Two matches, twenty one players and five goals to run the rule over this week, as Mansfield drew a blank in the league but were firing on all cylinders in the Papa Johns Trophy, as The Stags gear up for derby day in Nottingham. Let’s have a recap.
Penalty parrying Pym preserves point
Mansfield were held to a goalless draw on a sunny October afternoon on Saturday, with penalty saving specialist Christy Pym to thank for his reflex save to keep out James Tilley from twelve yards.. The home side struggled to create many clear openings in front of goal, George Maris missing a one on one from outside the box in the first half as close as they came.
The Stags made two changes to the side that drew with Wrexham on Tuesday night, as Lewis Brunt and Will Swan replaced Calum Macdonald and Ollie Clarke. Baily Cargill shifted out to left back, whilst Davis Keillor-Dunn moved back into his familiar attacking midfield role, with Will Swan partnering Lucas Akins.
The game took a while to produce any ecitement, with just one early long range shot from Omar Bugiel for AFC Wimbledon, which resulted in a simple stop for Pym, whilst Mansfield saw their first five attempts on goal blocked by Wimbledon defenders, the best probably fell to Keillor-Dunn whose shot from inside the box was deflected wide after Aaron Lewis’ cushioned touch. On 21 minutes, Keillor-Dunn backheeled into the path of an oerlapping Cargill on the left hand side of the area, but he had a rush of blood to the head and rifled his shot out for a throw in on the far side.
The Dons had a glorious chance to take the lead on 27 minutes when they were awarded a penalty. Aaron Lewis was dispossessed in the opposition half and Neufville was able to carry the ball over the halfway line. He played the ball out to James Tilley on the right, who cut back onto his left foot and whipped a low cross to the near post. Bugiel was on the move and nipped in front of Lewis Brunt, controlling the ball before hitting the deck via Brunt’s outstretched leg. It was a clear penalty, no complaints from those in amber shirts. Tilley stepped up, powering the ball down the middle, slightly to Pym’s right. Pym stayed tall and tipped the shot onto the crossbar with both hands, it bounced down onto the line, back up against the crossbar, and down again where it was gathered by Pym. Brilliant reactions by Pym, and tremendous nerve to stand tall.
Tilley threatened again on 37 minutes, cutting inside from his right wing position, driving to the edge of the box but then dragging his shot wide as he looked to reverse the ball into the bottom right corner.
Mansfield could have been ahead on 43 minutes. Aaron Lewis showed sharp footwork on the right touchline just inside the Dons half, before releasing the ball towards Will Swan 30 yards from goal. Swan was eased past the ball by a marshalling defender, but that only led to the pass rolling through to an unmarked George Maris inside the D on the edge of the box. The Dons keeper was eight yards out in no mans land, Maris had the option to bend the ball into the near port or attempt a dinked finish, it looked like he went for the former but didn’t catch it as he would have liked and it was side footed straight at Alex Bass.
A feeling we have become accustomed to at half time, as I seem to have written this three or four times about our home games this season, but the Stags had seen plenty of the ball (63%) but not managed to create many clear openings. Away sides now know that if they can bank themselves in, with little space between defence and midfield, Mansfield will struggle to break them down. Its not for a lack of trying, Mansfield had 13 shots to Wimbledon’s 4, but because of the sheer number of bodies the opposition have behind the ball, the majority of our shots are being blocked before they have a chance to test the keeper.
Nigel Clough made two subs at half time, replacing Aaron Lewis and George Maris with Ollie Clarke and Hiram Boateng. I assumed at the time that this was due to knocks but Clough confirmed after the game that he felt the two departing players were below par. I personally though they were doing ok, and that this substitution led to us lacking control in the second period.
It was a tight opening to the second half, Ollie Clarke made an impact from the bench, his usual energy and bone shuddering challenges getting the crowd on side but not really transferring into more chances being created by the team.
