Archived News from September 2019
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STAGS SUFFER WORST HOME DEFEAT FOR 11 YEARS
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English Football League - Sky Bet League Two
Mansfield Town 0 - 4 Cambridge United Preston sent off 49. Roles 74, Smith 86, Maris 90, Lambe pen 90+5 Attendance: 3567 (181 from Cambridge) Date: 17 September 2019 Martin Shaw at the One Call Stadium, Field Mill Mansfield Town suffered their worst home defeat in any competition since March 2008 when they were beaten 4-0 at home by Cambridge United last night. Back in March 2008, the Stags lost 4-0 at home to Rochdale and manager Billy Dearden was sacked after the game. No-one could be surprised if this result leads to a similar outcome. It was a shocking result against a side that will surely be no higher than mid-table at best by the end of the season. In his programme notes before the game, chairman John Radford wrote: “Whilst nothing is won or lost after 10 matches, it is certainly a time where progress, or lack thereof, can be measured. .. We are all aware that results must improve. There can be no excuses this term and our ambitions for promotion .. remain as fervent as ever.” The Stags have now played 9 games, have won just 2 of them, and are down in 18th place. It would seem therefore that only a big performance in the 10th game of the season, at Port Vale on Saturday, can prevent manager John Dempster from being relieved of his first team managerial duties and perhaps a return to a position in the Academy from where he came. Dempster had done a tremendous job in the Academy. But any first team manager needs results, and Dempster simply hasn’t got enough of them thus far. I, for one, will be hoping upon hope, that Dempster can turn it around on Saturday. He’s a thoroughly decent bloke, and doesn’t deserve abuse being thrown at him from a minority of supporters. Dempster is a former promotion winning player for the Stags and Stags fans hoped he would become a promotion winning manager. There can be no doubt that the Stags defence, the best in League Two last season, has massively under-performed this season. And in recent games, the Stags have under-performed going forward as well, having looked promising in that regard earlier in the season. In short, the Stags look a long way from a promotion team at the moment, yet John Radford has re-stated his ambition for promotion this season. The game against Cambridge summed up the season so far in many ways. As at Crawley on Saturday, the Stags missed some glorious chances. In the first half, CJ Hamilton did superbly to get away from his two markers to have a 1-on-1 with the keeper, but somehow he fired wide of the post. Hamilton then got away from his two markers again before firing wide. Earlier Krystian Pearce leapt to have a free header from a Mal Benning free corner, but sent his header inches wide of the left post. Then after 85 minutes, with the Stags trailing just 1-0, sub Andy Cook had a glorious chance to equalise as he had time to pick his spot from the edge of the box, having been superbly set up by Danny Rose, but took a bad first touch and the chance was gone. It was uncannily similar to Danny Rose’s golden chance at Crawley where he took a bad first touch. And while those chances went begging, yet again a red card was costly. And for the second time this season, it was Matt Preston with a crazy challenge, lunging in late on Luke Hannant, to earn a deserved red card after 49 minutes, whilst at the same time putting Hannant out of the game through injury. That red card let his teammates, his manager and the whole club and supporters down. It had a massive impact on this game, a fact acknowledged after the game by both managers. The Stags had created the better chances before the red card. But having a man advantage gave Cambridge huge momentum and they took advantage of it very well, while the Stags collapsed embarrassingly, more so than they should have done with just a one man disadvantage. Cambridge took the lead after 74 minutes, as Marc Richards was left unmarked from a corner to head against the bar, and sub Jack Roles was given too much space to knock in the rebound. Dreadful defending. The Stags should have been level after 85 minutes with that chance for Cook, but having missed it, Cambridge ruthlessly killed the Stags off with three more goals. After 86 minutes, a misplaced clearance from Hamilton gave Sam Smith a free shot at goal which he stabbed into the net from 15 yards. It went from bad to worse after 90 minutes as sub Andy Dallas slid a shot goalwards, Conrad Logan could only parry it away and George Maris was quickest to react turning home the loose ball with three Stags players around him. The Stags had collapsed, and more was to come after 90+5 minutes as Otis Khan needlessly pushed Harrison Dunk in the area, and former Stag Reggie Lambe put the resulting penalty into the top left corner. It had turned into a shambles. A truly shocking night for the Stags. FULL REPORT IN THE MATCH CENTRE ----------------------------- Mansfield Town thrashed by Cambridge United after Matt Preston red card leads to collapse chad.co.uk, by Stephen Thirkhill, Tuesday 17 September 2019 Cambridge United hit four late goals in the last 16 minutes to sink 10 man Mansfield Town 4-0. The home side had dominated the first half with CJ Hamilton twice going close to giving Stags the lead. https://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town-thrashed-by-cambridge-united-after-matt-preston-red-card-leads-to-collapse-1-10001268 But the game turned dramatically four minutes after the restart when Matt Preston was dismissed for a reckless tackle on Luke Hannant. Cambridge dominated from that point and secured the points with goals from Jack Roles, Sam Smith, George Maris and Reggie Lambe.. Mansfield wasted first half chances to get ahead with Ryan Sweeney, Krystian Pearce and CJ Hamilton all going close. Preston was red-carded for the second time this season after a wild lunge on Hannant, which forced the United man off. But United got their reward when Roles tapped home after Richards’ header hit the bar. Smith finished well from a counter-attack with four