AFC Mansfield 5 v Brodsworth Welfare 0 - CMFL North

Wednesday 19th February 2014
at Forest Town Stadium (AKA the Clod)
CMFL (North)
AFC Mansfield (3) 5
Darren Bettison 5. Phil Buxton 13.
Dean Rick 16, Danny Tighe 81,
James McCann 84
Brodsworth Welfare (0) 0
Admission £3, Programme £1.50, Attendance 64
CMFL North table inc. tonight's result

Home:

Dale Sheppard, Steve McGurk, Danny Tighe, Matt Draper (C), Sam Holmes, Darren Bettison, Phil Buxton, Joe Naylor, Dean Rick, Danny Wiltshire, James McCann

Subs - Chris Timons, Joe Meehan, Brad Wilson, Tom Clarke, Ryan Fletcher

Visitors:

Dom Senior, Andrew Abbott, Theo Mowatt, Ben Hodgson, Jake Starbuck (C), Steve Knifton, Tom Bentham, Josh Dodd, Joe Fisher, James Irwin, Luke Kelly

Subs - Tom Semley, Scott Exley 

Well, I think it is safe to say, that both Harworth and Thorne can wave goodbye to any lingering outside hopes of gatecrashing the top two in the CMFL North, after tonight's straight forward home win for AFC Mansfield.
Mathematical possibilities and feasible outcomes are rarely the same thing.
Brodsworth were always going to be up against it when player unavailability meant that they would have to field four inexperienced 17 year olds tonight. And their assistant manager James Irwin was also in the starting line-up too. Though to be fair to James he did alright on the night.
AFC Mansfield on the other hand, had a strong squad to choose from, including debutant Daz Bettison.
And they'll have even more firepower at their disposal after the weekend when Carl Haslam returns to the Bulls fold.
The home side were in front after just five minutes, when Bettison struck the ball home through a crowded goalmouth past the unsighted Dom Senior.
Carlsberg don't make debut games, but if they did ...
Broddy were already looking at a damage limitation job, when Phil Buxton made it 2-0 with a 25 yard shot that went in off of the inside of the right hand post in the thirteenth minute and Dean Rick scored the Bulls third with a quality strike from just inside the box shortly afterwards.

'Brodsworth ... A Touch of Beauty'

Though the omens looked ominous for Broddy, to their credit they tried to close their ranks and keep the home side at bay as much as possible, though Dale Sheppard, the AFC Mansfield goalkeeper, probably won't have needed to have had his kit washed tonight.
But it wasn't until inside the final ten minutes that the home side finally scored again, though Dean Rick (twice) and Danny Wiltshire must both have been wondering how they hadn't added to the Bulls goal tally before then.
A deflected Danny Tighe free kick on 81 minutes made it 4-0 and two minutes later Dom Senior was a bit unlucky, that when he saved a close range effort from Dean Rick, James McCann was on hand close by to knock home the  home sides fifth.
Although 64 would be an excellent attendance for any other CMFL club, I was expecting there to be more here tonight, given that AFC Mansfield are now within sight of the promotion finishing line now and the weather was quite mild for a change.
I don't think that even the staunchest Brodsworth optimist could argue with the fact that the outcome reflected the 90 minutes as a whole.
In fact, somebody from the Woodlands (the north Doncaster home of Broddy FC), who shall remain nameless, said to me after the game (in jest obviously) "No complaints, we're happy enough to have kept 'em down to five".