mal Benning found Danny Rose who played in to Will Atkinson who scored from 3 yards. Two goals in the final 4 minutes then put a gloss on the scoreline. Firstly the outstanding Jacob Mellis played to Atkinson, who played back towards Mellis, a defender got a touch but Mellis was able to tap in. Then Angol raced on to Rose’s ball forward and showed great strength to hold off his defender before slotting under the keeper. Overall this was a very satisfactory performance from Mansfield, getting more game time into all the players. Jacob Mellis was quite outstanding in central midfield. Paul Digby and Paul Anderson also played very well in midfield. Will Atkinson took a long time to get into the game but finished it well. Up front, Angol played well, while Rose did ok. Bobby Olejnik in goal didn’t have much to do, but made one fabulous save and looked assured, as he has through pre-season. In the first half, David Mirfin, Zander Diamond and Hayden White all put in disappointing performances. After the game, Steve Evans told me that Mirfin came into the dressing room at half time, put his hand up and apologised for his shocking performance. In the second half, both Mirfin and Diamond won a couple of early headers and then played more solidly. Mal Benning was the pick of the defence, with a decent game, including going forward. One talking point from the game was the sending off of Matlock’s Callum Lloyd, a former Stags player of course. Steve Evans asked me after the game what I thought of the challenge, I thought it was a shocking challenge (on Mellis), and so did he. Evans said that Lloyd had to go of course, but that an alternative approach from the referee could have been to ask the Matlock manager if he wanted to sub Lloyd rather than send him off. Mellis fortunately was fine as it could have been a leg-breaker. FULL REPORT IN THE MATCH CENTRE -------------------------------- Matlock Town FC vs Mansfield Town July 25, 2017 Score: 0 - 4 Match Report MATLOCK TOWN 0-4 MANSFIELD TOWN http://www.matlocktownfc.co.uk/match/7807/ Two goals inside the final three minutes made it a harsh looking scoreline as far as Matlock were concerned in this hastily arranged extra friendly outing at the DCJ Group Arena on Tuesday night. Mansfield, one of the favourites for the League Two title, brought a strong first team squad with their attacking players being considered as the ones that may start in their season’s opener at Crewe on Saturday week. The Gladiators fought hard and matched their full time opponents for long periods, but the Stags looked sharp and determined to put their 4-0 defeat by Nottingham Forest on Saturday firmly behind them. The visitors’ final three goals came after Matlock had been reduced to ten men, Callum Lloyd seeing red on 58 minutes for a reckless challenge on Jacob Mellis which caused a melee in which Lloyd finished with his shirt ripped from his torso. The match had been simmering as no quarter was asked or given by either side, and while Lloyd would have gone anyway in a league or cup game, it remains a mystery how Mansfield kept eleven men on the field. Mansfield started at a furious tempo, on 3 minutes home goalkeeper Phil Barnes managing the slightest but nonetheless a vital fingernail to divert Hayden White’s shot over the bar. From the corner, Paul Digby volleyed against the crossbar. The League Two side were enjoying most of the possession with the non leaguers battling hard to repel them. But on 14 minutes Matlock created their first chance when a weaving run on the left from Ted Cribley saw him slip a pass inside to Shaun Harrad whose twenty yarder flew narrowly beyond the far post. In the very next minute though Mansfield scored with the hosts claiming a foul on Adam Yates who was left on the floor after a tangle, Paul Anderson knocking a cross from the right back into the middle for LEE ANGOL to prod in the easiest of finishes. Yates had to be replaced by Nico Degirolamo before Matlock could have conceded again when David Mirfin lifted a great chance too high from close range. The teams then exchanged chances with Cribley firing at Bobby Olejnik who also stole the ball off Harrad’s toe before his defenders charged down a Dwayne Wiley shot after the defender had turned sweetly in the box. Mansfield’s Danny Rose went close with a shot and a header before the interval. After Barnes saved well from Anderson, Matlock could easily have found a 53rd minute leveller when Harrad, clear of his marker with only Olejnik to beat volleyed first time but a yard wide of the far post. The sending off made Matlock’s task all the more difficult but to their credit, they stuck manfully to their task, although they were indebted to the woodwork again when Anderson’s shot struck the bar. But they clinically opened Matlock up on 72 minutes, Mal Benning finding Rose who in turn fed WILL ATKINSON to net from close range. Wiley’s excellent tackle on Angol prevented a potential third goal before two very late Stags efforts completed the scoring. MELLIS combined with Atkinson to push the ball in despite Joe Doyle-Charles’ best attempts to keep the ball out and then Matlock felt hard done by again when Angol looked to impede Degirolamo before slotting a low shot under Barnes. MATLOCK TOWN: 1 Phil Barnes, 2 Trialist (15 Liam Marsden 64) 3 Jake Green 4 Joe Doyle-Charles 5 Adam Yates (14 Nico Degirolamo) 6 Dwayne Wiley (17 Max Hunt 87) 7 Trialist (16 Todd Jordan 60) 8 Callum Lloyd 9 Shaun Harrad 10 Ted Cribley (18 Ben Edgson 85) 11 Rhys Sharpe Subs not used: 12 Luis Rose G/k Jordan Pierrpoint MANSFIELD TOWN: 12 Bobby Olejnik 3 Mal Benning 4 Paul Digby 6 Zander Diamond 8 Jacob Mellis 9 Lee Angol 10 Paul Anderson 11 Will Atkinson 16 Hayden White 18 David Mirfin 32 Danny Rose Subs: G/K Sam Wilson 23 Tyler Blake 24 Cameron Healy 25 Bradley Peace-Macdonald REFEREE: Richard Eley (Derby) ATTENDANCE: 349 ---------------------- |
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