Season 21/22 Stagsnet Match Report
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Bradford City
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Mansfield Town
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Oates 44, Longstaff 48
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Attendance: 16,797 (2129 from Mansfield)
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Date: 26 February 2022
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STAGS WIN AT BRADFORD IN FRONT OF HUGE CROWD
Martin Shaw at Valley Parade Mansfield Town won 2-0 at Bradford City this afternoon in front of a sell-out 2,100 jubilant Stags fans in a 16,800 crowd. The home crowd was increased with news of the appointment of Mark Hughes as new manager on Thursday. But goals either side of half time by Rhys Oates and Matty Longstaff were enough to bring the points home for Mansfield. In a great atmosphere, the Stags were off to a fast start. Rhys Oates was running at the home defence in the second minute, into the area and firing across the face of goal. Then Longstaff’s low ball across the six yard box reached Jamie Murphy who fired just wide from a tight angle. Ryan Stirk’s volley from the edge of the box was deflected wide. Then another good run from Oates who won a corner. At the other end, Paudie O’Connor glanced a header wide from a free kick, and former Stag Andy Cook shot from a tight angle on the left and Nathan Bishop pushed it around the post. Jamie Murphy had a shot on target that was blocked. But the Stags were in front after 44 minutes, and what a finish it was from Rhys Oates. Bishop’s clearance into the centre circle, glanced off the head of Matty Foulds, allowing Oates to run at goal. Just inside the area, he cut inside from his right foot to his left foot and curled a delightful shot past defender Songo’o and wide of the keeper into the left of the net. Another superb goal from Oates. It was a great time for the Stags to score, and just after half time, the Stags made it 2-0, and it came from good movement down the left. Bishop bowled the ball out to McLaughlin, McLaughlin played down the line to Murphy. Murphy moved forward and then laid off to the overlapping McLaughlin again. McLaughlin’s cross reached Quinn with his back to goal just outside the six yard box. Quinn laid it back to Murphy. Murphy’s shot from 16 yards deflected off the knee of Songo’o, hit Oates, and fell for Longstaff 10 yards from goal. Longstaff took a touch before firing goalwards left footed. His shot took a little deflection off a defender which took it past the keeper into the net. Cue massive celebrations in front of the 2,100 travelling Stags fans. It was Longstaff’s goal because his shot was on target, but it was a welcome piece of luck with that little deflection. His first goal for the club. The Stags were on the lookout for a third goal to kill the game, and nearly got it as Quinn’s shot was saved by the keeper at his near post, then after a good move Murphy’s shot from the left was pushed wide by the keeper. Unable to find the third goal, Bradford put the Stags under a bit of pressure. After 71 minutes, Alex Gilliead powered a header goalwards and Bishop saved above his head following a corner. Then Andy Cook got in a clean header but it was over the bar. And on 88 minutes, a moment of brilliance from Bishop as Gareth Evans crossed from the right, Andy Cook headed towards the roof of the net, and Bishop stretched to fingertip it over the bar. One of the saves of the season. Stags fans taunted Bradford in stoppage time with chants of “sacked in the morning” aimed at Mark Hughes. Hughes is their 8th manager in 4 years. I had watched Bradford in midweek, beaten by Harrogate at home. They certainly played much better today, presumably desperate to impress their new manager. But the Stags had enough to see them off. The win means Mansfield have won 13, drawn 3 and lost just 1, in 17 league games. And the Stags are unbeaten for 13 league games. The Stags remain in 6th place, but just a point behind 4th placed Exeter. The two teams meet in a big game on Friday night. Get to the game if you can, but if you can’t you will be able to watch it with us on iFollow Stags. The Stags will be looking to equal the club record in the Football League of 10 home wins on the trot (set in 1949). And Mansfield would leapfrog Tranmere, Exeter and Sutton if they win, into third place in the table, albeit possibly only until Saturday. Apologies to iFollow listeners that we were unable to bring you commentary of the game this afternoon, and only BBC Radio Leeds commentary was available on iFollow. Each club is required by EFL to provide a line to the opposition iFollow commentary team. However