Archived News from August 2022
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STAGS COME FROM BEHIND TO BEAT STOCKPORT
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English Football League - Sky Bet League Two
Mansfield Town 2 - 1 Stockport County Swan 55, Clarke 56. Sarcevic 53 Attendance: 6,924 (968 from Stockport) (see Tranmere report for explanation of how attendance is calculated) Date: 20 August 2022 STAGS COME FROM BEHIND TO BEAT STOCKPORT IN CRAZY 3 MINUTE SPELL Martin Shaw at the One Call Stadium, Field Mill Mansfield Town came from behind to win for the second time in four days, as Stockport were beaten 2-1 at the One Call Stadium yesterday. All the goals came in a crazy 3 minute spell as Stockport took the lead after 53 minutes, but the Stags showed great character to score after 55 and 56 minutes to turn the game around. It was Mansfield’s third home league win in 3 games this season, and if you include last season and the play-off semi-final, it was Mansfield’s 17th win in 19 home games. Quite an incredible run of home form. Indeed in all competitions at home, Mansfield have now scored in 23 consecutive home games. If you haven’t been to a home game recently, I can tell you the atmosphere is absolutely rocking. The first half was goalless, but Mansfield shaded it in terms of quality and in terms of chances. Stockport had one good chance as Ryan Croasdale was through 1-on-1 with Christy Pym. Pym stood firm and made a good save. At the other end, Anthony Hartigan threaded a superb ball forward for Will Swan who did very well to get away from defender Fraser Horsfall to get himself 1-on-1 with keeper Viteslav Jaros, but Swan fired into the side netting. Then George Lapslie laid off to Stephen McLaughlin in the area on the left, McLaughlin cut inside and fired a shot straight at the keeper. Then in stoppage time at the end of the half, the Stags were so nearly in front. Hartigan curled a ball forward to the left, Swan controlled it with a magnificent first touch to propel himself into the area. Swan slid the ball forward for Lapslie who got to the ball just in front of the keeper on the edge of the six yard box. Lapslie turned and teed up Ollie Clarke for a shot from 12 yards with the keeper now out of position, but Clarke’s shot was brilliantly blocked by defender Mark Kitching. A great move which would have been a wonderful goal. Into the second half and Stockport started it the better with their best 10 minutes of the game. After 50 minutes, a let-off for the Stags. Paddy Madden crossed from the left and Kyle Wootton headed against the inside of the right post. Stockport were in front after 53 minutes. Antoni Sarcevic received the ball 25 yards from goal, he took a touch and fired a fantastic shot into the top right corner of the net giving Pym no chance. It was a wonderful goal, though he wasn’t closed down. Within 30 seconds of the restart, Mansfield were level. Lapslie played forward to Hartigan. Hartigan turned and pushed forward to 30 yards from goal. He tried a shot, and as he did so he was tackled and the ball skewed off and fell kindly for Swan just inside the area. Swan took one touch and then volleyed left footed past the keeper from 14 yards. A fine finish from Swan. His second goal in 4 days. The set up from Hartigan was fortunate. A minute later, Mansfield were in front. Hartigan slid a super ball forward for Swan. Swan cut inside along the edge of the area and teed up Lapslie for a shot. Lapslie’s shot was pushed away by the keeper low down to his left, into the path of Clarke, who fired a low shot from a tight angle into the net. A great finish from Clarke because it was a very tight angle. Really good play from Hartigan, who played numerous excellent balls all afternoon for Swan to run on to, and overall had a terrific game. And in my scoring system for assists (which is different to some others and is explained below), Lapslie gets an assist for the shot which was saved leading to the goal. What an incredible three minutes. Hartigan fired just wide from 30 yards after 64 minutes. And at the other end on 73 minutes, Callum Camps volleyed 3 yards wide from 20 yards following a corner. That was really the only chance Stockport had to equalise. Lapslie headed forward to set Swan away again after 77 minutes, Swan had two defenders on him, knocked the ball forward into the area and got to the ball fractionally before the onrushing keeper, but Swan’s flick goalwards was straight into the keeper’s midriff. Then on 83 minutes, great play from Swan to win the ball on the byline, he cut in and his shot from a tight angle was saved by the keeper for a corner. The Stags made five substitutions and saw the game out very competently. This was a very good win. Much deserved as well. Will Swan was superb up front on his own in the absence of Rhys Oates (see below for more on Oates). George Lapslie, who played just behind Swan, was also very good indeed, as he was on Tuesday. These two are going to be very important in the absence of Oates. And Anthony Hartigan was excellent, with numerous through balls setting Swan away. There is worrying