Tilley found himself faced with Pym again on 62 minutes. Akins gave the ball away, allowing Lewis to send a diagonal ball out to the left. Flint reached it with his head, but only managed to send the ball up into the air. As he looked to shield the ball, Al Hamadi overpowered him, a retreating Bowery arrived on the scene to poke the ball back towards his own goal, but Tilley was on the move and shrugged off Brunt. He looked to have rounded the advancing Pym, but Pym scrambled back and managed to push Tilley’s shot into the sidenetting
Just a minute later, Tilley slid the ball through the legs of Clarke on the left touchline and tried his luck from range again. It should have been a straight forward stop for Pym, but the ball popped out of his hands, rolling over body and towards the goal line, but Pym managed to react quickly enough to pounce on the ball before it went over the line. Relief for the goalkeeper!
Jordan Bowery was lucky to avoid a second yellow card after bundling over Josh Neufville just outside the area. The free kick was curled into the sidenetting by Reeves. Bowery was replaced by Callum Johnson shortly afterwards.
A characteristic burst by Clarke down the right won a corner for Mansfield as they looked to try and get something going. Keillor-Dunn’s outswinging corner was met on the six yard line by substitute James Gale, but he got his contact all wrong and it bounced wide of the far post. Gale should be doing better with these type of chances. Despite his height, he has struggled when presented with headed opportunities. On 83 minute, Gale had a shot from range which was comfortable saved by Bass.
A stalemate at Field Mill, and a smidgen of frustration at full time for Mansfield, who will have felt they could have done more to trouble AFC Wimbledon. The Dons defended solidly, and will perhaps feel they could have snatched all three points, having had the better chances, albeit less than half the shots of Mansfield overall.
Clough felt after the game that changing shape during the second half to a 4-5-1 had helped his team, but it was difficult to agree. The decision to take off Maris and Lewis at half time was a strange one, with The Stags possession reducing by 15% from the first half to the second, and the number of shots from 13 to 7.
Gale at the double to beat Doncaster
Two heavily rotated sides met in the least prestigious of the domestic competitions Mansfield will be involved in this season, with eight changes made for both sides. Starts were given to Scott Flinders, George Williams, George Cooper, Callum Johnson, Calum Macdonald, Hiram Boateng, McKeal Abdullah and James Gale. George Maris, Lewis Brunt and Will Swan retained their places, with the focus on resting key players ahead of Saturday’s derby with Notts County.
The game was played at a frenetic pace, perhaps too frenetic given the number of errors both sides made throughout the 90 minutes. Inside the first minute, Cooper misjudged a ball into the channel, allowing Jack Goodman to test Flinders on his first appearance of the season. Just two minutes later, a beautiful pass by Louie Marsh put Goodman through again, this time Goodman rounded Flinders but Callum Johnson arrived in time to poke the ball away from Goodman. Tommy Rowe also chanced his arm from the edge of the box, but bent his effort wide
Mansfield had their first chance on 9 minutes. Boateng seized on a loose ball and slotted the ball through to Swan on the left. Swan played the ball across the face of goal where Abdullah was arriving, he directed the ball goalwards with his right foot but it was well saved by Lawlor.
The Stags had a penalty on 11 minutes. Abdullah headed a Maris cross back across the box, the ball pinged around and Gale hit the deck to win a penalty. It looks very soft on the replay, I can’t really even work out where the contact is. Gale grabbed the ball himself and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way, a nicely taken penalty.
It was 2-0 on 13 minutes. Lewis Brunt, starting in midfield, showed fantastic vision and execution to pick out Boateng surging through the middle. Boateng again played in Swan, this time on the right. Swan got to the byline before squaring to Gale, who was able to head into an empty net. A quickfire double for Gale, who had finally taken a headed chance.
Calum Macdonald had a great chance to make it three on 17 minutes, a wicked left wing cross from Gale was met by the full back six yards out and looped on to the cross bar off his head. Gale was shown a lot of promise with his delivery from wide areas. Macdonald also went close on 28 minutes. After a flowing move, the left back was found with a deft touch by Swan, took a touch into the area and flashed a shot wide of the far post.
On 38 minutes, Doncaster had a goal back through substitute Ben Close, who had only been on the pitch for three minutes. Despite not looking much of an aerial threat, he made a clever run across the front post to glance in a corner from the right hand side.
An entertaining first half, with neither defence covering themselves in glory. Both sides had taken and also wasted chances. At half time, Baily Cargill and Aaron Lewis replaced Lewis Brunt and George Maris.
