Lincoln City 1 v Mansfield Town 3 - FLYA (NE)

Saturday 16th April 2016
Football League Youth Alliance (NE)
at Priory Academy, Lincoln
Lincoln City U18 (0) 1
Jack McMenemy 84
Mansfield Town U18 (2) 3
Tyler Blake 14, 36
Louis Danquah 54
For Flickr photo group click HERE

Lincoln City:

Michael Antkowiak, Jack Fixter, Ryley Thompson, Archie Moyses, Jack Weatherell, Luke Anderson, Keilen Gretton, Liam Harris, Jack McMenemy, Leon Loftus, Camm Stewart

Subs - Danny Horton, Sam Fewkes, James Hugo, Luke White, Ritchie Burdett

Mansfield Town:

Adam Bishop, Teddy Bloor, Louis Danquah, Cain Smith (Tom Marriott 81), Morgan Ratcliffe (C), Kieran Harrison, Tyler Johal, Cameron Healey, Tyler Blake, Alistair Smith (Devante Reittie), Zayn Hakeem (Nyle Blake)

Unused subs - Sam Wilson, Kane Baldwin

John Dempster's young Stags got back to winning ways on the Priory Academy 3G pitch, after an early hours snow flurry over Lincoln had rendered the original venue for this game, half a mile away at Ashby Avenue, unplayable.
The three points saw Mansfield climb back to the top of the table, putting the onus on Scunthorpe United to win their game in hand now, after their derby match v. Doncaster Rovers was postponed today.
On a bright but chilly morning, the Stags looked lively from the off, with Tyler Johal, Ali Smith, Zayn Hakeem and Kieran Harrison all asking questions of the Imps defence, before Tyler Blake charged down an attempted clearance from a back pass by City's keeper Michael Antkowiak, stole the ball away and rolled it into the now open goal, to give the visitors the lead after 14 minutes.

Morgan Ratcliffe did a great job as team captain on his comeback from injury today, it would be fair to say that his booming voice and non stop encouragement could be heard clearly all over the Academy campus. He has a reputation for being a bit of a joker in the pack and a rum lad, but as Captain Morgan took his role very seriously and showed a lot of maturity.

Louis Danquah and Teddy Bloor were causing no end of problems for Lincoln's back four with their link up play and deliveries from dead ball situations.

Tyler Blake was relishing leading the line, with Zayn Hakeem playing ff of him and he was coming out on top more often than not with his marker, Jack Weatherell.
The Imps tried responding to Blake's opening goal and Harrison had to head Archie Moyses in-swinging corner away from the six yard box, to where Jack Harris latched on to it, but his hopeful long range shot flew high and wide.

Tyler Johal was fouled as he ventured forward by Moyses. Teddy Bloor's free kick was cleared by Ryley Thompson at the expense of a corner, which Bloor also took, picking out Hakeem who shot on the turn but fired narrowly over the bar.
Cain Smith dropped a shoulder and broke past Jack Fixter, who recovered in time to put in a slide tackle as Smith was about to cross.
Bloor tried to take advantage of the biting wind that was howling across the pitch, but his left wing corner dropped narrowly wide of the right hand post.
Blake saw off the attentions of Weatherell again but placed his shot narrowly wide of the upright.
But the live-wire front man was back moments later, cutting out an attempted clearance by Luke Anderson, before cracking the ball past Antkowiak, to claim his and Mansfield's second goal.

Laim Harris and Camm Stewart, both crossed the ball into the Stags penalty area in quick succession from their respective flanks, but there was nobody up in the box to connect with the ball in the first instance and Thompson nudged the ball wide of the right hand upright from the other.
Just before half time, Mansfield swept forward in search of a third goal before the break and when Ali Smith, Hakeem, Blake and Johal's pace and precision saw them advance deep into Lincoln's territory, Wetherell had to make a last ditch clearance, which fell to Cameron Healey on the edge of the box who shot on sight and was unlucky to see the ball skim wide with Antkowiak well beaten.
HT: Imps Youth 0 v Stags Youth 2

Mansfield's undoing at Hartlepool last week, was a lacklustre showing after the break, when they had taken a single goal lead in at the interval.
There was to be no repeat this weekend as the Stags completed a comfortable win against decent opposition, by a scoreline that only had a tinge of respectability about it for the host side, because they scored a breakaway consolation goal inside the closing five minutes.
Cain Smith won the ball in midfield and fed a pass forward to Ali Smith, who in turn switched the ball wide to Johal and when he crossed the ball into the path of Smith (C), who had continued his run, Antkowiak did well to pull off a close range save.
Hakeem and Blake were still chasing everything and anything in the final third, but it was Louis Danquah who finally claimed the third goal that had been on the cards for a while, when he took a return pass from Ali Smith just inside the box and calmly slotted the ball past Antkowiak.

Antkowiak was called into action twice, plucking Cain Smith's searching ball to his namesake Ali out of the air, before pulling off a great fingertip save at full stretch from a long range Cain Smith effort.
From a rare Lincoln attack, Jack McMenemy blazed a shot well off target from 12 yards out, as the wind picked up and was making life difficult.
Blake kept a stray pass in play by the dead ball line and rolled it back to Bloor, who picked out Ali Smith, but as he turned to get his shot away Antkowiak manged to get down and make another block.
By the time Mansfield made their three substitutions to give Nyle Blake, Tom Marriott and Devante Reittie the opportunity to get some match time in, the game was effectively all but over as a contest already, but they fitted straight in to the pattern of play and still played their part.

Inside the final five minutes, Jack McMenemy side footed a right wing cross past Bishop from ten yards. It was a shame that Bishop hadn't kept a clean sheet, because he had kept his focus well during the long periods of inactivity, with the wind blowing directly towards and had looked assured and calm whenever he had been called on.
With the clock ticking down, Bloor swung a right wing free kick into the side netting, Nyle Blake copied his brother's party piece when he chased down Anderson on the edge of the box, nicked the ball away and rolled it inches wide of the upright.
As the referee sounded his whistle, Weatherell was heading Danquah's cross away, as Healey arrived in the box in search of a late goal.
FT: Lincoln City 1 v Mansfield Town U18 3
The Stags Youth team face Oldham Athletic next Saturday, at Clipstone FC, in a game that has a noon kick off.