Bradford have got themselves into the position of having just 4 working lines, all owned by the BBC and Sky and none by the club. So with BBC 5 Live turning up, and Sky, because of the appointment of Mark Hughes, the club had no line available for us to use. No fault attached to EFL, iFollow or BBC or Sky, the blame lies entirely with Bradford City who were simply complacent in assuming BBC 5 Live and Sky would not be turning up at the same game, and did not make sure they had their own lines available. DETAILED REPORT: Mansfield made three changes from the side that drew at Newport. O’Toole and Hawkins were both suspended. Oates and Murphy returned from injury, and Rawson came into the starting XI. Ollie Clarke dropped to the bench. I predicted last Saturday in my report of the Newport game that the most likely team change at the back was that Clough would want to minimise the number of changes, and might move Hewitt to centre half, and put the versatile Akins at right back, where he had played a lot for Burton. This is exactly what Clough did. So the back four was Akins at right back, McLaughlin at left back, Rawson and Hewitt at centre half. Maris, Stirk and Quinn were in midfield. Longstaff (right) and Murphy (left) were just behind Oates. Stephen McLaughlin was the new captain. George Lapslie returned from injury to the bench. Jason Law dropped off the bench. It shows the strength of the Stags squad that even without two players suspended, Law still can’t get into it, after he has played well in the most recent games in which he has played. Mark Hughes had taken over as the new Bradford manager on Thursday. He had not managed for 3 years and never managed below the Premier League. The appointment had brought a real buzz to the Bradford supporters after a poor run of form, with 5 defeats, 1 draw and just 1 win in the previous 7 games. Bradford made just one change from the side that lost to Harrogate on Tuesday with Theo Robinson replacing the injured Tom Elliott up front. Andy Cook was up front alongside him. The Stags were off to a fast start. Oates was running at the home defence in the second minute, into the area and firing across the face of goal. Then after 4 minutes, Longstaff’s low ball across the six yard box reached Murphy who fired just wide from a tight angle on the left. After 7 minutes, Stirk’s volley from the edge of the box was deflected wide. And on 10 minutes, another good run from Oates who won a corner, after Longstaff set him away. A good block by Rawson on a Gilliead shot from 20 yards after 12 minutes. Two minutes later, Gilliead got past Akins on the left, and Robinson’s low shot was straight at Bishop. Maris skewed a shot wide from 22 yards after 15 minutes. At the other end a minute later, Paudie O’Connor glanced a header wide from a deep free kick. A clearance from McLaughlin was charged down after 17 minutes. The ball rebounded to Robinson who was 10 yards offside, yet carried on and managed to fire wide of an open goal. Two minutes later, Luke Hendrie cut inside McLaughlin, and teed up Matty Daly who fired well over the bar from 25 yards. Quinn was booked after 20 minutes for a bad challenge on the halfway line. It was a silly challenge, unnecessary on the halfway line. After 23 minutes, Levi Sutton’s low cross reached Robinson who flicked well wide across the face of goal. On 27 minutes, Longstaff’s corner from the left to the near post was flicked well wide by McLaughlin. A minute later at the other end, Andy Cook shot from a tight angle on the left and Nathan Bishop pushed it around the post. From the resulting corner, Paudie O’Connor headed over the bar. After 30 minutes, there was a minute’s applause from both sets of fans showing solidarity for the invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin. The minute was sanctioned by Bradford and advertised on their social media. The referee could easily have stopped the game for a minute as the ball went out of play, but didn’t. Rawson was caught by the flailing arm of Robinson after 33 minutes. At the very least it should have been a yellow card, and could have been a red card as it was arguably the elbow that caught Rawson. Unbelievably the inept referee did neither, and didn’t even give a free kick. Stirk got into the area after 35 minutes and laid off to the overlapping Murphy. Murphy was well placed to shoot but instead tried to pass and the ball was cleared. Two minutes later, Murphy did get in a shot on target from 14 yards that was blocked, after Quinn had got to the byline and pulled it back. The Stags were in front after 44 minutes, and what a finish it was from Rhys Oates. Bishop’s clearance into the centre circle, glanced off the head of Matty Foulds, allowing