Mansfield Town 3 Stockport County 2 ( Football League 2) Saturday 26 August 2023
County snatched defeat from the jaws of what early on looked like being a famous victory at Field Mill today, but in the end after leading Mansfield 2-1 at the break they were overwhelmed by Nigel Clough`s side after the break when under pressure from the speedy running of the home side, County`s game disintegrated in a welter of miss placed passes and ill thought out moves.
This invited Town forward and with County defending ever deeper so the pressure continued to mount.
Hinchliffe made 2 superb saves at the zenith of all this attacking from the Stags, but it was only a matter of time and when the excellent Davis Keillor- Dunn did squeeze one beyond the County keeper another followed in rather short order shortly after. Thereafter we held our breath and hoped that we could maybe snatch something from the ashes of a game we might have won had we called upon some of the spark that had sustained us earlier.
In the end we were probably fortunate not to concede again.
That was very disappointing, especially bearing in mind the quality of our two first half goals- why can we not do 90 odd minutes of consistently good football-ten or twenty minutes and then zilch for the remainder of games butters no parsnips in this league and surely, we know this by now!
…………………………………
Not far short of 1000 loyal County supporters made the trip to Nottinghamshire to follow their team and a fair bit of supportive noise they produced too, but a downpour of biblical proportions delayed the kick off until 3.15- which was all a touch puzzling as by then ( and I suspect much earlier too) the Field Mill playing surface looked in very good nick indeed.
No matter, eventually we were away, and I was pleased to see we had 3 at the back namely Wright, Horsfall and Pye as Collar and Knoyle probed the left side of the home back line straight off.
The initial thrust was repulsed but the ball came back to Touray who was brought down in the box. The away end called it “ penalty” but Referee Ollie Yates was unmoved – we played on!
I was still wondering about that one a couple of minutes later as Pye initiated a break from deep defence that ended with Barry slamming a terrific shot home to give County the lead.
The Stags replied via Keillor-Dunn and Maris but the latter`s effort drifted harmlessly wide of goal.
The home pressure continued, their eager forwards chasing a series of long probing balls from the back, but these were invariably not wild punts but intelligent searching balls, so we had to beware!
Pye and then Hinchliffe did well to deal as pressure mounted, and they were joined by Akil Wright whose intervention prevented another prime mover for Town Rhys Oates from punishing County with a dangerous cross from the by-line 10 minutes in.
So, we thought we were doing OK, but we were also not ensuring that our clearances went to someone in black, and we were to pay the price for this 2 minutes later.
It started with another run from Oates, this time down the left but Horsfall covered nicely making a decent block, but from there it all went haywire and with County all over the place trying to clear their lines the ball found its way to Maris who slotted it home to level the scores.
Another in yellow doing well even at this early stage was Lucas Akin but Pye did well to stop him from reaching another probing cross from the by-line by Oates who had covered acres to get on the end of one of them raking through balls from `nowhere`.
We got a glimmer on 20 minutes and might….no should have done better than we did but when a careless loose ball from someone in yellow reached Madden and he slipped it wide to Touray he could not capitalise.
So, the pressure came back on County only for Barry and Madden to return the compliment- but Barry`s shot was charged down and it stayed 1-1.
And then it didn`t, but the moment was delayed slightly as Tanto`s surging run gained us a corner.
This was a belter as was Horsfall`s response to it- the County number 6 soaring high above all comers to propel a superb header back across goal into the far corner of the net.
We were 2-1 up …wow!
We didn`t ease up so much after that as Mansfield upped their game and we were fortunate to see Keillor-Dunn`s shot bounce out off the bar after Akin`s cross had eluded Wright.
Pye did well as Mansfield continued to push County back, a period of pressure interrupted when a County break saw Barry dart clear and cut inside from the by-line. “Was he impeded” I found myself asking nobody in particular, but no penalty was given and that`s what counts.
Good defending counts too and Pye was centre stage again in this respect doing just enough, on 37 minutes, to ensure the lively Oates` eventual shot did not trouble Hinchliffe, following this a minute later by heading Quinn`s cross clear with County exposed.
Then almost immediately the boot was on the other foot and Pym the home keeper was stranded way away from goal . The ball was with Barry. It looked to be a shoo- in, but somehow Barry contrived to shoot wide.
County were attacking as the half time whistle went.
They also had a 2-1 lead.