minutes to go, before Maris added another after a Richards shot had been saved. Lambe scored from the spot five minutes into stoppage time after Harrison Dunk was fouled. Ryan Sweeney headed over from a second minute corner as Mansfield started on the front foot. Cambridge conceded a number of quick free-kicks as they attempted to disrupt the Stags rhythm. And they took it too far on 10 minutes when Kyke Knoyle went into the book after hacking down Mal Benning. Krystian Pearce nearly opened the scoring from the resulting free-kick when he sent a bullet header just wide. CJ Hamilton missed a great chance to open the scoring when he dragged a shot wide on 15 minutes after getting through on goal. Marc Richards just failed to connect with a testing Luke Hannant free-kick on 28 minutes during a rare attack by the visitors. Hamilton blazed over following a mazy run against two back-tracking defenders on 33 minutes, before Benning scuffed an effort wide seconds later. Stags discipline issues reared its ugly head four minutes after the restart when Matt Preston was red-carded for a wild lunging tackle on Hannant. It was the second time this season that Preston has received his marching orders and lead to the United player going off injured. The visitors grew in confidence and began to enjoy their best spell of possession as Mansfield set up with a 4-4-1 formation with Danny Rose the lone frontman. Richards flashed an effort just wide on 68 minutes after Reggie Lambe broke free down the right flank. But the visitors hit the front when Jack Roles slotted home to get on the end of a rebound after Richards’ header hit the crossbar with 16 minutes left. Andy Cook should have levelled for Stags with five minutes to go after great set-up play by Danny Rose. But the former Walsall man wanted too much time and fluffed his lines And it was game over when Smith slotted home after a good counter attack with four minutes to go. Maris scored on full-time after a Marc Richards shot had been saved. It got even worse when Reggie Lambe scored a penalty deep in stoppage time after sending Logan the wrong way. Mansfield Town: Logan, Preston, Pearce, Sweeney, Gordon (Khan), Bishop, Shaughnessy, Benning (Cook 81), Sterling-James (McDonald 75), Rose, Hamilton. Subs: MacDonald, Mellis, Khan, Afolayan, Smith, Stone. Cambridge United: Mitov, Darling, Taylor, Taft, Knoyle, Lambe, Lewis (Roles 70), Maris, Hannant (Dunk 52), Richards, Smith (Dallaws 89). Subs: Dunk, Ibehre, Burton, Knibbs, Ward. Ref: Darren Handley Attendance: 3,567 Chad MOM: CJ Hamilton. ----------------- Ruthless Cambridge United secure impressive win against Mansfield Town Four goals in little over 20 minutes secured the U's an emphatic win By Andrew Georgeson, 17 SEP 2019 https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/sport/ruthless-cambridge-united-secure-impressive-16936061 Four goals in little over 20 minutes secured Cambridge United an emphatic 4-0 win against Mansfield Town in League Two. For the second time in a matter of days, the U’s played the majority of the game against 10-men after Matt Preston was dismissed early in the second half for a terrible challenge on Luke Hannant. But even against 10 men, it wasn’t the easiest of evenings for Colin Calderwood’s side, with all the goals coming in the final quarter of the game. Indeed, you could argue that they were lucky to go in level at the break. It was a disjointed start to the game, during which United opened themselves up to be attacked from set plays after conceding six free kicks within the first 10 minutes. The last of those, conceded by Kyle Knoyle, was nearly the one that cost them the first goal, with Mal Benning’s free-kick being nodded narrowly wide by Krystian Pearce. United looked susceptible to the counter throughout the opening period, and if CJ Hamilton had his shooting boots on, the Stags could have held a comfortable lead. His first chance saw him take the ball around Greg Taylor but slice it wide, before he blasted over the crossbar after United were countered from their own corner. In response, the U’s offered little apart from a few Hannant crosses, with one of them inches away from being nodded in by Marc Richards as the side’s went in level. An largely uneventufl game was then sparked into life shortly after the break, when Preston saw red for a game-ending challenge on Hannant. Yet United, initially, struggled to make their extra man count. Mansfield, understandably, became more compact - sitting in two banks of four with only Danny Rose up top - and United created little aside from a Reggie Lambe cross, which was flashed across the face of goal by Richards. And the man who made the difference, Jack Roles had only been on the pitch for a matter of moments. The Spurs youngster, who replaced Paul Lewis, reacted first after Richards turned a George Maris onto the crossbar, calmly sliding the ball into the bottom corner. Having held Mansfield at arm’s length for a majority of the half, United were nearly made to pay near the end when Andy Cook was picked out Danny Rose, to be denied by a wonderful last-ditch tackle from Harry Darling after dithering on the ball when one-on-one. Moments later Sam Smith wrapped up the win, slipping the ball under Conrad Logan for his third goal in four days. The U’s weren’t done quite yet though, with Maris smacking the ball into an empty net after Andy Dallas’ initial shot was saved, before Reggie Lambe thumped a penalty into the top corner in extra time against his former club to make it 4-0. Mansfield: Logan, Benning (for Cook, 81 minutes), Preston, Pearce, Bishop, Shaughnessy, Sweeney, Gordon (Khan, 86), Hamilton, Sterling-James (MacDonald 75), Rose Unused: Afolayan, Smith, Stone, Mellis Goals: None Bookings: Gordon (foul), Rose (foul) Red cards: Preston (foul) Cambridge United: Mitov, Knoyle, Taft, Taylor, Hannant (Dunk, 53), Maris, Darling, Richards Lambe, Smith (Dallas, 90), Lewis (Roles 71) Unused substitutes: Burton, Ibehre, Knibbs, Ward Goals: Roles (74), Smith (86), Maris (90), Lambe (penalty, 90+5) Bookings: Knoyle (foul), Darling (foul), Dunk (foul) Red cards: None Referee: Darren Handley Attendance: 3,567 ---------------------- |
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