Tuesday 21 July 2015

Mansfield Town 1 v MK Dons 1 - PSF

Tuesday 21st July 2015
PSF at the One Call Stadium (Field Mill)
Mansfield Town (1) 1  Nathan Thomas 45
Milton Keynes Dons (0) 1  Daniel Powell 58
Admission £7. Programme £2 (for both home friendlies)
Attendance 1346 inc. 38 in the away end
Mansfield Town
Shearer, Hunt, Pearce (Shires, 87), Collins (Trialist, 65), Benning (C. Green, 75), Clements (McGuire, 75), J. Thomas, Chapman (Fitzpatrick, 75), N.Thomas (Dwyer, 69), M. Green (Lambe, 65), Westcarr (Beardsley, 65).
Unused subs - Jensen, Fletcher, Spencer.
MK Dons
Martin, Spence (Hodson, 69), McFadzean (Walsh, 69), Kay, Lewington, Potter (Bowditch, 69), Carruthers, Baker, Reeves (Rasulo, 81), Powell, Church (Jennings, 81).
Unused subs - Cropper, Tshimanga.
Matt Green and Craig Westcarr, playing up front together for the Stags?
Somebody pinch me.
This is going to get good... seriously good!
I had a myriad selection of fixtures to choose from tonight, but I'm happy (very happy in fact) that I picked the right one and I've thoroughly enjoyed witnessing first hand, the progress that Adam Murray's Stags side are making as their pre-season schedule starts to pick up a head of steam.
Sycophantic, superlative heavy appraisal should always be tempered and offset by a cautious, yet still optimistic overview, at this prototype stage of any football season.
But, the Field Mill faithful left the 'Wonk Hall' Stadium in a positive mood after this very promising performance, encouraged by the tenacity, work rate, doggedness, discipline and dare I say it... attacking intentions, against a Championsip side, combined with a propensity to play the ball on the deck, pass it around and offer their fans the complete antithesis of some of the more direct stuff they might have become accustomed to over the past couple of seasons.
I'm reluctant to criticise Paul Cox, because he is the manager who led Mansfield Town back to the Football League, a nether land where every now and then all teams have to adopt a horses for courses strategy and grind results out.
And I won't go quite as far as to say that it made a nice change to see an attractive game of football at Field Mill for a change, but, err... it did!
The Field Mill crowd are notoriously quick to voice their disapproval, but I reckon that they could well overlook the odd disastrous result or two along the way, if their team are trying to play the game in an aesthetically pleasing manner and aiming to entertain as well as striving to win games.
League football is, fundamentally, driven by results and finances, but the fans will keep the turnstiles clicking if they know that they are going to be entertained.
More of the same please.
I know, I really know that it was only a pre-season friendly tonight, but please allow me my little indulgences.
Anyway, here's further proof to corroborate my evidence.
READ ALL ABOUT IT...

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