Season 13/14 Stagsnet Match Report
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Mansfield Town
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Cheltenham Town
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Cureton 58, 80.
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Attendance: 3586 (134 from Cheltenham)
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Date: 21 April 2014
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STAGS ON THE BEACH TO HAND POINTS TO CHELTENHAM
Martin Shaw at the One Call Stadium, Field Mill Mansfield Town turned in a terrible performance to hand three points to a Cheltenham Town side who really didn’t have to earn them. It was as though the Stags players were already on the beach for their summer holidays, having realised that the chance of the play-offs had disappeared with that unjust penalty in stoppage time at Accrington on Friday. It was a poor show in front of a crowd that included 4-500 more home fans than usual, some of whom probably turned up having heard good things about the win over Rochdale and a seven game unbeaten run. They might not be coming back after this. The first half was a poor game, though was fairly even. The second half was just dreadful from the Stags and the fans had a right to expect better. Two goals were gifted to Cheltenham, the first after Anthony Howell gave the ball away 40 yards from goal and the defence stood and watched Harrison feed Cureton who smashed the ball past Lewis Price. And the second when Riley stood and watched a ball forward into the Stags box, thinking that Lewis Price was going to get there but he couldn’t, Cureton nipped in to intercept and score from a tight angle. A howler from Riley who has been so impressive in recent weeks. Few players came out of the game with any credit, in fact most players were poor. Honourable exceptions were Ritchie Sutton (my man of the match), and Tafazolli, who were ok. After the game, Paul Cox was furious with the mindset of his players and rightly so. He was also his own biggest critic taking part of the responsibility for the defeat. Two games left, against two sides that the Stags could send down if we beat them. No time for sentiment, it’s important to finish the season on a high. The Stags have got to do better than this. With 9th placed Plymouth only a point above the Stags, the aim should now be to finish 9th. Come on Mansfield! An interesting footnote to the first Cheltenham goal was that, with Tafazolli in the side, this was the first goal the Stags had conceded in open play since the Newport game on 8th March (Tafazolli missed the Hartlepool game, the only game since the Newport game when we had conceded anything other than a penalty). A word on the Stags fans who made a tremendous noise, particularly those in the Quarry Lane stand, despite the poor show. Paul Cox made three changes to the side that drew at Accrington, With Clements out through a knee injury picked up at Accrington, and Daniel and Palmer also dropping to the bench, in came Howell and McGuire (after suspensions), and Clucas. Speight was only on the bench after his impressive cameo at Accrington. It was a 3-2-3-2 formation, with Clucas joining Rhead up front, and Howell, Murray and McGuire in central midfield. Cheltenham arrived needing a point, according their media guys, to make them safe. On 3 minutes, Cheltenham had the ball in the net but it was offside. A great cross from Richards from the left curled into the box and was headed in by Harrison, but was offside. On 8 minutes, good play from Clucas to find Murray, whose crossfield pass was met by a Rhead header on target from 12 yards but easily saved. On 10 minutes, good defending from Murray to dispossess McGlashan and clear up-field. Howell gave the ball away a couple of times in the opening 10 minutes and got away with it. On 20 minutes, a Cheltenham corner dropped to ?? who slid the ball goalwards and then Noble shot well wide from 20 yards. The Stags should have been in front on 22 minutes. A corner from Jennings form the left was met by Tafazolli who rose highest but headed over. On 31 minutes, Harrison got to the edge of the area and Sutton did well to block his shot. Two minutes later, a low cross across the face of goal from McGlashan was met by the boot of Richards from close range but Lewis Price was on hand to make a great save, and Sutton put the loose ball over the bar. On 35 minutes, Cheltenham had a spell of pressure in the Stags box before Cureton sent a wild shot well over the bar. The Stags were being pinned back. On 41 minutes, Rhead found Westlake on the right, who cut inside onto his left foot and shot over the bar. A minute later the ball dropped to Jennings on the edge of the area and he completely mis-cued wide. Then a good move from the Stags to earn a corner, from which Rhead flicked goalwards but it was an easy save. On 45 minutes, a good tackle from Sutton. A poor first half overall, which was fairly even. Half time 0-0 Meikle replaced Westlake at the start of the second half. The Stags switched to 4-4-2, with Clucas on the right, Meikle