Oates to run at goal. Just inside the area, he cut inside from his right foot to his left foot and curled a delightful shot past defender Songo’o and wide of the keeper into the left of the net. Another superb goal from Oates. The Stags ahead at the break, and it was a great time to score. Half time 0-1 If the first goal had come at a good time, so did the second as the Stags made it 2-0 after 48 minutes. It came from good movement down the left. Bishop bowled the ball out to McLaughlin, McLaughlin played down the line to Murphy. Murphy moved forward and then laid off to the overlapping McLaughlin again. McLaughlin’s cross reached Quinn with his back to goal just outside the six yard box. Quinn laid it back to Murphy. Murphy’s shot from 16 yards deflected off the knee of Songo’o, hit Oates, and fell for Longstaff 10 yards from goal. Longstaff took a touch before firing goalwards left footed. His shot took a little deflection off a defender which took it past the keeper into the net. Cue massive celebrations in front of the 2,100 travelling Stags fans. It was Longstaff’s goal because his shot was on target, but it was a welcome piece of luck with that little deflection. His first goal for the club. I’ve given the assist to Murphy as it was his shot that was blocked, even though the ball did hit Oates before Longstaff scored. The Stags were on the lookout for a third goal to kill the game, and nearly got it on 50 minutes as Quinn got into the area on the left and his shot was saved by the keeper at his near post. Gilliead, who had an excellent game for Bradford on the left, got the better of Akins after 54 minutes, twisting and turning past him to the byline but Bishop collected his cross. A great move from the Stags after 57 minutes, Maris to Quinn to Murphy and Murphy’s thunderous shot from the left was just about pushed wide by the keeper. From the resulting corner from the left, the ball came back to Maris, he crossed back in, the keeper Bass came out for it and was in no man’s land as Hewitt looped a header goalwards but it was cleared away by a defender. Straight to the other end and good defending from Hewitt as Robinson was nearly though on goal. Then on 63 minutes, Oates did superbly to win a corner. From Maris’s corner from the left, Oates headed goalwards and the keeper held it under his bar. McLaughlin was booked after 65 minutes as Bradford crossed in from the right. A harsh booking considering Robinson’s assault on Rawson in the first half which went unpunished. A great move from the Stags down the left after 67 minutes, Stirk to Oates to Murphy to Quinn but Quinn’s cross was just about cleared. Moments later Stirk was booked for a late challenge. Lapslie replaced Maris after 69 minutes. Unable to find the third goal, Bradford put the Stags under a bit of pressure. After 71 minutes, Gilliead powered a header goalwards and Bishop saved above his head following a corner. Then Andy Cook got in a clean header but it was over the bar, from a cross from Matty Foulds. Wallace replaced Quinn after 80 minutes. McLaughlin cut in from the left and miscued a right footed shot wide after 81 minutes. Bowery replaced Oates after 85 minutes. Oates had put in a great performance and his brilliant goal had come at such a great time. Bradford sub Caolan Lavery fired wide of the right post from 28 yards after 86 minutes. On 88 minutes, a moment of brilliance from Bishop as Gareth Evans crossed from the right, Andy Cook headed towards the roof of the net, and Bishop stretched to fingertip it over the bar. One of the saves of the season. On 90+1 minutes, a long ball forward from Bradford, Cook chested the ball down and volleyed over the bar. We’d seen him score like this for the Stags a few times when he was at his best. Stags fans taunted Bradford in stoppage time with chants of “sacked in the morning” aimed at Mark Hughes. Hughes is their 8th manager in 4 years. Lapslie was booked for a late challenge on the halfway line after 90+2 minutes. The full time whistle brought great scenes as the 2100 Stags fans celebrated with the Stags players. Plenty of good performances in the Stags side. Oates was my man of the match, taking the game to Bradford from the off and scoring that brilliant goal. At the back, Hewitt was very good switching to centre half and Rawson came in to the side and did very well, deputising for the suspended O’Toole and Hawkins. McLaughlin had a fine game at left back, pushing forward very effectively. Bishop had a very good game with one of the saves of the season from Cook’s late header, and other good handling. The midfield was good, having control of the game for much of it, though Bradford had good spells too. For Bradford, Gilliead on the left