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Archived News from September 2020

STAGS THROW AWAY TWO GOAL LEAD AT ORIENT
23rd September 2020 15:43


English Football League - Sky Bet League Two
Leyton Orient 2-2 Mansfield Town
Johnson 82, Sotiriou 90+2. Bowery pen 52, Cook 72
Attendance: behind closed doors

Date: 19 September 2020

Martin Shaw at the Breyer Group Stadium, Brisbane Road

Mansfield Town threw away a two goal lead in the closing stages at Brisbane Road this afternoon and are still looking for the first win of the season in league and cup.
It really should have been three points for the Stags who cruised into a two goal lead. Andy Cook chased down a lost cause after 52 minutes and forced Orient left back James Brophy into an error as he took a bad touch and then brought Cook down just inside the area for a penalty. A penalty out of nothing and reward for Cook’s hard work. Jordan Bowery converted the penalty into the top right corner giving the keeper no chance. The Stags doubled the lead after 72 minutes, with great work from Harry Charsley. George Maris played a nice ball forward for Charsley who got to the byline on the left and pulled back for Cook who rolled a cool finish past the keeper from 8 yards. Earlier Charsley had been denied with a great shot from 20 yards which was brilliantly tipped over the bar by the keeper.
It should have been game over, but the Stags allowed Orient a lifeline on 82 minutes as Stech kept out a deflected shot from Josh Coulson just inside his post and the defence stood and watched as Danny Johnson was quickest to react knocking the loose ball into the empty net. Sleepy defending.
The Stags resorted to trying to play for time with some poor game management. For example, having done well to win a free kick and then a corner with around 4 minutes of the 90 to go, the Stags tried to keep the ball in the corner and wasted both, with only one player in the box on both occasions. Too early for this tactic in my opinion. Then a minute into the 4 minutes of stoppage time, Ollie Clarke, the captain, tried to shoot from inside his own half, instead of building an attack. Manager Coughlan was furious on the touchline throwing his water bottle down in disgust. Worse was to follow for Ollie Clarke as he lost his man Brophy, allowing him to get to the byline and pull back for Ruel Sotiriou to slot home from close range with just two minutes of stoppage time remaining. It was a gutting end to the game for the Stags. Such a disappointment. Ollie Clarke will be feeling terrible for his part in it, but he had a very good game before that.
Graham Coughlan was still fuming well after the final whistle when he came out for post match interview, complaining that the players “went off their own hymn sheet in the last 10 minutes” and saying that “he smashed everything in the bloody dressing room”.
Plenty of positives from the performance though with Cook playing so well again, as he did last week, and Charsley also giving a stand-out performance. But it’s a tough result to take.
The first half had been an even affair until Orient were unlucky after 43 minutes as Danny Johnson turned away from Menayese and hit the right post. Stech also produced a good save as he pushed away a shot from Sotiriou who had got past Menayese. Orient will feel they maybe deserved a draw because of that, but the Stags should certainly have come away with the points.

The Stags were unchanged from the side that drew with Tranmere. One change on the bench as new signing Stephen McLaughlin replaced Kellan Gordon. Coughlan explained that McLaughlin is not yet ready for 90 minutes, and is about a week behind Maynard, who was also on the bench.
Leyton Orient had won all 4 matches out of 4 in league and cup this season, with Danny Johnson scoring in all 4 to add to the last 2 of last season. So including his late goal today, he has now scored in 7 consecutive games. Former Stag Lee Angol was on the bench and came on in the second half.

The Stags played in the smart new blue away kit for the first time in a competitive game.

Once again, the match was played behind closed doors. Such a disappointment especially to all those regulars who travel to every away match. We can only hope that the world returns to some sort of normality this season. I hope that at least we brought you good coverage on the live stream on iFollow Stags.
Apologies however to iFollow audio subscribers who received commentary of Harrogate v Walsall. Clearly not acceptable. At half time, we reported it to the technical people who assured us they would look into it. Even more disappointing to later hear that it was not fixed until the closing minutes of the game. The club will complain in the strongest possible terms to ensure that this doesn't happen again. It should not have happened in the first place, as the audio was correct on the live stream video feed.

Before the detailed match report, I wanted to mention something that I mentioned in today’s commentary on the live stream, that this coming week sees the 10 year anniversary of John Radford taking over Mansfield Town FC. Heightened by all that has happened at Bury and Macclesfield in recent times, and potentially at some other clubs in the near future, I’m sure Stags fans are so very grateful for what John and of course Carolyn have done, in taking over a non-league club, and returning it to the Football League as a stable club, in addition to getting back the ownership of the ground, the building of the Radford & Hymas Academy training facility etc etc. Thank you John!

