Archived News from February 2018
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TREMENDOUS STAGS WIN AT EXETER
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English Football League - Sky Bet League Two
Exeter City 0 - 1 Mansfield Town Rose 38 Attendance: 3680 (224 from Mansfield) Date: 17 February 2018 Martin Shaw at St James Park Mansfield Town produced a fabulous first half display and a gritty second half display to play high-flying Exeter City off the park at St James Park this afternoon and earn a huge three points. The Stags continued their scintillating form from Tuesday night’s thumping of Newport County and should have had the game sealed by half time. Instead they only had Danny Rose’s 38th minute goal to show for their domination. The goal came when Alfie Potter did well to get to the byline on the right, crossed into the middle and Kane Hemmings stuck out a leg to superbly turn it towards the roof of the net from 4 yards. Keeper Christy Pym produced an incredible save to turn it onto the bar, but the ball came out and Danny Rose was quickest to react, turning it goalwards from 7 yards, and despite the keeper getting a hand on that that as well, he couldn’t keep it out of the net. It was Rose’s 17th goal of a superb season. Mansfield could have been ahead after 5 minutes as Alex MacDonald’s shot was blocked and Alfie Potter headed on to Rose who fired against the post from a tight angle on the right. On 16 minutes, Rose headed straight at the keeper and knew he should have done better, then Hamilton’s on-target shot was blocked on 25 minutes. Then a volley from Hemmings, also on target, was blocked. Exeter were never in the game in the first half. In the second half, the Stags started well but gradually Exeter got a small foothold in the game, but Mansfield defended solidly and Exeter were unable to create a single meaningful effort at goal. On 74 minutes, an outrageous dive in the area by Jayden Stockley, Conrad Logan was furious but the referee refused to book Stockley. Still no chances for Exeter, and into the final minute of stoppage time Exeter got the ball into the Stags box, Stockley again threw himself to the floor, then seconds later the ball was squared to Dean Moxey who again outrageously dived into Paul Anderson, trying to win a penalty. The referee correctly said no penalty. From the video, it is a clear dive. Moxey was booked moments later for scything down Krystian Pearce but both he and Stockley should have received yellow cards for diving. So a richly deserved win for Mansfield and another terrific result. We have to bear in mind that, as against Newport on Tuesday, the Stags have played a really good side off the park and made them look poor. The Stags are three points behind 2nd and 3rd place, and 7 points above 8th placed Exeter (albeit they have 2 games in hand). Steve Evans kept the same side that beat Newport on Tuesday. He explained that he couldn’t justify to any of the players if he had left them out, even though he did consider freshening the side up having played in midweek, whilst opponents Exeter did not. Before the game, Steve Evans asked me to name the side. I thought he might freshen things up a bit but I really didn’t know with which players, so I predicted an unchanged starting XI and unchanged bench, which was correct. Two sides of the ground have been demolished since Mansfield last visited St James Park, so there are just two sides open at present. It was a lovely sunny day. But the pitch was poor, muddy in some places and apparently boggy in some places. There would be no excuses from Steve Evans, who was well aware of the state of the pitch after a phonecall with Gareth Ainsworth whose Wycombe team played here last week, and Evans simply stated before the game that it was the same for both sides. FULL REPORT IN THE MATCH CENTRE ---------------------------------- MATCH REPORT: Rose strikes to win six-pointer for Stags chad.co.uk, by Agency, Saturday 17 February 2018 Danny Rose made it four goals in five games to give Mansfield a crucial 1-0 win away at Exeter and boost their automatic promotion hopes. The striker struck the winner on 38 minutes, turning home the rebound after Kane Hemmings rattled the crossbar. Picture by Gareth Williams/AHPIX.com; Football; Sky Bet League Two; Exeter City v Mansfield Town; 