wing/wing-back had a superb game and was their clear man of the match. Akins was up against him and did ok, though Gilliead had the better of their battle. Nigel Clough pointed out after the game: “Lucas (Akins), you see how invaluable he is. Very few players in the country at any level can do that (play in so many different positions) and keep the consistency that he does.” I asked Nigel Clough about Gilliead after the game and he told me he had long been a fan of the former Scunthorpe man. Man of the Match: Rhys Oates Here’s a running tally of various stats this season: Goals (league and cup): Oates 9, Johnson 7, Bowery, Hawkins 6, O.Clarke, Lapslie, McLaughlin 4, Maris, O’Toole 3, Charsley 2, Caine, Forrester, Hewitt, Longstaff, Quinn, Sinclair, Stirk 1. 1 OG Assists (league and cup): McLaughlin 8, Oates 6, Quinn 5, Bowery 4, Charsley, O.Clarke, Johnson, Sinclair 3, Hawkins, Maris, Rawson, Stirk 2, J.Clarke, Gale, Hewitt, Lapslie, Law, Murphy 1 (note: in the case of a penalty, the player who earns the penalty gets an assist. In the case of a solo goal, such as Maris against Newport at home, nobody gets an assist. In the case of the scorer scoring from the rebound after a shot is saved or blocked, the player who had the shot saved gets an assist. In the case of an own goal, the player who caused the own goal gets an assist, for example McLaughlin against Newport away where his shot was deflected in for an own goal.)
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Report by: Martin Shaw at Valley Parade
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Line Up:
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(4-3-2-1)
Bishop 8 Very good game with one of the saves of the season from Cook’s late header, and other good handling. Akins 6.5 Was up against Bradford man of the match Gilliead and did ok, though Gilliead had the better of their battle. Nigel Clough pointed out after the game: “Lucas (Akins), you see how invaluable he is. Very few players in the country at any level can do that (play in so many different positions) and keep the consistency that he does.” Rawson 8 Came in to the side and did very well. One particularly good block. Nigel Clough said after the game: “Faz Rawson came back in and did brilliantly, he competed with Cooky (Andy Cook) and got his blocks in and won his headers.” Hewitt 8 Very good switching to centre half. One particularly good piece of defending when Robinson was nearly through on goal. McLaughlin 8 Had a fine game at left back, pushing forward very effectively. Maris 8 Played very well. Nigel Clough explained after the game: "It was a very difficult one today ... it was a toss-up, we never decided until 1, half past 1, on the M1, couldn't decide which one to go with, Ollie Clarke or George Maris. I think we just about got it right." Stirk 8 Very good game sitting in the middle of the midfield. Quinn 8 Plenty of really good passing. Booked for a silly challenge, unnecessary on the halfway line. Longstaff 8 His first goal for the Stags. Has fitted in so well and so quickly. Murphy 7.5 Involved in plenty of good attacks down the left. Got in some good shots, including one which led to the second goal. Nigel Clough said after the game: "I don't think Murph was at his best again today, he's been struggling with this niggling hamstring injury.” Oates 8.5 My man of the match, taking the game to Bradford from the off and scoring a brilliant goal, which came at a great time. His 9th goal of the season. |
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Sub Line Up:
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Lapslie (for Maris, 69 mins) - Good to see him back from injury. Came on and did well straight away.
Wallace (for Quinn, 80 mins) - Bowery (for Oates, 85 mins) - Subs not used: Stech, Perch, O.Clarke, Johnson. |
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Opposition Line Up:
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(3-4-1-2): Bass; O’Connor, Songo’o, Foulds; Hendrie, Watt, Sutton (Evans 75min), Gilliead; Daly (Cooke 59); Robinson (Lavery 75min), Cook. Subs not used: O’Donnell, Delfouneso, Kelleher, Threlkeld.
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Referee:
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Andrew Kitchen 5.5 Unbelievably didn’t even give a free kick when Rawson was caught by the flailing arm of Robinson. At the very least it should have been a yellow card, and could have been a red card as it was arguably the elbow that caught him. Booked four Stags players, including a booking for McLaughlin which was harsh considering Robinson’s assault on Rawson which went unpunished. Didn’t book any Bradford players.
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