on the left, Howell up front, and Sutton at right back. I thought the decision to put Howell up front was a perplexing one, given we had Speight on the bench after his fine cameo role at Accrington. On 48 minutes, a shot from McGuire was deflected to Murray, whose left foot piledriver was blocked. Moments later Jennings put in a terrible cross, typifying a poor performance. The Stags were giving the ball away too often in a poor start to the second half. Then on 55 minutes, a Jennings free kick was over everyone, awful. Cheltenham took the lead on 58 minutes. Howell gave the ball away 40 yards from goal and the defence stood and watched Harrison feed Cureton who smashed the ball past Lewis Price from 12 yards. An interesting footnote to the goal was that, with Tafazolli in the side, this was the first goal the Stags had conceded in open play since the Newport game on 8th March (Tafazolli missed the Hartlepool game, the only game since the Newport game when we had conceded anything other than a penalty). Palmer replaced Howell on 60 minutes. On 62 minutes, a great ball from Clucas down the line for Palmer whose cross was cleared for a corner. From that corner, taken by Jennings, Rhead headed over. Moments later poor play from Meikle with a misplaced cross. On 68 minutes, a Sutton cross went straight past Palmer and Clucas and out for a goal-kick. It was a rare decent exciting moment in what was by now a really bad show from the Stags. On 76 minutes, Cureton sent a 20 yard shot well wide. Speight replaced Jennings, as the Stags went to a 3-3-4 formation, with Rhead, Speight, Palmer and Clucas all up front, though Clucas was sometimes in right midfield. On 78 minutes, Riley was booked, yet it looked a great tackle to me! It was 2-0 to Cheltenham on 80 minutes. Riley stood and watched a ball forward into the Stags box, thinking that Lewis Price was going to get there but he couldn’t, Cureton nipped in to intercept and score from a tight angle. A howler from Riley who has been so impressive in recent weeks. An absolute gift for the visitors. On 84 minutes, the Stags had the ball in the net and Palmer headed on, and Speight fired home clinically, but Speight was offside. The match DVD shows that Speight was indeed fractionally offside. On 86 minutes, Sutton’s free kick from the halfway line found Rhead who headed across goal and Speight sent a left footed shot over the bar. Murray was booked for an accumulation of fouls on 90+1. On 90+3, Clucas mis-cued an attempt at goal, then Rhead went down in the area and furious that no penalty was given, and then Rhead sent in a cheeky back-flick, and a defender put the ball over his own bar under pressure from Speight. The corner, taken by McGuire, was headed down by Riley but cleared away. One or two boos at the final whistle but mostly silence to reflect a flat performance. Much better needed in the final game to see us off into the summer. Man of the match: Ritchie Sutton |
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Report by: Martin Shaw at the One Call Stadium, Field Mill
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Line Up:
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Price 5 Didn’t come off his line much, which was disappointing. One very good save from the close range shot in the first half.
Sutton 6.5 Didn’t make any mistakes and pretty solid. Riley 5 Poor game after a fine run of form. Misjudgement gifted the second goal to Cureton. Was unlucky to be booked though for what looked like a good tackle. Tafazolli 6 Did ok. Should have got his header on target in the first half. The goals today were the first the Stags have conceded in open play since the Newport game with him in the side. Westlake 5.5 Got forward quite a lot in the first half. Subbed at half time. Jennings 5 Poor. Murray 5 Poor game. McGuire 5 Poor. Howell 4 Gave the ball away a couple of times in the first 10 minutes to set the tone for his performance. Gave the ball away in the lead up to the first goal. Very poor game. Clucas 5 Not a shadow of the player we have seen previously. If any scouts were watching, they’d have left before the end. Rhead 5 Did some good defensive work. But had a bad game. |
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Sub Line Up:
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Meikle (for Westlake, 46) 4 Very poor. Misplaced crosses.
Palmer (for Howell, 60) 6 Did ok and livened things up a bit. Speight (for Jennings, 76) 6 Good finish for the offside goal. Should have been brought on earlier in my opinion. |
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Opposition Line Up:
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Scott Brown; Jombati, Troy Brown, Elliott, Braham-Barrett; Noble, McGlashan (Vincent 90), Richards, Deering; Harrison, Cureton (Gornell 87). Subs not used: Roberts (GK), Ihiekwe, Taylor, Kotwica, Williams.
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Referee:
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Andy Woolmer 7 Decent game. Booking of Riley looked very harsh.
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