FULL REPORT IN THE MATCH CENTRE

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Stoppage-time equaliser stuns Mansfield Town at Leyton Orient
chad.co.uk, report by Press Association, Saturday, 19th September 2020, 5:01 pm

Andy Cook thought he’d masterminded Mansfield’s first win of the season.

But his first goal of the new campaign and a Jordan Bowery strike were not enough as Leyton Orient clinched a dramatic injury-time draw.

Graham Coughlan’s side looked certain to end a frustrating run of three matches without a win as goals from Cook and Bowery put them on course for three welcome points.

https://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/stoppage-time-equaliser-stuns-mansfield-town-leyton-orient-2977387

However it was heartbreak for the Stags two goals in 10 frantic minutes at the death at the Matchroom Stadium saw Coughlan’s misfiring lucky to escape with a point.

Bowery scored from the penalty spot seven minutes into the second half after Cook had been fouled by James Brophy.

And it got even better for the visitors who had not scored in 270 minutes of football and leaked seven goals in their three previous fixtures.

Cook scored in the 72nd minute to seemingly secure the points, but there was a bitter twist in the tale.

Danny Johnson pulled a goal back ten minutes later with a sweet left-foot strike and Ruel Sotiriou snatched a point in injury-time.

The hosts had come within a whisker of taking the lead in the first minute of the contest, but Czech shot-stopper Marek Stech thwarted Jordan Maguire-Drew with a smart save.

At the other end George Maris had a good early chance for the Stags, but the midfielder rifled well over the bar.

Craig Clay found space as the O’s broke on the counter-attack, but his ambitious long-range effort flew into the empty stand.

Sotiriou was played in by Clay, but the Cypriot forward saw his goalbound strike well-saved by an alert Stech.

Irish midfielder Harry Charsley hit the target as the Stags searched for the breakthrough, but keeper Lawrence Vigouroux was equal to the effort.

The home side remained lively and James Dayton let rip with a powerful shot, but it was blocked just outside the box and then Mali playmaker Ousseynou Cisse had a shot charged down as the pressure mounted for Coughlan’s team.

However, Malvind Benning blasted wide with a sweet left-foot strike as the deadlock was nearly broken.

But the Stags were fortunate to be level at the break when Johnson’s stinging drive struck the inside of the post and somehow flew to safety.

Bowery finished well from the spot and Cook finished clinically, but Johnson and Sotiriou’s goals were hard to swallow when a win should have been the order of the day.

Leyton Orient: Vigouroux, Ling, Coulson, Happe, Brophy, Clay (McAnuff 61), Cisse (Angol 77), Dayton, Sotiriou, Johnson, Maguire-Drew (Dennis 62).

Subs: Sargeant, Widdowson, Wilkinson, Thomas.

Mansfield: Stech, Sweeney, Rawson, Menayese, O’Keeffe, Maris, O Clarke, Benning, Charsley, Bowery, Cook (Maynard 90).

Subs: Perch, O’Driscoll, Reid, McLaughlin, Sinclair, Stone.

Referee: David Rock

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REPORT: LEYTON ORIENT 2-2 MANSFIELD TOWN
https://www.leytonorient.com/2020/09/19/report-leyton-orient-2-2-mansfield-town/

RUEL SOTIRIOU STRUCK IN THE 90TH MINUTE TO EARN THE O’S A POINT AGAINST MANSFIELD IN THEIR FIRST HOME LEAGUE FIXTURE OF THE SEASON.

Goals from Jordan Bowery and Andy Cook had put the Stags two goals up before Danny Johnson notched to put the O’s back in it and Sotiriou bagged a late leveller at The Breyer Group Stadium.

Ross Embleton made seven changes from the comeback win over Plymouth Argyle in mid-week. Tuesday’s match winner, Johnson came in up top alongside Sotiriou and the birthday boy, Jordan Maguire-Drew. While Dan Happe returned to the defence after missing out against Argyle with a knock.

Having won all four of their opening fixtures, the O’s came into this one brimming with confidence and they made a fast start in E10. After winning a free kick some 25 yards out, Maguire-Drew tested Marek Stech in the Mansfield goal early on with a curled effort.

The game settled into an attritional phase but was sparked into life when James Dayton knocked a ball over the top into the path of Sotiriou. The Cypriot forward latched onto the pass, beat his marker and forced Stech into a smart save at his near post.

The visitors first real chance of the match came in the 24th minute. Orient were almost caught short at the back, however Ouss Cisse did well to delay Mansfield’s break and Lawrence Vigouroux displayed some confident handling to keep a hold of Harry Charsley’s strike from just outside the box.

Following the arrival of assistant coach, Danny Senda over the summer, the O’s have placed a particular focus on set pieces, and that hard work almost paid off in the 32nd minute as Cissé pounced on an error from Stech. However, the Stags’ defence did well to block his effort on the line.

