Mansfield Town 1 Stockport County 2 ( Football League 1 ) Saturday 20 December 2025

 

 

 

County  confounded the experts and pundits with a gutsy performance at Field Mill today and a well-earned 2-1 win , coming back from 1-0 down to beat Nigel Clough`s Mansfield Town and claim all the points to come within 3 of the L1 automatic promotion positions.

The goals , for County, came from a storming run by Jayden Fevrier whose shot went in off Town`s Ryan Sweeney not long before half time- the winner headed home by Jack Diamond ,twenty minutes from the end of normal time, laid on by an inch perfect cross by Osborn.

County defended with real determination and resolve at times especially in the second half when Joseph Olowu was brought on belatedly, and in Diamond had the best player on the park, but it was the return of Ollie Norwood that lit the torch of recovery in the blues approach- their play more ordered and inventive at times with   midfield back in good hands.

A word on Referee Alan Young- he was dire- constantly breaking County`s best work up with free kicks to the home side that at times beggared belief!

The fact that County overcame that considerable handicap augurs well for what follows in the rest of the season!

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The angst , for County, started early, as Diamond surged clear only to be clobbered by Cargill under the refs nose- the ref was oblivious ,awarding nothing as the ball flew out of play eventually, with any chance gone.

I had us down as the better team, albeit it was early on, and Town gave me room to doubt my assertion as Lewis was played clear down the middle. County looked hard pressed ,and matters suddenly did not improve as Lewis  laid the ball off to Evans who was in an incredibly good shooting position .

A shot followed with little delay, the ball  heading for the top corner -only kept from its target by a glorious save by Hinchliffe who tipped the pill over the bar. Corner it was then, but no more than that as Onyango and Hills worked their magic to clear the ball up the park.

A reply came quickly from County, but it lacked total precision – Norwood volleying the ball over the bar.

We were still only 10 minutes into the game, but already Norwood was having great influence on proceedings- Diamond was doing his best to do the same , in his somewhat different role, but a ground-hugging shot from him  brought a comfortable save from Liam Roberts the home keeper.

Diamond was also still getting no response from the Referee – again felled in full view of the official – result …zilch…..this was made all the more galling when viewed along with the regular feed of free kicks that Nigel Clough`s side were enjoying  from Mr Young !

Then, 4 minutes later, more angst, as a period of County pressure was ended by a break by Evans for Mansfield.

I looked to my left towards the touchline , but the liner  was way behind play…flag to his side as Evans proceeded towards goal though well offside- the liner`s slumbers continued…..County served particularly well by a terrific Brad Hills tackle that stopped Evans and ended the danger- no thanks to the officials!

Both sides had half chances next- Hewitt first for Mansfield failing to test Hinchliffe….Wootton following suit at the other when faced with Roberts.

Well beyond halfway in the first half, suddenly the pressure from Mansfield seemed to ratchet up a rev or two- Hinchliffe having to pull off another terrific save to deny McLaughlin smack in front of goal- Hills  on hand to block the follow up .

It was a corner and Mansfield sent the heavy brigade up to sort , key amongst these being Sweeney who met the incoming kick sending it goalward where it took a deflection off Wootton before heading into the net- we were 1 down !

We seemed  a touch shellshocked also as the pressure from Town increased….

Thankfully Moriah- Welsh headed over the bar when reasonably well set……..Reed  receiving the ball in a decent position but then volleying it over the top……and Hinchliffe had work to do of course saving confidently to deny Cargill……..Hills did good work too- his block stopping Evans when about to shoot.

We were well into the last 10 minutes of the half now, and Diamond had just nibbled away at the home sides soft under belly without so much as a vestige of good fortune, when County  got the break their play merited and it came via Jayden Fevrier who burst clear down the right ….skinning his marker before surging to the by-line where a powerful shot did the deed County required , the ball going into the net off Mansfield`s Sweeney.

The away end erupted in a wave of absolute delight- we were back on terms and could go in at the break nicely placed at 1-1.

Hey up though……there was 1 minute of normal time left and in it Mansfield found more work for Hinchliffe to do- County`s keeper having to pull out all the stops to  keep Lewis`s strike out.

County defended at full stretch in what remained of the first half – interrupted by a neat collaboration twixt Diamond and Fevrier that briefly lit up the away end again , before being halted by a save from Roberts.

