THE66POW: Tamworth 0 v. Mansfield Town 2

Blue Square Premier - at The Lamb Ground, Tamworth

Tamworth (0) 0
Mansfield Town (0) 2 (Cain 64, Briscoe 69)

Admission £14, Programme £2.50
Attendance 1612 (378 visiting supporters)

Tamworth operate a sliding scale for admission charges, £10 for 'ordinary' teams, £12 for 'good' opponents ... and £14 for 'big' clubs who will guarantee bringing a large following with them ... apparently.
So if today's full whack cost status is anything to go by, Mansfield Town have finally arrived in the big time and aren't really a mid table Conference side looking wistfully up the table at the teams vying for a play off placing at all.

In midweek, a Lamb Ground crowd roughly half the size of today's (in number, not stature you understand) had witnessed a 3-0 home win against Kettering Town.
But as the Poppies had only 9 players on the pitch for the last quarter of an hour and are worth a mere £12 to watch at this Kettlebrook based arena, the Lambs were expecting a much tougher game against this afternoon's highly ranked opponents Mansfield Town.
The Stags themselves arrived at the Lamb Ground riding high on the crest of a wave, on the back of their impressive 2-2 draw in the FA Trophy at Chasetown on Tuesday ;-)

Knowing what a soul crushing experience the M1 southbound between junctions 30 to 23a can be on a Saturday lunch time, we made sure we set off in plenty of time ... and inevitably had no hold ups at all.
Typical!
But that afforded us pole position for a fast escape from the club car park at the end of the game and plenty of time to take the short stroll through the nearby subways to the local Wetherspoons, which was already doing a roaring trade courtesy of a good number of Stags fans who were already in it, as was Yate's further into town by all accounts.
Some of those Stags fans were enjoying their afternoon in the pub so much, they decided to stay there and didn't even go to the game.