For sure they would face a Town side suitably fired up by Nigel Clough in the second half, but I was not alone in hoping that they might rise to the occasion!
………………………………….
First a Pie Shot from today`s game- meat, and potato and not at all bad………………….
The odd crowd shot……..
Then some more half time entertainment, some blues…enjoy……
……………………………………………………..
I have mentioned earlier those `quick balls from the back that had caused us so much trouble in the first half, well the second half saw them plaguing us again.
It was good to see at this point that the County resolve held and although Stags again made it to the by-line the blues closed ranks and saw the danger off.
Mansfield continued to look lively though particularly Keiller- Dunn who came at County along with Akin but again County`s back line held firm as Wright`s vital block stopped the latter from getting a shot in.
We had gone almost 10 minutes before anything of note came back from the blues and our progress was halted by a foul on Croasdale by Reed who was booked by Referee Yates. The free kick was circa 5 yards outside the box and reasonably central, but we overthought it and any chance disappeared.
We were not done though – Barry scooting to the back of the Town box seeking to pick out Tanto, only to find Flint in position to block our progress and clear his lines.
Both sides had their chances for 7 or 8 minutes after that last action but it was still 2-1, so whilst Mansfield were looking the side `most likely to` we were still in the driving seat.
And then …suddenly…we weren`t….
It did not start so badly in fact rather gloriously as a fantastic save by Hinchliffe somehow kept a fierce drive from Keiller- Dunn out. It was a corner, and then another as again Hinchliffe denied Keiller- Dunn diving to tip his next shot over the bar.
That was simply brilliant, but with County unable to stem the tide of oncoming yellow shirted attacks a goal was probably inevitable and, with 20 minutes left it duly came as Keiller- Dunn cut inside before finding the net with a beautiful left footed shot!
It was 2-2 and County were wobbling!
County did try to respond but Touray found the side netting on the end of a hopeful break just a minute after the equalising goal.
Then County came under severe pressure only just able to keep the annoyingly good Keiller-Dunn out at the expense of a corner. Hinchliffe made a good catch from Flint`s follow up and again a minute later as County failed to stop the rot and find a black shirt to end the angst.
Eventually County raised the siege through Barry and his speed was a stand out factor in our attacking play so far but Mansfield had…err…..noticed this and there were 5 yellow shirts swarming around him as he made a brave dash up the park- it was doomed to fail …..gloriously for sure but fail it did understandably!
Madden and Collar then gave way to Rydel and Evans but still Mansfield attacked both Akin and Keiller-Dunn unlucky as County hung on grimly!
Then, with just 10 minutes left we could hold out no more and a loose ball directed at who knows who found a yellow shirt – yes you guessed correctly Keiller-Dunn and his break with Quinn ended with him curling a beauty into the net beyond Hinchliffe`s dive.
We were 3-2 down and it was not a real surprise.
Quinn and Keiller- Dunn were subbed 5 minutes later but by then the damage was done and County looked shell-shocked – Touray wasting a rare opportunity of a break with indecisive play.
By now County had Crankshaw and Powell on for Barry and Horsfall but the County defence were still under siege for long periods fortunate not to concede smack on 90 minutes from a free kick given away in a decidedly scoreable position on the edge of the box- the kick hit the wall almost unbelievably!
Somehow County managed to finish the game without leaking another goal- Swan helped a bit scuffing a poor effort late on into Ben`s arms, some very loose defending didn`t help at all, but survive they did with further damage avoided.
Thankfully the forecasted rain did not materialise and that eased the angst a tad on the way home, but not a lot.
That was very disappointing as I have said earlier.
You and I will turn up on Saturday for the Crawley match at Edgeley Park ,but which County will?
Mansfield Town line up :-
Pym , Williams ( Swan 61) , Bowery , Flint , Mac Donald , Reed , Marin ( Cooper 94) , Quinn ( Clarke 85) , Leiller- Dunn ( Brunt 85) , Oates , Akins.
Subs no used : Flinders , Wannchope , Abdullah.
Stockport County line up :-
Hinchliffe , Wright , Horsfall ( Crankshaw 63), Pye , Knoyle , Touray , Croasdale , Collar ( Evans 94) , Madden ( Rydel 77) , Olaofe , Barry ( Powell 86).
Subs no used: Smith , Mee , C Johnson.
Attendance : 7433 ( 969)
hedgegrower
Comments
Post a Comment