18th November 2000

FA Cup Round 1

 
Mansfield Town   1 - 1  Peterborough United
Greenacre pen 70   Farrell 37
     

Attendance: 3,257

Martin Shaw at Field Mill.

A fine game that captured all the passion and excitement of the FA Cup, ended all square at 1-1 with both Mansfield Town and Peterborough United feeling they could have won this closely fought encounter. The replay in 10 days time at London Road promises to be every bit as competitive as the sides will battle to earn a second round tie at home to Oldham.

There was one surprise in the Stags side as midfielder Darrell Clarke failed a late fitness test, after boss Billy Dearden had kept the player`s injury quiet from the media during the week. Blake returned from suspension to replace Clarke. Jon Fortune was not eligible to play leaving John Andrews and Stuart Hicks in central defence, with Robinson and Jervis at full backs in a flat back four. Shayne Bradley returned from injury to claim a place on the substitutes bench.

The game started at a tremendous place and inside the first minute Stags keeper Bobby Mimms made a wonderful save as Jason Lee’s free header from 12 yards was deflected by McKenzie goalwards before Mimms got his body in the way to push it away for a corner. It was a fabulous save by the Stags keeper. Peterborough continued to cause early danger, but Stags slowly pulled themselves into the game. There were chances at either end as Mimms saved well from Dave Farrell, and Boulding’s low shot was saved. There were appeals for a penalty as Greenacre went down under a challenge. From my position at the far end of the ground it did look a clear penalty.

Stags had a good chance to take the lead when Greenacre broke clear of his marker to give himself a 1-on-1 with Posh keeper Tyler. But from 12 yards, Greenacre fired towards the bottom left hand corner of the net, and Tyler did just enough to deflect the ball away. Next Lee Williams cut inside from the right wing and sent a low shot skidding just wide of the right-hand post. Then at the other end, Jason Lee had an overhead kick that comically ended up by the corner flag. But Stags laughter didn’t last long as Posh took the lead on 37 minutes. A back-pass was played to Bobby Mimms and with Posh pushing forward, Mimms cleared the ball down the centre of the pitch. But his kick was weak and only ended up with a Posh player, who played the ball forward to David Farrell, and the lethal winger made no mistake with a shot from the right hand side of the box from about 15 yards just inside the far post. It was a clear mistake by Mimms and one for which Stags were severely punished. Shortly afterwards, Stags nearly equalised as Corden curled a shot towards the Posh goal, but it was cleared of the line.

Half-time 0-1

The game continued to be exciting in the second half with chances at both ends. Peterborough had more of the chances, but Greenacre had a couple of chances himself. But on 60 minutes Billy Dearden gambled on 3 up front by bringing on Danny Bacon. His decision paid off as Stags were literally handed a lifeline on 70 minutes. Hassell played a harmless ball into the box but the cross, which was going nowhere, was very clearly handled by Andy Clarke. After the game, Posh boss Barry Fry said "It was never a penalty in a million years". Possibly from his position on the far side it may not have looked it, but I can assure him that I had a perfect view of the incident from behind the goal, and it was a cast-iron penalty. Bobby Hassell picked up the ball and appeared to be about to take the penalty but then handed the ball to Greenacre. Billy Dearden later said he was surprised that Greenacre took the kick as he was expecting Hassell to take it. It was a brave decision by Greenacre, who had missed his two previous spot-kicks for the Stags. His kick was firm and sent the keeper the wrong way to give the Stags the vital equaliser.

Both sides through caution to the wind, and Stags brought on a fourth striker in Shayne Bradley, though Boulding immediately dropped back into midfield. Greenacre had a good chance to win the game for the Stags as he took the ball around keeper Tyler, but was falling as she shot from a tight angle and his scuffed shot was cleared off the line by Drury. Peterborough also had late chances but the game ended in a draw and both sides still have every chance of progressing through to the second round.

In my opinion a draw was a fair result, with both sides having almost exactly the same number of chances. This is all credit to the Stags against a team in great form in the second division and provided terrific entertainment for the fans

Finally a note on the crowd. The attendance was quoted as 3,257, but once again looked higher than that. With at least 900 supporters from Peterborough, plus about 1000 Stags fans in the Quarry Lane End, there were certainly at least 1700 Stags fans in the North Stand. All of which makes a crowd of at least 3,600. This is by no means the first time I have made such a comment this season.

Man of the Match – Les Robinson

Line Up Rating Remarks
Mimms

7

Several great saves from point blank range, but one poor kick led to the Posh goal.
Robinson 9 Man of the match performance at right back. Seemed to win every tackle and played the ball from the back intelligently.
Andrews 8 Won everything in the air, and made some good tackles. Just made one mistake, with a backpass that gave away a corner.
Hicks 7 Good performance against the club where he started his career
Jervis 6 Still looks a little light-weight at left-back and had a tough game against the impressive David Farrell.
Williams 6 One fine shot that skidded just past the post from 25 yards, but crossing needs to improve.
Blake 6 Gave the ball away on a few occasions, but often won it back. Not on his best form but still tough-tackling in midfield.
Hassell 6 Fair performance, but failed to create anything from midfield, as Stags missed the influential Darrell Clarke.
Corden 5 Disappointing performance; didn’t get into the game at all and rightly substituted.
Greenacre 8 Involved in everything that was good about Stags going forward. Unlucky with one effort well saved by the keeper and another cleared off the line. Showed great courage to take and score the penalty.
Boulding 5 Surprisingly often beaten for pace, and was never able to find that piece of magic to open the defence up.
Subs:
Williamson 6 (for Jervis, 62 minutes) Initially at left back, then switched to the right.
Bacon

  6

(for Cordon, 62 minutes) Not able to make an impression whilst on as substitute.
Bradley

6

(for Williams, 78 minutes) Good to see the powerhouse striker back.
Not Used:  Pilkington, Asher.