Orient’s best chance of the first half fell to Johnson just before the break. The former Cardiff man is in a rich vein of form after scoring six in his last six, so it was no surprise to see him show some fantastic footwork to turn his marker and strike the base of the post with a snapshot from an acute angle.

In the 52nd minute, the away side took the lead. James Brophy got the wrong side of his marker and gave away a penalty which was calmly dispatched by former O’s striker, Jordan Bowery.

Mansfield almost doubled their lead on the hour mark as Vigouroux was forced into an acrobatic save from Charsley.

Embleton elected to make his first changes of the game shortly afterwards, bringing on Jobi McAnuff and Louis Dennis for Maguire-Drew and Craig Clay.

The O’s looked brighter following the switch, and it was one of the substitutes, Dennis, who had the home side’s first chance of the second half. The winger did well to find space on the edge of the box and flashed a low effort just passed Stech’s far post.

That good spell didn’t last though, as Mansfield doubled their lead moments later. Charsley squared the ball across to Andy Cook and the former Tranmere man steered a low effort into the bottom corner.

Lee Angol replaced Cissé in the 76th minute in Orient’s final alteration.

A spell of continued Orient pressure followed, and they were brought right back into the game by that man again, Johnson. Stech parried an O’s effort from a set piece into the six-yard box and the forward was on hand to pounce and net his seventh in as many games.

Orient have made a habit of scoring late goals this season with one in each of their last three fixtures and they made sure that run continued in this one. Dennis did well to play a pass into the path of Brophy, who dribbled round a couple of Mansfield defenders before eventually setting up Sotiriou for an equaliser to spark jubilant last-minute celebrations in E10 once again.

Referee, David Rock blew the full-time whistle moments later to maintain the O’s’ unbeaten start to the campaign. Next up Tottenham Hotspur…

ORIENT: Vigouroux, Ling, Cisse (Angol 76″), Happe, Coulson, Clay (McAnuff 62”), Maguire-Drew (Dennis 62”), Dayton, Brophy, Sotiriou, Johnson

SUBS: Sargeant, Widdowson, Wilkinson, Thomas

BOOKED: Sotiriou 89”

GOALS: Johnson 82”, Sotiriou 90”

MANSFIELD: Stech, O’Keefe, Benning, Menayese, Sweeney, Rawson, Charsley, Clarke, Bowery, Maris, Cook (Maynard 89”)

SUBS: Stone, Sinclair, Perch, O’Driscoll, Reid, McLaughlin

BOOKED: O’Keefe 55”

GOALS: Bowery 52”, Cook 72”

REF: David Rock

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Leyton Orient 2-2 Mansfield Town, League Two: report, ratings and verdict
https://londonfootballscene.co.uk/2020/09/19/leyton-orient-2-2-mansfield-town-league-two-report-ratings-and-verdict/
BY MACHEL ST PATRICK HEWITT

Leyton Orient’s unbeaten start to the season continued as Ruel Sotiriou’s injury time equaliser gave them a 2-2 draw at home to Mansfield Town.

Trailing by two second-half goals from Jordan Bowery and Andy Cook, Leyton Orient turned the game on its head with a fightback in a dramatic final seven minutes.

Orient had the better of the first-half action and came closest to taking the lead on the stroke of half-time when Danny Johnson saw his shot across Mansfield keeper Stech crash off the far post.

However, Orient gifted Mansfield the lead seven minutes after the interval - James Brophy carelessly bringing down Cook with Bowery making no mistake from the spot.

Buoyed by the goal the visitors deservedly doubled their lead in the 72nd minute as Cook slotted home after good work from Harry Charsley.

Orient did not let their heads drop though and got what initially seemed like a consolation with eight minutes left to play when Johnson tapped in a rebound after Stech’s parry.

But deep into injury time Orient rescued a point as Brophy made up for his earlier mistake by crossing for Sotiriou to have the last laugh.

KEY POINTS

Key Moment
James Brophy’s lack of urgency in dealing with a simple ball saw the defender concede a needless penalty, giving Mansfield a platform to build from.

Moan of the Match
Too often Orient moved the ball too slowly, allowing Mansfield to get back into shape.

Talking Point
In a game where the opposition played with a back three, Danny Johnson often looked isolated. Was the personnel and shape the right one from Ross Embleton?

Man of the Match
Harry Charsley - Mansfield’s positive forward play was largely down to his enterprising attacking as he continually looked to make things happen.

Referee Watch
David Rock (Hertfordshire) - a competent performance that allowed the game to flow, making all the correct major decisions.

Atmosphere
The Orient flats on all four corners of the ground meant a balcony crowd of around 35 provided a nice backdrop to an entertaining encounter.

Verdict
Very much a point gained for Orient, who will play better and lose games this season - consider this one an early use of the get out of jail free card.

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