17/2/18 KO 15.00; St James Park; copyright picture; Howard Roe/AHPIX.com; Mansfield's Danny Rose salutes his opening goal at Exeter It means the Stags have lost just one of their last 12 league games with the win being the fifth victory in their last six games. It was no surprise Steve Evans’ men led at the break after they laid siege to the Exeter goal in a one-sided first half of a real ‘six-pointer’ game. There was just five minutes gone when Rose fired the first warning shot, bundling his way into the six-yard box before watching his shot from an acute angle pushed on to the post by Christy Pym. The chance set the tone for a first-half bombardment as Mansfield wreaked havoc down both flanks and created a steady stream of chances. Rose was at the centre of everything, emerging through a sea of players to head straight at Pym before testing the Exeter keeper with another header. CJ Hamilton was the next to be denied with an effort destined for the far corner of the net until Jordan Moore-Taylor blocked. Mansfield got the opener their pressure deserved seven minutes before the interval. Alfie Potter drove into the box and drilled in a cross from which Hemmings lashed an effort goalwards - Pym performed heroics to tip the striker’s effort on to the crossbar but Rose was on hand to stab home the rebound for his 17th goal of the season. Rose could have added a second in the opening stages of the second half but could only drag an effort past the far post. Exeter made a fight of it in the second half but Stags keeper Conrad Logan was largely untroubled as Mansfield recorded their sixth away win of the season. -STATS- Exeter 0 Mansfield 1 Rose 38 Exeter City: (4-4-2): Pym 7, Wilson 6, Brown 7, Moore-Taylor 7, Woodman 4 (Edwards 69 5), Taylor 5, James 5 (Harley 46 7), Tillson 5, Moxey 5, Loft 4 (Boateng 46 6), Stockley 6. Subs not used: Jones, Archibald-Henville, Simpson, Holmes. Mansfield Town: (4-4-2): Logan 7, Anderson 7, Pearce 7, Bennett 7, Benning 7, Potter 7, MacDonald 7 (Diamond 90 n/a), King 7, Hamilton 7, Hemmings 7 (Atkinson 63 6), Rose 8 (Spencer 76 6). Subs not used: Olejnik, Mellis, Penney, Miller. Referee: Chris Sarginson 7/10. Attendance: 3,680 (224). Read more at: https://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town/match-report-rose-strikes-to-win-six-pointer-for-stags-1-9021985 --------------- Exeter City 0 Mansfield Town 1: Match report - Sub-standard Grecians deservedly beaten A poor performance sees the Grecians slump to a defeat against promotion rivals devonlive.com, By David Byrom, 17 FEB 2018 https://www.devonlive.com/sport/football/match-reports/exeter-city-0-mansfield-town-1228780 Exeter City slumped to a 1-0 defeat to promotion rivals Mansfield Town, putting in a very sub-standard performance that saw them struggle to look like scoring all game. Mansfield dominated the first half yet only went in with a 1-0 lead and, whilst City improved after the break, they never looked like coming back into the game. The Grecians made four changes to their starting XI, with Troy Brown returning from a two-and-a-half month lay-off to replace Jordan Storey, Craig Woodman replacing Lee Holmes, Ryan Loft coming in for Liam McAlinden for his debut and Kane Wilson starting at right-back in place of Pierce Sweeney. Mansfield fielded a 4-4-2 formation that looked to make use of their wingers, with CJ Hamilton and Alfie Potter both seeing plenty of the ball and delivering dangerous crosses for Danny Rose and Kane Hemmings up front. The game got off to an even start, with Jayden Stockley having a penalty appeal turned down before City failed to properly clear a corner, with Rose turning a loose ball onto the post from six yards after five minutes. That seemed to set the tone for the first half as Mansfield began to dominate possession, putting a number of balls into the box that City seemed unable to clear properly - although the Grecians were not helping themselves by constantly hitting the ball long to Stockley, who was being given very little service. When the Grecians did get forward, they did look threatening, with a brilliant touch from Stockley allowing him to cross for Loft on 15 minutes, with his strike partner teeing up Jordan Tillson, who had a shot blocked. At the other end, some nice interplay from Mansfield found Rose in space in the box, but