It was half time…it was 1-1 …and that was not a bad situation to be in I thought!

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Both sides toiled away ,straining for that decisive second goal without success – Onyango and Osborn emerging with credit at different points in the first quarter of an hours play of the second half.

But the hour mark saw DC opt for a double change as Lowe and Olowu came on for Fevrier and the greatly disappointing Mothersille.

A sweet move followed from County which saw Diamond weaving his way into the box before threading a ball for Lowe to run onto .He had Cargill for company, and there was more than a hint of the none kosher about the defenders work but the nearby liner was unmoved by the away ends calls for sanction against the Town number 6.

County were not done however, and another neat move culminated in the much sought after second for the blues as the ball was played wide to Osborn , who responded with a cross of pinpoint accuracy into the crowded box where Diamond headed home to wild acclaim from 1053 voices in the away end!

County had their lead and a distinct whiff of 3 valuable points in their nostrils!

County kept at it though- Diamond`s shot kept out by Roberts` diving save with 15 minutes of normal time remaining to play.

By this time ,DC had rung the changes again bringing Hunt and Dodgson on for   Norwood and Bailey- width for midfield nous…. which  was good in the prevailing circumstances with the ref gifting free kick after free kick to County`s opponents.

But County were managing to defend the incoming whilst incurring the wrath of the locals- no bad thing really as their lead stayed intact!

Into the last 10 minutes we went with the locals getting even more excited- unnecessarily so in my view, as yellow shirted bodies went to ground in the box in vain….

The next 5 minutes was a variation on that theme…County defending and doing well ….Town attacking …err…not so well…..Lewis dragging a poor effort wide on 82 minutes……Sweeney lifting an effort high over the bar 2 minutes later from a Town free kick given for A FOUL ON WOOTTON ( I jest not folks!)

Midst all that , Lowe had failed to test Roberts on the break, and slightly later excellent play by Hunt and Diamond went unrewarded.

I have liked what I have seen of Hunt and hope that he gets given more time to show us what he can do for us, which could be quite a lot in my opinion.

On it went with that `monster `Nathan Lowe penalised for brutalising ( I surmise but certainly did not see) Cargill- some of the decisions were beyond belief- we waited to see how much time would be added and there seemed to be some confusion as to whether it was 6 ( announced) or 8 ( Signalled pitch side) so the ref gave us 9 and a half !

The mists were swirling around Field Mill now  but somehow the liner peered through the murk to see clearly that Lowe was offside – I was in a better vantage spot…he wasn`t !

That was 94 minutes in…..by now Che Gardner was on the park  for Onyango and on the ball , taking a pass from Diamond before drilling the ball low and hard across the box- somehow Mansfield survived ( 96 minutes)we must be going off the pitch side signal then , as play continued…..

Diamond to the fore next…..Osborn missing out with his cross ( 97 minutes)….Woots a whiskers width from putting Dodgson`s excellent ball into the box home (98 minutes)still it went on …99……until at long last the ref`s prevarications ended and he blew for time!

That was not pretty at times but excellent when it counted and the win keeps us where we want to be.

Massive congrats to the team and  DC for fashioning this pre-Yule highlight.

Enjoy the Xmas break folks and be sure to get to Edgeley Park on Boxing Day v Lincoln City , the  29^th for the Doncaster game to support the team , and to Northampton on New Years Day( there are still seats available on the Flyer!)

 

Stockport County line up:-

Hinchliffe,Onyango ( Gardner92), Hills, Pye, Fevrier (Lowe 59), Norwood  (Hunt 74), Bailey (Dodgson 74), Osborn, Diamond, Wootton, Mothersille (Olowu 59).

Unused Subs: Addai, Edwards.

Mansfield Town line up :-

 Roberts, Hewitt, Cargill, Sweeney (Dickov 86), Blake-Tracy (McAdam 92), Oshilaja, Reed (Dwyer 84), Lewis, Moriah-Welsh (Taylor 92’), McLaughlin, Evans.

Unused Subs: Mason, Chambers-Morgan, Goodman.

 

Attendance: 8,016 (1,053 ). 

hedgegrower

 

A couple of Crowd shots from hedgegrower.....

Our 2 blue Santas superbly photo bombed by Kate & Ian from the Flyer !