Season 13/14 Stagsnet Match Report
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Mansfield Town
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Morecambe
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Dyer 17. Clucas missed pen 75.
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Redshaw 51, Ellison 85.
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Attendance: 2753 (102 from Morecambe)
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Date: 30 November 2013
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STAGS SUFFER SIXTH DEFEAT ON TROT
Martin Shaw and Simon Chamberlain at the One Call Stadium, Field Mill Despite taking the lead in the first half, and winning a second half penalty, Mansfield Town contrived to gift Morecambe all three points with a poor defensive display. It was the Stags’ sixth consecutive defeat in the league. The record consecutive number of league defeats in the club’s history is seven, set in 1947. The Stags are also now 10 league games without a win having taken just three points in the process. The winless run in the league is the worst since March-Sep 2000 when the Stags went 14 games without a win, which is the club record. Ross Dyer gave Mansfield the lead on 17 minutes when Clements found him with a lovely chip forward and Dyer took his shot first time on the half volley to beat the keeper. The Stags deservedly led at the interval despite some nervy defending, but were pegged back on 51 minutes. Daniel’s clearance was blocked, span up in the air, Beevers tried to shepherd the ball out, it span back into play possibly having gone out in the process, Drummond crossed the ball low across the edge of the six yard box, and Redshaw got there before Dempster to turn it into the net. Poor defending from Beevers and from Dempster. The Stags should have been back in front on 75 minutes. A good run from Daniel saw him upended by the keeper in the box. Clucas took the kick and went for placement rather than power and the keeper dived to his left and pushed the ball around the post. A poor penalty from Clucas as he gave the keeper a 50:50 chance of saving it depending on if he dived the right way. It was huge blow for the Stags. Worse was to follow on 85 minutes. Beevers headed a ball forward 40 yards from his own goal, Meikle headed it backwards into the path of Redshaw, who ran to the byline, and cut inside Beevers like he wasn’t there, Redshaw’s cross was pushed away by Marriott, and Ellison showed more determination than Poku to throw his head at the ball and head it goalwards, getting a kick in the head from Poku in the process, Marriott got a hand on the header but couldn’t keep it out of the net. The Stags had two chances to equalise in stoppage time as Speight shot just wide and Clucas had a shot cleared off the line by the keeper. The full time whistle brought a mixture of boos from some and stunned silence from others. A game that it was hard to work out how Mansfield lost but it came from some poor defending and you can’t afford to miss a penalty. The Stags brought back coach Micky Moore to the club on the morning of the game on a 2.5 year contract showing clearly that owner John Radford is keeping faith with manager Cox, Moore having been Cox’s assistant in the play-off season two years ago. Moore is an excellent coach, especially defensively and he needs to ensure the Stags cut out silly mistakes handing goals to the opposition. If they can do that, Mansfield will start to rise up the table again having slumped to just four points above the relegation zone. Today’s game for example should have been a 1-0 win, or even 2-0 with the penalty. Morecambe came into the game with just one win in 8 games, a run not much better than Mansfield’s. Stags boss Paul Cox made three changes to the side that lost at Burton. New loan signing Darryl Westlake came in at right back, in place of the injured Ritchie Sutton, Anthony Howell returned in place of Poku who made his first start on Tuesday, and Ross Dyer started up front in place of the injured Stevenson. The opening minutes were poor fayre with both sides looking low on confidence. The first chance came on 10 minutes: a good move involving Clements, and Clucas found Palmer whose right foot shot under pressure was just wide of the right post. The Stags were ahead on 17 minutes. Clements played a lovely chip forward and Dyer took his shot first time on the half volley left footed to beat the keeper who possibly should have done better. On 20 minutes, Marriott made a good save from an Ellison close range effort, though Ellison was flagged offside. On 31 minutes, from a corner by Clements, Dempster’s header was blocked and went wide. On 36 minutes, a great move involving Westlake, and Clements found Clucas whose shot on the turn was just over the bar. On 42 minutes, Dyer tried a shot from 30 yards which was blocked at source but which showed his confidence. The Stags deservedly led at the interval despite some nervy defending. Westlake and Dyer were impressive and Howell won some good challenges. Half time 1-0 Morecambe were level on 51 minutes. Daniel’s clearance was blocked, span up in the air, Beevers tried to shepherd the ball out, it span back into play possibly having gone out in the process, Drummond