Archived News from November 2008
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IT`S CHESTERFIELD, IF WE GET PAST YORK
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Draw for FA Cup Round 1
Chesterfield v York or Mansfield November 8th or 9th ------------ Cup cracker as Stags land Spireites - IF they win replay 25 October 2008 By Tim Morriss and John Lomas MANSFIELD Town's owners and manager have urged fans to get behind the Stags for Tuesday's FA Cup replay with York City - after the club was handed the exciting chance of a trip to local rivals Chesterfield in the First Round. "It's mouthwatering isn't it?" said Stags boss Billy McEwan after the draw was made. http://www.chad.co.uk/stags/Cup-cracker-as-Stags-land.4630483.jp The Stags were paired with the Spireites, the 'arch enemy', in Sunday's draw for the First Round of the FA Cup - less than 24 hours after they came away from the Kit Kat Crescent with a goalless draw on Saturday in the Fourth Qualifying Round. Now, if they win Tuesday's replay, the Stags will travel to Saltergate to visit the Division II side on Saturday 8th or Sunday 9th November - after this Sunday lunchtime's First Round draw set up the prospect of a mouth-watering local derby. It would be the first ever FA Cup clash between the two local rivals and manager Billy McEwan and two of the three owners, Andy Perry and Andy Saunders, have urged the supporters to turn out in force at Field Mill on Tuesday. The club hopes to release details of ticket prices for the replay first thing on Monday morning. Fans are calling for the Stags to reduce admission charges and the club wants to, but the price has to be agreed by both York and the FA. Ironically the draw means manager Billy McEwan could again face one of his old clubs - having been a manager at York and a player at Chesterfield. The cup replay has handed the Stags an unexpected cash windfall - and victory on Tuesday night will mean even more money for the club with the prospect of more. For winners in the Fourth Qualifying Round receive £12,500 - and victory over rivals Chesterfield would earn the Stags a further £20,000 prizemoney plus a share of the gate receipts. "It's mouthwatering isn't it?" said Stags boss Billy McEwan after the draw was made. "But we have got to get through first and that is the most important thing. "It's a local derby, it's against a League club and it's one of my old clubs, I played for them before I joined Mansfield as a player. "I am sure Chesterfield will be looking forward to playing us if we can get through as they know we would bring a much bigger following than York would. "Hopefully we can now get a big crowd behind us for the replay on Tuesday night, who will really get behind the boys. "We know it will be a very hard game against York as it was yesterday. But what an incentive to be playing your next door neighbours in the next round if you can get through!" Club chairman Andy Perry added: "It is obviously great to have a derby draw, but we are very conscious we have got to get through our home replay against York yet. "We can't get too carried away with it. "But if we show the same character and spirit as we did on Saturday then there is no reason why we can't get through. "We have already discussed about a pricing structure for the replay and we are looking at trying to make it a lot cheaper. "It is dependant on York agreeing, but they are a forward looking club and I am sure they will go for it, and the FA approving it too. "It is an extra game, not the original tie, so I am sure they will allow it. "We hope to be able to make an announcement first thing tomorrow." Stags joint owner Andy Saunders told Chad: "We need the fans behind us on Tuesday for the replay - it is fantastic draw and a great incentive for everyone at the club to make sure we get through the replay." ----------------- City's penalty practice ahead of FA Cup replay http://www.thepress.co.uk By Dave Flett » YORK City will practice penalties ahead of tomorrow night's FA Cup fourth qualifying round replay at Mansfield Town. A first round away tie at Chesterfield awaits the winners of the Field Mill clash and City chief Colin Walker is expecting another close encounter with the Stags. The two teams followed last month's 1-1 Blue Square Premier draw by sharing the spoils again during Saturday's 0-0 Cup draw. Walker admitted afterwards that it would not be a surprise if the game is eventually settled by a shoot-out and will prepare his players for that eventuality. He said: “I'm sure it will be another tight game and we will be practising penalties at the training ground today.” But the Minstermen are likely to be without regular spot-kick specialist Craig Farrell after he limped out of the action midway through the first half on Saturday with a groin problem. Walker is hoping, though, that the injury to Farrell, who saw his last penalty saved at Wrexham, will not prove a long-term problem. He said: “With any luck, we took him off in time for the injury not to become a pulled groin muscle.” With Richard Brodie on loan at Barrow, where he marked his debut by scoring twice during the Cumbrians' 4-0 Cup victory at Tamworth, Walker is likely to turn to Onome Sodje again after the 20-year-old striker made his first senior appearance for four weeks as a replacement for Farrell. The City boss added: “I didn't want to give Sodje that long because he's only had 60 minutes for the reserves after his hamstring injury but he was the obvious replacement because he's a threat.” Walker has also called for an improved display from his side, labelling his team's efforts on Saturday as “poor.” He said: “I wasn't happy with a draw. It was a poor performance and we weren't very potent going forward. “We ground something out and didn't lose, which was a positive. We also kept a clean sheet, which was another positive but the players have got to work harder than that. “The ball was in the air a lot. It was getting kicked from one end to the other and we're not like that. “They were happy with a draw and we didn't get enough bodies forward.” Walker replaced Mark Robinson with Simon Russell early in the second half as he looked for attacking inspiration, switching from 3-5-2 to 4-4-2 with David McGurk moving to left-back. About that decision, the City boss said: “We had to change our shape because we had too many defenders and not enough players going forward. They played 4-3-3 but the longer the game went on it became 4-5-1. “Our wing-backs were too deep though. They didn't get into attacking areas and weren't sure whether to mark the wide players or not. “In that situation, the back three have to be brave and encourage them to push forward so we can get more players in midfield. Everybody seemed afraid to make a mistake though. “We switched to 4-4-2 and David McGurk, who's played there before for Darlington, did well and, had Simon Russell threaded the ball through to Adam Boyes at the end, we would have been through to the next round.” Having added former Leeds United midfielder Gavin Rothery to his squad, Walker added that he would be in no rush to bring in a new striker on loan. He said: “I wouldn't be able to get one in that would be eligible for tomorrow night in any case and I'm not looking to just bring anybody in. I have been waiting to try to get one from the Football League.” -------------- |
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