injury news about Rhys Oates. He went off injured on Tuesday. I spoke to Nigel Clough about the injury after the game yesterday. It is a chest muscle injury and Clough said we wouldn’t know how long Oates will be out for until Oates has seen a specialist on Monday. Clough said that the news doesn't look too good from the scan he has had but it does need the specialist to interpret. Clough told me a story about a foot injury he had as a player, the initial diagnosis wasn’t good but his dad said we’re not having that and sent him to a specialist and it turned out to be nowhere near as bad. I can’t tell the story in full because I wouldn’t do it justice. Anyway, I would guess we will hear the news of the Oates injury at the midweek press conference (which is possibly on Tuesday, though not confirmed). The absence of Oates for any prolonged period would obviously be a huge blow. The Stags would surely need to sign one, perhaps two, quality strikers by the end of August. That is of course very much easier said than done and no club will want to lose a quality striker. We already know that Mansfield have had substantial bids for two strikers turned down in this window. The recruitment team including Nigel Clough, his brother Simon, analyst Matt Ash, David Sharpe, backed of course by John and Carolyn, may need to work some magic. By the way, congratulations to Nigel Clough on his 100th game in charge of Mansfield yesterday: won 45, drawn 23, lost 32. Win-ratio 45%. Thanks to Paul Taylor for the stats. For league games only, Clough’s win-ratio is 44.2%, which is currently the 7th best managerial record in Mansfield Town’s club history (see https://stagsnet.net/vintage/reports/manager_records.htm). Mansfield were without several players through injury: Boateng (tight hamstring, hopefully available next week), Akins (groin, also hopefully available next week), Quinn (problem with his hip, again hopefully available next week), Oates (see above). And Hawkins returned from a tight hamstring to the bench, but was only fit enough for 5 minutes as a sub. From the side that played AFC Wimbledon, Hartigan came in for Quinn, Swan came in for Oates. It was the same 3-5-1-1 formation, with Bowery at right wing-back, Hartigan in the centre of midfield, Maris on the left, Clarke on the right. And Lapslie just behind Swan. Young James Gale and George Cooper, who are both expected to go out on loan to get regular football, were on the bench. Stockport are a side packed full with quality players. Paddy Madden dropped down from League One to the National League to fire them to promotion back to the Football League, as did Antoni Sarcevic. Fraser Horsfall was a bit of a wow signing from Northampton, one of the best central defenders in both boxes in League Two last season. Kyle Wootton was signed from Notts County for whom he scored 38 goals in the last two seasons. Keeper Viteslav Jaros is on loan from Liverpool and was on loan at Notts County in the second half of last season. Stcokport made two changes from their previous game, bringing in Horsfall and Mark Kitching, for Southam-Hales who was suspended and Myles Hippolyte (who signed from Scunthorpe). Stockport had taken just 3 points from their opening 4 games. It was Stockport’s first visit to Mansfield for 9.5 years. Stockport are a big club. It was a little surprising to me that they brought less than a thousand visiting fans. Man of the match: Will Swan DETAILED REPORT IN THE MATCH CENTRE -------------------------- SAT 20 AUG 2022, LEAGUE TWO Mansfield Town 2-1 Stockport County Swan (55'minutes), O Clarke (56'minutes) Sarcevic (53'minutes) Assists Brown (53'minutes) https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/62529259 Match report supplied by PA Media. Mansfield scored two goals in two second-half minutes to come from behind and beat Stockport 2-1. The main action was crammed into an explosive three-minute spell as Antoni Sarcevic's 53rd-minute opener was quickly cancelled out by strikes from Will Swan and Ollie Clarke. There had been few chances in a tight first half, with Stockport coming the closest after 26 minutes when Ryan Crossdale raced clear on the right but saw goalkeeper Christy Pym push his effort away. Will Swan fired into the Stockport sidenetting soon after from Anthony Hartigan's pass and, in the 32nd minute, Stephen McLaughlin cut in from the left but shot straight at Vitezslav Jaros in the County goal. Stockport's Kyle Wootton almost broke the deadlock after 50 minutes but saw his header come back off a post from Paddy Madden's cross. The visitors were ahead three minutes later as Sarcevic found space 30 yards out and sent a superb finish into the top right corner. Two minutes later Mansfield were level as Swan tucked away a loose ball from eight yards after Hartigan's first effort was blocked. Within a minute the Stags were ahead. George Lapslie saw his low shot saved, but Clarke was on hand to thread home the follow-up from a tight angle. Match Stats Home Team Mansfield Away Team Stockport Possession Home 54% Away 46% Shots Home 14 Away 9 Shots on Target Home 6 Away 2 Corners Home 6 Away 2 Fouls