Season 10/11 Stagsnet Match Report
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Mansfield Town
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AFC Wimbledon
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Connor 34, Briscoe 83.
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S.Moore 10 secs, 74, Jolley 9, Kedwell 43, Jackson 60.
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Attendance: 2699 (209 from AFC Wimbledon)
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Date: 5 October 2010
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Shaun Knight at Field Mill
The Stags made two changes from the side which had drawn 1-1 at Gateshead on Saturday with Steve Foster returning from suspension to replace Tom Naylor and Ashley Cain came in for his full debut to replace the suspended Adam Smith. AFC Wimbledon kicked off the match and scored within 10 seconds of the kick off! The ball was fed to Christian Jolley who went past Gary Silk with ease before crossing in and after a deflection the ball found it's way to Sammy Moore to score. Louis Briscoe then had a chance for the Stags but his shot was easily saved after Adam Murray had caused some havoc on the edge of the area. Ashley Cain showed his pace to almost get to the ball before keeper Seb Brown whose clearance went upfield to Stags defender Chris Smith whose very poor header back to Marriott was nowhere near strong enough to reach the Stags keeper and Christian Jolley nipped in to put an easy lob over Marriott's head with the keeper in no man's land. This was only in the ninth minute! Marriott did well to save a Sam Hatton free-kick in the 13th minute. An exquisite pass from Murray to Cain came to nothing before another Dons free-kick saw Danny Kedwell's header come off the back of Kevin Sandwith and just went over the bar. A good one-two between Briscoe and Kyle Nix gave Nix a shooting opportunity but it was straight at Brown. Paul Connor then played the ball out to Cain who put in a fantastic cross to Briscoe who instead of going for an easier chance at goal from the back post headed it back across goal to Connor whose header was easily saved by Brown. The Stags were now starting to get on top and after Briscoe had played the ball down the line to Cain, the former Coventry winger, put in another fantastic cross which Connor superbly headed past Brown in the 34th minute to give the Stags a lifeline. Nix and Briscoe then combined well but were blocked out by Dons defender Ishmail Yakubu. After a mistake by Cain, Jolley sprinted past Silk but his cross was behind everyone and then Smith had to get a foot in to stop Kedwell getting a shooting opportunity. From a Gary Mills free kick, Connor headed over before Silk was booked in the 40th minute for a crunching tackle on his nemesis, Christian Jolley. Murray then atoned well for his won error with a fine tackle on Gregory. Disaster struck though for the Stags in the 43rd minute when Briscoe's header through looked to be clearly handled by Yakubu and with Stags players stopping and not playing to the whistle, AFC Wimbledon carried on and from Ricky Wellard's through ball Kedwell was left to round Marriott with a simple chance to score and put the Dons 3-1 ahead. Stags players continued to protest to the referee. Sandwith was booked in the 44th minute after flying in on Hatton in the Dons penalty area, after Connor's penalty appeal for handball was turned down. There was still time for one more Dons chance when Kedwell passed to Hatton and his powerful shot was superbly tipped over by Marriott. That brought the first half to an end and after having recovered from the shellshock of being 2-0 down after nine minutes the Stags did come back into it but after failing to play to the whistle the Dons scored a third goal to leave the Stags with a real uphill battle in the second half. Half-time: 1-3 Neil Collett replaced Alan Marriott at the start of the second half, due to a groin injury. We later learnt that Marriott will need an operation and could be out for up to three months, so I would like to wish Mazza on behalf of all Stags fans a very speedy recovery. A dangerous Cain cross eluded everyone early in the second half before Briscoe won the Stags first corner of the match in the 47th minute. Cain then produced another fantastic cross after an excellent Murray ball to him, but his cross was cleared. From a Murray free-kick, Connor's flicked header was straight at Brown. Ryan Jackson's pass to Kedwell saw his shot deflected for a corner off Murray. Then from Murray's fine ball into Briscoe who passed to Nix who twisted and turned before passing to Sandwith who curled a shot wide on 59 minutes but then disaster struck again when after Kedwell's pass to Jackson on 60 minutes the Stags defence was sucked across to Kedwell and Sandwith was out of position which allowed Jackson a free run on goal to fire past Collett. Luke Medley replaced Nix in the 61st minute and a couple of minutes later he hit a superb 25-yard effort which just sailed over the bar. Then a good run by Briscoe who fed Cain who crossed in for Medley who fired wide. Medley then won a corner which was initially cleared but only as far as Sandwith who played it in for Foster whose header was blocked. The Dons though went straight up the other end and added a fifth goal! Chris Bush crossed in for Sammy Moore who stuck out a foot ahead of Snadwith to score past Collett in the 74th minute. A cross by Hatton was headed wide by Fraser Franks before Rob Duffy replaced Connor in the 76th minute. A mazy run by Medley saw him go past a couple of defenders before Franks cleared. After more good play by Medley saw him hold off his man to pass to Briscoe who fired past Brown with an excellent finish on 83 minutes. The Stags had two more corners which came to nothing before a brilliant tackle by Cain prevented Luke Moore from scoring after Jon Main's flick on. Main then had an open goal to aim for but swung wildly and missed the ball completely. There was still time for one more last goalscoring opportunity when Duffy's through ball to Medley who rounded Brown and took the ball slightly wide and could only hit the post from that angle, which was very unlucky. The Dons did have a couple of half chances to score their sixth but that was the last meaningful action of the game. This was a horrible result for the Stags and we were outclassed by the Dons but having said that we did create plenty of goalscoring opportunities, but were let down by a very poor dfensive display, with Silk being at fault for the first goal, Smith for the second, the whole team for switching off for the third and Sandwith for the fourth and fifth. The Stags now have a massive match on Saturday when they travel to face Rushden and Diamonds and it is vital that they bounce back from this defeat. COME ON MANSFIELD! Man of the match: Louis Briscoe |
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Report by: Shaun Knight at Field Mill
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Line Up:
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Marriott 5 Could do little about the goals and one fine save from Hatton before going off injured. Good luck to new loan signing Mihkel Aksalu on replacing him.
Silk 4 Very poor, was beaten for pace on numerous occasions by Jolley, from the first few seconds onwards. Foster 4 Poor. Chris Smith 4 Bad error for the second goal. Sandwith 4 At fault for the third and fourth goals and was beaten by Jackson on numerous occasions for pace. Paul Stonehouse must start against Rushden and Diamonds on Saturday. Cain 7 Showed his terrific pace on a few occasions and put in some fantastic crosses, one which lead to Connor's goal. Mills 4 Won a few tackles but was largely anonymous. Nix 5 Showed a few good touches but didn't really get into the game. Briscoe 8 Man of the match. Was the Stags main threat throughout and deserved his goal. Murray 6 Showed his class with a few excellent passes. Connor 6 Took his goal well and battled hard. |
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Sub Line Up:
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Collett (for Marriott, 46) 5 Little to do apart from pick the ball out of the net twice and little he could do about either goal.
Medley (for Nix, 61) 7 Created havoc for the Dons defence and could have grabbed himself a hat-trick. Duffy (for Connor, 76) Not on long enough to rate. Subs Not Used: Naylor, Stonehouse. |
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Opposition Line Up:
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Seb Brown, Bush, Yakubu (Franks 75), Harris, Hatton, Gregory, Wellard, Sammy Moore, Jolley (Luke Moore 71), Jackson, Kedwell (Main 79). Subs Not Used: Turner, Yussuff.
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Referee:
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Billy Khatib (Tyne & Wear) 4 Gave the Stags hardly anything at all all night.
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