Mansfield Town 0 v Chesterfield 1 - JPT 2nd Round

Tuesday 8th October 2013
at Field Mill (One Call Stadium)
Johnstones Paint Trophy 2nd Round
Mansfield Town  (0) 0
Chesterfield (0) 1
Garry McShefferey 72
Admission £15, programme £2
Attendance 4, 834

Mansfield Town:

Marriott; Sutton (Jennings 83), Dempster (c), Riley, Murtagh, Stevenson (Palmer 87), Clucas, Beevers, McGuire (Howell 70'), Andrew, Daniel
Unused subs - Rhead, Meikle.
Chesterfield:
Lee; Edwards, Hird, Evatt (c), Cooper; Ryan, Morsy, Devitt (Darikwa 90+), O'Shea, McSheffrey (Banks 90+), Porter.
Unused subs - Chapman, Togwell, Brown

This local derby cup tie was fairly evenly balanced affair, if truth be told, where both teams had spells where they put the opposition on the back foot in an open and competitive game.
Both keepers were forced to make a number of good stops as the game ebbed and flowed, with the Spireites Tommy Lee stopper being called more into the action than his opposite number Alan Marriott, though that was mainly down to some resolute action by the Stags back four at times.

Of course, ten days ago these two sides had met in their first league game against each other for many a long year, in a game that the Stags won 1-0 at the Proact Stadium.
That fixture was far more important on many levels than a Johnstone's Paint Trophy head to head.
For the last six years Mansfield Town have played their football in non league circles, following their relegation to the Conference at the end of the 2007-08 season, while Chesterfield have moved into a new council funded stadium and for the 2011-12 season, spent a whole year in League 1.
But now both teams are back in League 2, or Division 4 if you prefer ... and this old rivalry has been resumed again.
It would be fair to say, that as far as the supporters are concerned, absence hasn't done anything to make the heart grow fonder.

Following a goalless first half, the second period followed pretty much the same template and discussions began about who the penalty takers would be if the scores were level on 90 minutes, because in the JPT there is no such thing as replays or extra time.
The visitors took the lead in the 72nd minute when Garry McSheffrey netted from close range, after his teammate Chris Porter, had met on collision course with Alan Marriott and Ritchie Sutton in race to get to a Sam Hird cross and the ball had spun loose and into the path of the Spireites winger.
Sutton was injured from the impact of the three man pile up and needed to have lengthy treatment on the pitch, which delayed the game for ten minutes before he was stretchered off as a precautionary measure because of the nature of his head and neck injury.

After the game restarted, Mansfield piled forward in a vainglorious attempt to level the tie, but the Spireites defended doggedly and held on until the final whistle, despite a mammoth effort to level the game from the home side.
The pivotal moment, late in the day, that secured the result for Chesterfield, almost as much as McShefferey's goal, was an acrobatic tip over the bar by Tommy Lee, from Ollie Palmer's on target volley from the edge of the box.
The final whistle sounded, after 14 minutes of added time and it was pleasing to see that those around me had appreciated the Stags efforts, despite the result, as they gave the home side a standing ovation as they left the pitch.
Losing to Chesterfield is never good, but I can recall worse occasions than this one and the fact that it was only a Johnstone's Paint Trophy game, did soften the blow somewhat.

Stags condoms, for the rutting season.

After the match, I overheard a Chesterfield fan moaning about how much time the referee had added on at the end of the game.
Well, for the benefit of anybody else who doesn't understand the rules regarding timekeeping, here's the maths:
Ritchie Sutton treatment for injury = 10 minutes
Ritchie Sutton being stretchered off the pitch = 1 minute
Five substitutions (inc. two by Chesterfield in stoppage time) = 2 mins 30 seconds
One goal = 30 seconds
Bookings, Jimmy Ryan of Chesterfield for time wasting in added time = 30 seconds.
Here, hang on!
That's more than 14 minutes.
Oh well, a 1-0 defeat to a fortuitous goal, in a competition that nobody loves, brown sticky stuff happens!

The talk of sweet revenge and bragging rights being restored following the Stags victory at the Proact Stadium is, to be frank, laughable.
Mansfield fans know it and their visitors from over the M1 know it too.
Given the choice between three league points or a third round tie in the JPT, I know for a fact what all supporters of all clubs would rather have.
Back in the real world, Chesterfield are top of League 2 and the Stags are mounting a challenge in the play off positions, but there is still a long way to go this season ... and both teams suffered embarrassing defeats at the weekend, in the Football League, where it really matters.
All in a decent game tonight, that could have gone either way.
Alas, we never did find out who the penalty takers would be in the event of a drawn game after 90 minutes.