On 54 minutes, youngster Goodman was again played through on goal with Flinders deciding to stay on his line. Goodman cut inside the sliding challenge of Cooper but saw his shot blocked brilliantly by George Williams. A minute later, the ball reached Close 35 yards from goal, he swept a shot towards goal through bodies, Flinders saw it late but reacted well to push the ball to safety.
Donny were level on 64 minutes, a nice move involving Close and Westbrooke culminated with Ironside initially heading the latter’s cross against the far post, but he reacted quickest to the rebound to stab home. A good comeback from Doncaster.
Mansfield reacted well, as James Gale left a Donny defender in a heap before setting Will Swan through on goal. Swan’s first touch was poor, forcing him wide and onto his left foot, he still managed to hit the target but Lawlor saved his effort. It’s just not happening for Swan at the moment in front of goal, a confident Swan takes than in his stride and slots it away.
Luke Molyneux went close to putting the visitors in front, cutting in from the right onto his stronger left foot, and bending a shot off Flinders’ right hand post. At the other end, Lawlor got down well to his left to deny Macdonald.
George Broadbent was inches away from nicking the win for Donny after another lovely exchange of passes. Molyneux played a disguised pass into Close in the area, he cut back to Broadbent unmarked from 7 yards but he could only pick out the post. That should have been the moment for Doncaster.
They were made to pay on 88 minutes. Boateng’s corner was driven towards the far post for emergency striker Aden Flint, he headed down to Callum Johnson who helped the ball on with head from six yards and the ball crept under Lawlor, who should have done better. A great moment for Johnson and the Stags fans to boost confidence ahead of the weekend. They saw out the remaining moments without trouble for the win.
It was a good advert for the benefits of a much maligned competition, a chance for fringe players, those returning from injury and young players to play against men in a competitive game. Given nobody is too fussed about the result, the games are usually entertaining, with plenty of goalmouth action.
Notts County (A) - Fan Preview
Derby day approaches this weekend, the first encounter between the two sides since February 2019. Both sides have started the season well, with County topping the table and Mansfield unbeaten in all competitions. The game will be shown live on Sky Sports, with 16,500 fans expected to be in attendance, with almost 4000 Stags fans making the short journey. The only fitness issue for the Stags is surrounding Ollie Clarke, who need stitches for an injury picked up against Wimbledon.
The excellent Tom Williams (@tomhwilliams23) has provided this weeks preview on Notts County. You can also join his Patreon
What were your expectations for the season and have they changed since the opening day? I think throughout the fanbase the expectations have been vastly different. Some would say simply staying in the division after being promoted would be a success. Others have said that a mid table finish would be more than respectable, but the most common ambition throughout our support was to finish inside the top 7. Perhaps I’m not as realistic as them, but I was slightly more ambitious at the start of the season, and I’ve been consistent in saying that I believe we should be aiming for a top 3 finish. Last season we had to fight for just 1 automatic promotion spot, so now that there are 3 I feel we should definitely be aiming for one of those coveted spots. I appreciate it’s an extremely tough division, and there are several sides who will feel they can finish inside those spaces. But we find ourselves top after 12 games, a massive achievement. So the ambitions haven’t really changed for me personally, and our good start has only cemented my belief that we should be aiming for a top 3 finish.
How would you rate your summer business out of ten? This is something that has changed since the summer. At the time our window looked incredibly strong; I think I rated it a 9 out of 10 when asked the question before a ball had even been kicked. The players we have signed have been superb. David McGoldrick has hit the ground running, which is perhaps not a surprise to anyone. Jodi Jones not only continued where he left off, but in fact elevated his game even further this season. Dan Crowley has been a revelation, and already has established himself as one of the first names on the teamsheet. However, our squad does look incredibly thin at the moment, so a lower rating would be more for what we haven’t signed, rather than what we have. We brought in 2 loanees at centre back, neither of which have really made a massive impact. We are incredibly short in midfield; I must say I envy you in that department, as having the ability to loan out a player like Anthony Hartigan seems like a million miles away from our midfield department. We have an incredibly strong XI, but our squad depth isn’t too rich, and had we strengthened more there in the summer it would have been a lot higher. But for the quality that we did add in forward areas, I’d have to give it a 7.5.