a combination of Wilson and Brown did well to thwart the striker. The Stags looked a lot more sharper than a Grecians side that were playing lethargically and they came under more and more pressure as the half wore on, with Hemmings heading straight at Pym on 20 minutes after City had been unable to properly clear a ball into the box. City’s poor performance was summed up by a passage of play in the 22 minute, when an awful throw-in from Jake Taylor by the corner flag going straight to a Mansfield player, and the visitors broke downfield and won a corner, from which they won another corner, although the pressure on the Grecians was eventually relieved when Taylor won a free-kick inside his own box. Lloyd James then sprayed a smart ball out to the left t Woodman, in acres of space, but the left-back bizarrely elected to lump a long ball into the channel, where it harmlessly bounced out for a goal kick. Brown and Moore-Taylor were then forced to block shots from Hemmings and Hamilton as Mansfield continued to dominate - although Pym did not really have a lot to do. The Grecians’ best piece of play in the first half also created their best chance as James played a smart ball to Taylor, who turned into the box and fired a shot across goal that went just wide, with Loft unable to meet it when sliding in. It looked as though the Grecians were beginning to get a foothold in the contest, with Stockley flicking on a long free-kick to Brown, whose shot was blocked, sparking a mass scramble inside the Mansfield area that was only ended by an offside flag. Yet Mansfield finally took a deserved lead in the 38 minute when Paul Anderson was given far too much time to play a ball down the line to Potter on the wing, and his ball in was headed onto the bar by Hemmings, with Rose eventually turning in the rebound - Pym produced a valiant effort to save the shot but was not able to get enough on the ball to prevent it going over the line. That proved to be the final action of a very poor half for City, with Paul Tisdale making a double sub at half-time to introduce Ryan Harley and Hiram Boateng for James and Loft, whose biggest contribution on his debut had been to commit too many fouls when the Grecians were on the attack. Mansfield had an early chance to double their lead after the break when Hemmings held the ball up well in the box before teeing up Rose, who shot across goal and wide. Tisdale’s double sub did see City begin to use the ball a little better, with Boateng and Taylor combining well to send Wilson into the box, but no one could meet his low cross. Harley then drilled a free-kick into the box that Brown stretched to meet at the back post, but he was unable to prevent it from going for a goal kick. Yet they still had yet to trouble Conrad Logan in the Stags goal, and their play was still littered with sloppy errors, such as when Woodman got into a good position to cross the ball after a short corner from Harley, only to drill it straight out for a goal kick. Mansfield still looked a threat going forward, with Mal Benning easily beating two players to break into the box just after the hour mark, only to see his shot well blocked by Brown. Bennett then headed a corner over as the game entered its final 20 minutes. The Stags then started to pull men back as City pushed forward, making it difficult to break them down. City did see more of the ball at this stage but they lacked a cutting edge, struggling to create any sights at goal, with even usual supersub Kyle Edwards unusually quiet when he was introduced. The game ended in controversial circumstances as both Stockley and Moxey went down under challenges in the box in the final minute, but referee Chris Sarginson was unmoved, meaning Mansfield saw out what could be an important win come the season's end. Exeter City: Pym; Wilson, Brown, Moore-Taylor, Woodman (Edwards, 68); Taylor, James (Boateng, 46), Tillson, Moxey; Loft (Harley, 46), Stockley. Subs (not used): Jones, Archibald-Henville, Simpson, Holmes. Mansfield Town: Logan, Bennett, Benning, Pearce, MacDonald (Diamond, 90), Anderson, Potter, Hamilton, Hemmings (Atkinson, 61), King, Rose (Spencer, 74). Subs (not used): Olejnik, Mellis, Atkinson, Penney, Miller. Attendance: 3,680 (224 away) -------------------------- |
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