Home 13 Away 8 ------------------------ Instant response as Mansfield Town hit back from behind to beat Stockport County chad.co.uk, By John Lomas, Saturday 20th August 2022 A heart-stopping three minutes of second half football saw Mansfield Town go behind and then snatch the lead as they beat visiting Stockport County 2-1 this afternoon. It also ensured maximum points from Stags' two home games in five days, despite a string of key injuries. A frustrating first half saw Christy Pym make the only real save, but after Kyle Wootton had headed against the home post five minutes after the break, the game exploded into life with three goals in as many minutes. After hitting the home post, Hartlepool went ahead with a long range screamer from Antoni Sarcevic, but Will Swan levelled within two minutes and a minute later Ollie Clarke put Mansfield's noses in front. https://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/instant-response-as-mansfield-town-hit-back-from-behind-to-beat-stockport-county-3813476 Nigel Clough made two changes to the side that saw off 10-men Wimbledon 5-2 in midweek with midfielder Anthony Hartigan and lone striker Will Swan in for newly-injured duo Stephen Quinn and Rhys Oates as options in Clough's injury-hit squad shrunk even further. For Stockport, Fraser Horsfall came into the side in place of the suspended Macauley Southam-Hales, while Mark Kitching replaces Myles Hippolyte. Hartlepool dominated the early possession and Clarke was booked on five minutes for his late tackle on Kitching. A nice ball down the right by Hartigan then saw Swan accelerate and cross low to cause havoc which only resulted in a corner, taken by Hartigan, that O'Toole headed over. Maris then sent a delightful through ball that almost put McLaughlin in, Jaros just getting there first. Stags continued to have more of the ball, but the visitors defended well and might have gone ahead with the game's first real shot as Crossdale ran through a square defence and forced Pym to beat away his finish from the right. Soon after Crossdale tried his luck from distance but was well over. Stags finally had sight of goal on 29 minutes as Hartigan's measured through ball put Swan into the right of the box, but he lashed his finish into the sidenetting. Another great burst from Swan from his own half saw enough defenders recover to halt him on the edge of the box and, sending a tempting square pass to Bowery, the wing back chose not to shoot first time and the moment was gone. Lapslie then fed McLaughlin on the left, and he cut inside before shooting straight at Jaros as Mansfield started to up the tempo. On 39 minutes there was danger for the home side as Madden outpaced Harbottle to a ball down the right and was able to cross low to the near post where O'Toole got in a vital block on Sarcevic. In first half stoppage time, Swan cut neatly back inside Lewis and saw his deflected shot roll to Lapslie six yards out. He swivelled and rolled it into the path of Clarke, but that shot was also blocked as the visitors held out. Mansfield re-emerged on the front foot and McLaughlin almost got Clarke away after the home side's best move of the game so far. But on 50 minutes Pools came close again as Madden crossed from the left and Wootton sent a glancing header against the right post. The visitors were then ahead three minutes later as Sarcevic made the lost of space 30 yards out to pick out the top right corner with a spectacular finish. However, Stags had the perfect reply as two minutes later Hartigan had a shot blocked and the ball ran loose eight yards out, Swan beating Horsfall it and sweeping it home. A minute later and the roof came off the home stands as Stags swept ahead. Swan set up Lapslie in the box, his low shot was parried to the right and somehow Clarke squeezed home the follow-up low from a tight angle. Hartigan whistled one just over from distance as the noise levels went up around the ground, Hartlepool responding with a triple substitution. Camps was late on Clarke on 70 minutes, earning the afternoon's second caution. On 75 minutes Wallace headed a Sarcevic cross out as far as Camps who sent a first time shot wide of the far post. Another exciting burst of pace from ended in Jaros taking the ball off his toe as it ran slightly away from him in the box. With 10 minutes left, Hewitt came on for Hartigan and Bowery was pushed up front as a second striker. Swan then did really well to win the ball from Kitching in the box and get away a shot from an impossible angle that the keeper turned away for a corner. Five minutes were added at the end STAGS: Pym, Bowery, O'Toole, Perch, Harbottle, McLaughlin (Gordon 89), Clarke (Hawkins 89), Hartigan (Hewitt 80), Maris (Wallace 62), Lapslie, Swan (Gale 89). SUBS NOT USED: Flinders, Cooper. STOCKPORT: Jaros, Kitching, Horsfall (Rydel 65), Camps (Evans 76), Madden, Sarcevic (Hippolyte 76), Johnson (Crankshaw 65), Brown, Croasdale, Wootton (Jennings 65), Lewis. SUBS NOT USED: Hinchcliffe, Quigley. REFEREE: Peter Wright. ATTENDANCE: 6,924 (968 away). ------------------------- |
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