crossed the ball low across the edge of the six yard box, and Redshaw got there before Dempster to turn it into the net. Poor defending from Beevers and from Dempster. On 53 minutes, a rejuvenated Morecambe nearly took the lead. Padraig Amond was in space on the left but fired well wide from a great position. On 57 minutes, Mansfield were forced into a change they didn’t want to make as playmaker Clements went off injured, to be replaced by Poku, leaving Mansfield with two ball-winning midfielders and little creativity. On 59 minutes an Ellison volley was well over the bar. A good chance for the Stags on 61 minutes. A free kick from Beevers on the halfway line, reached Palmer (via a good pass from Dyer) in space on the left 10 yards out, but his shot was saved by the keeper’s legs. Good defending from Clucas on 66 minutes getting back to clear as Morecambe had two men over. Speight replaced the disappointing Palmer on 69 minutes. The Stags should have been back in front on 75 minutes. A good run from Daniel saw him upended by the keeper in the box. Some fans thought it was a dive from Daniel but from our position in the West Stand it looked like he was brought down, and it also looks that way from the DVD. It looked like a possible red card for the keeper as he was the last man, but the referee only awarded a yellow as Daniel was going away from goal. Some referees though might have given a red. Clucas took the kick and went for placement rather than power and the reprieved keeper dived to his left and pushed the ball around the post. A poor penalty from Clucas as he gave the keeper a 50:50 chance of saving it depending on whether he dived the right way. It was huge blow for the Stags. On 77 minutes, a frustrated Clucas was booked for a foul. On 79 minutes, a free kick into the Stags box and a header was cleared. Moments later, an Ellison shot hit Dempster and was deflected through to Marriott. Meikle replaced Daniel on 81 minutes. On 82 minutes, a Beevers long throw reached Clucas who shot on the turn and the keeper made a great save flying to his right. Clucas held his head in his hands in frustration. Worse was to follow on 85 minutes. Beevers headed a ball forward 40 yards from his own goal, Meikle headed it backwards into the path of Redshaw, who ran to the byline, and cut inside Beevers like he wasn’t there, Redshaw’s cross was pushed away by Marriott, and Ellison showed more determination than Poku to throw his head at the ball and head it goalwards, getting a kick in the head from Poku in the process, Marriott got a hand on the header but couldn’t keep it out of the net. On 88 minutes, a Howell shot was blocked and Poku shot wide from 20 yards. On 90+1, a great run from Meikle, to set up Speight who turned well and his left footed shot was just past the right post. Finally on 90+6, Clucas had a shot cleared off the line by the keeper with his legs. The full time whistle brought a mixture of boos from some and stunned silence from others. Man of the match: Ross Dyer |
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Report by: Martin Shaw and Simon Chamberlain at the One Call Stadium, Field Mill
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Line Up:
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Marriott 6 Quiet game, couldn’t really be blamed for the goals.
Westlake 7 Impressive debut at right back. Looked confident. Dempster 5 Partly at fault for the first goal allowing Redshaw to turn the ball into the net from close range. Riley 6 Part of a poor defence though no specific errors. Beevers 4 At fault for both goals. Very disappointing. Clucas 6 Poor penalty so that was so costly. Anonymous in the first half apart from a good shot on the turn over the bar. Nearly made amends late on with efforts saved by keeper. One particularly good piece of defending, getting back to clear danger. Howell 6 Good first half winning some good challenges, but didn’t influence the game enough in the second half. Clements 6.5 Great ball for the goal, and a good set-up for a Clucas shot. Was missed when he went off with a back injury. Daniel 6 Earned the penalty with a good run but didn’t do enough in the rest of the game. Dyer 7 Won every header in the first half, and a fine finish for the goal. Faded in the second half. Palmer 5 Quiet game. |
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Sub Line Up:
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Poku (for Clements, 57) 5 Couldn’t influence the game.
Speight (for Palmer, 69) 6 One good effort in stoppage time. Meikle (for Daniel, 81) - Wayward header led to Morecambe break for the second goal. One good run in stoppage time set up a chance for Speight Subs not used: Deakin, Tafazolli, Hutchinson, Rhead. |
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Opposition Line Up:
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Roche; Parrish, Kenyon, Hughes, Threlfall; Ellison, Williams (Fleming ht), Marshall (Redshaw ht), McCready, Drummond, Amond (Sampson 78). Subs not used: Diagne, Wright, Mwasile, Arestidou.
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Referee:
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Lee Collins 6 generally handled the game ok.
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