21 April 2001

Mansfield Town 2 Leyton Orient 0

Lawrence 78, Bradley 90

Att. 2,356

Martin Shaw at Field Mill

Before this game there was a minute's silence, which was immaculately observed, for referee Mike North who tragically died last Monday. All the players wore black armbands and today's referee wore green, rather than the usual black, as a mark of respect.

Stags made just one change from the side that had started at Southend with Bobby Hassell replacing Mark Blake, who had picked up an injury on Friday. Orient included Carl Griffiths who had played under Billy Dearden at Port Vale, but who always seemed to do well against the Stags. Orient were unbeaten in 8 games, whilst Stags had not won in the last 6 games.

Stags started brilliantly and were at their best in the opening 25 minutes. There was wave after wave of Stags pressure led by the brilliant Craig Disley in midfield. Such was Stags dominance that Orient failed to mount an attack in those opening 25 minutes. Stags best chance

feel to Leroy Williamson whose shot from 10 yards was just cleared off the line, after terrific play by a rejuvenated Darrell Clarke down the

left hand side. Stags appeared to have a good shout for a penalty when a defender clearly handled the ball under pressure from Greenacre, but the referee waved play on, after a look at his assistant. But Orient had a good spell for 10 minutes and Ahmet Brkovic had 3 good chances to score for the Londoners on the break. First he shot over when well-placed then Mimms made 2 good saves, one after

a terrible mistake by Reddington. On 40 minutes, Carl Griffiths was sent off after he stupidly elbowed David Jervis off the ball right

under the assistant referee's nose down by the tunnel at the Quarry Lane end. He didn't have far to walk to the changing room after the

referee had the easiest decision of the afternoon to produce the red card. It was an unbelievable display of stupidity and hot-headedness and one which his manager described as "unprofessionnal" and having "let his side down badly". The Orient striker will now miss his side's 2 play-off games (or indeed 3, should they reach the final). A high price to pay for a moment of madness. Just before half time Shayne Bradley was unlucky to see his close range poke go just the wrong side of the post.

It had been a terrific first half display by the Stags - quite the best showing for some months.

Half-time 0-0

The opening 25 minutes of the second half was much quieter than the first with few chances at either end. Stags needed an injection of inspiration - enter Liam Lawrence on 63 minutes. The Stags youngster was all over the place. But still a Stags goal just wouldn't come. Then, just as Billy Dearden appeared to be preparing to bring on strikers Micky Boulding and Andy White, Mansfield at last got the goal their

performance had deserved. Williamson took a free-kick from in front of the dugout, and Greenacre won a flicked header in the box. The ball fell to Bradley whose close-range shot was blocked but fell to Lawrence, who smashed in a left-footed shot into the middle of the net from 6 yards, via a slight deflection. Weeks of tension seemed to be eased in an instant and the roof was lifted off Field Mill. Stags continued to pile on the pressure and there was just one dangerous moment for the Stags when Bobby Mimms mis-punched a clearance, but luckily it didn't fall to an Orient player. Stags came within 3 inches if increasing the lead when Disley broke clear but his shot was tipped around the post.But 2 minutes into injury time, Lawrence broke down the middle and played the ball out to the left for Bradley, on the angle of the

penalty box. Bradley beat his marker before firing an angled drive left-footed, low past the keeper's left hand and into the bottom right hand

corner of the net, to finally seal the points and put a realistic look to the scoreline.

Overall this was Stags best display for some months with outstanding displays from Disley, Jervis, Robinson and substitute

Lawrence and a welcome return to form for Darrell Clarke. The win puts Stags on 49 points, 7 points above bottom place Torquay who have just 3 games left, and should spell safety for the Stags. With 5 games left, Billy Dearden said after the game that his goal is now to beat last season's points tally of 56 points.

Man of the Match - Craig Disley

Mimms 7 Two great saves from Brkovic in the first half but otherwise a quiet afternoon

Asher 6 Solid enough at right back

Robinson 8 Outstanding display winning absolutely everything at the back

Reddington 6 A couple of misplaced passes put Stags in trouble but otherwise a solid display

Jervis 8 His best performance of the season, terrific in defence and very good going forward

Williamson 7 Exciting wing play in the first half created several chances and unlucky not to score when his shot was cleared off the line

Hassell 7 Good performance in midfield, and later switched to right back after Asher was substituted

Disley 9 Played like a terrier, winning all the 50/50 balls and creating wave after wave of pressure. A brilliant display.

Clarke 7 Back to somewhere near his best in the first half, though was quieter in the second half

Bradley 7 Took his goal very well and generally held the ball up well

Greenacre 7 Decent performance up front

Sub: Lawrence (for Asher 63 mins) 8 Created all sorts of problems for the Orient defence and deserved his goal

Subs not used: Pilkington, Andrews, Boulding, White.