How have you performed so far? We’ve adapted really well to the division, and in plenty of games this season we’ve performed really, really well. Going forwards we’ve looked brilliant. McGoldrick has added several elements to our attack, not only an aerial threat, but also his link up play and understanding with Langstaff has added so much too. There can be no real complaints about us in front of goal. We’ve shown we have the ability to blow teams away, but we do so in a controlled and measured manner. We are still keeping as much of the ball as we did last season, but in the final third we look even more effective. However, there have been times where our performances have been disappointing. Other than the obvious opening day, where everything just seemed to go against us, the 4-3 win against Forest Green at home was probably the game I’d point at as one we could have done better in. We lacked control that day, and our back 3 didn’t have their best day at the office. But we have improved since then, and that’s been a characteristic of our side under Luke Williams; we have the ability to always respond to adversity.
Thoughts on your manager, Luke Williams? Simply, he is amazing. We haven’t had a manager like him before, and I’m not sure we will have one like him again. The whole fan base have completely bought into him, his style and what he’s trying to achieve, and that’s all down to the person that he is. He’s a fantastic coach; he’s got us playing some of the best football you’re likely to see. He’s also a fantastic manager, and manages to keep players happy despite not really rotating the squad. But as fans we don’t really see that side; what we see is how he approaches us. He always does so in an open and honest manner. He gets the club, he gets the fans, and he’s just the perfect fit for where we are right now. He always seems to say the right thing at the right time, and whether we win, lose or draw he always seems to echo the fan response. He has our full admiration, which is rare to see at Notts! Long may it continue.
What formation should we expect? Depending on how you class the wing backs you would say it’s either a 5-2-2-1 or a 3-4-2-1. Either way, it’s a back 3, with 2 very attacking wing backs either side of a midfield 2. Up top we have something of a triangle, with 2 attacking midfielders floating behind a striker at the tip of the attack. I can’t see us playing any other system, as we don’t have the personnel right now to play anything else.
Who will likely catch the eye for County at the weekend? The obvious contenders are David McGoldrick and Macaulay Langstaff. There’s good reason for that. McGoldrick is a class above, a bit like Flint is for you, playing below his level. Langstaff is a deadly finisher; the stats speak for themselves. I also think your fans will be pretty aware of John Bostock. He’s a big name and is another who is probably playing below his level. But the man I’m going to say will impress you most is Dan Crowley. He’s been a revelation since joining in the summer. He’s such a tricky player. His lower centre of gravity makes him hard to tackle, and you’ll see him twist and turn out of situations. He’s so good at retaining the ball, but he’s also got a brilliant habit of picking up lovely pockets of space. He’s got 5 goals to his name already, and all have been from timing his runs to perfection. Despite being one of the smallest players on the pitch, he’s scored 3 headers this season. Don’t be fooled by his diminutive stature either; he’s not afraid to get stuck in!
What do you make of Mansfield’s start to the season? Unbeaten in all competitions, it doesn’t really get much better than that. I’ve been very complimentary of your side, and the way you’ve been playing. I do believe that your performances are far above that of your points tally, and if you continue the season how you’ve started you’ll have no issues gaining promotion. Your defence is the best in the division; both statistically and also on eye test too. You’ve got one of the best midfielders in the league in Louis Reed, and it will be a fascinating battle between him and Matty Palmer in the middle. You do struggle to score; but I feel it’s only a matter of time before things click into place for you. Your unbeaten start is made even more impressive by the fact that you’ve played 5 of the top 7, and the other 2 sides are Notts and yourselves. After Saturday you’d anticipate a slightly easier fixture list, so I’d expect some of those draws to turn into wins.
Score prediction? 2-0 Notts. Despite waxing lyrical about you there, I do think playing at Meadow Lane gives us a massive advantage. We’ve got a 100% record at home; the only side in EFL to hold that accolade still. We really turn up in front of our home fans, and while you are a very solid outfit, you do struggle to score goals at times. I’ve got no doubt that this will be the toughest test we’ve faced this season yet. But I back our lads to get the job done, and to have too much going forwards.