Season 03/04 Stagsnet Match Report
|
|
|
||
|
Scunthorpe United
|
|
Mansfield Town
|
||
|
|
|
|||
|
Attendance: 3113 (931 from Mansfield)
|
||||
|
Date: 27th January 2004
|
||||
|
The Stags earned a satisfactory point at Scunthorpe United. The Stags had the better of the first half and should have been in front when Liam Lawrence missed a sitter. Scunthorpe had the beter of it in the second half, and hit the post and then hit the bar in injury time.. The game ended in snow with almost a white pitch at the end. The last time a Stags game ended 0-0 was against Brentford, 43 games ago, also on a white pitch!
It was generally an improved performance from The Stags at a slowly freezing Glanford Park. Defensively apart from occasional scares particularly late in the game where Scunthorpe put Kevin Pilkington under pressure and a shot crashed back off the crossbar the Stags coped admirably, Luke Dimech and Jake Buxton both excelling. Jake also put in the best cross of the night but unfortunately on too many occasions good balls were played across the box begging to be converted but disappointingly there were no strikers in the 6 yard box to win the match. Liam Lawrence and Iyseden Christie between them managed to miss an open goal early on when the keeper lost the ball, Lawrence eventually poking wide of an empty net. From our view at the opposite end of the ground it looked an open goal yet it seemed nobody wanted the responsibility of having a shot. It was noted by supporters at halftime that with the creative players in the side, the strikers goal returns over the season were poor and a killer one on one finisher or even tap in specialist in the Stags side would surely have a field day. It was commented that we would be well clear actually leading the Division if our strikers were scoring goals. Indeed apart from substitute Colin Larkin cracking a shot which forced a fine save late on the Scunthorpe keeper had hardly anything to do, instead he practised leaping very theatrically catching imaginery balls every few minutes, presumably to stop him freezing over into a snowman! The Stags midfield struggled to take a grip on the game and were overrun in the 2nd half. On the positive side this was yet another clean sheet and an improved creative performance on recent weeks, however this game in hand has to be seen as an opportunity and 2 points lost as the strikers were ineffective in front of goal and seemed shy to shoot on several occasions. Surely it`s time to give Larkin who looked sharp and lively and the enthusiastic Andy White a chance on Saturday V Swansea, White especially will hold the ball up front and win free kicks, too often recently the ball hasn`t been sticking up front, with Mendes and Christie hopefully having more impact from the bench than they appear to currently be producing when starting. Man of the Match: Jake Buxton |
||||
|
Report by: Dean Foulkes
|
||||
|
Line Up:
|
Pilkington 7 Two decent saves. Did little wrong apart from flapping at one ball.
Hassell 7 Solid and dependable. Dimech 8 Composed on the ball; untroubled; classy. Day 8 Didn't miss anything in the air. Buxton 9 Played extremely well. Defended well and did well going forward. Put the best cross in of the night. Lawrence 6 Did a few nice flicks, but missed an open goal in the first half. Didn't get much of the ball, but did little when did get it. Curtis 6 Good work rate; busy. MacKenzie 5 Out of sorts. Poor distribution. One stupid pass nearly cost the game. Corden 5 Didn't get much of the ball, but didn't beat anyone all night. Mendes 5 He ran around a lot, but was very poor. No threat. Needs a rest. Christie 5 Was he playing? Like Mendes, no threat. Toothless. |
|
Sub Line Up:
|
Larkin (for Mendes, 67) 6 Looked lively. Didn't ge much of the ball.
AWhite (for Corden, 85) - Fans were shouting for him to come on. Won the odd free kick and looked a threat. Should have been on longer. Subs not used: JWhite, Artell, John-Baptiste. |
|
Opposition Line Up:
|
Evans, Graves, Byrne, Stanton, Sharp, Sparrow, Barwick, Taylor, Beagrie, Hayes, Torpey
Subs: Lee Ridley, Kilford, Parton, Kell, Smith |
|
Referee:
|
G Cain (Merseyside) 6 Seemed fair. Didn't give anything to either side. No bookings.
|
|
|