Mansfield Town 0 v Wycombe Wanderers 0 - EFL L2

Tuesday 12th September 2017

SkyBet EFL League 2

at Field Mill (One Call Stadium)

Mansfield Town (0) 0

Wycombe Wanderers 0 (0) 0
Attendance 2,938

Last night I treated my missus to a night out in Swallownest, which is on a hillside in the people's republic of South Yorkshire (don't knock it until you've tried it) and tonight she joined me at Field Mill, to watch a goalless draw in the strong winds and the horizontally attacking bucketing rain. It's no wonder she is always smiling, she gets spoiled something rotten. 

I even took her the scenic way home, so we could listen to Steve Evans after match interview on BBC Radio Nottingham, once they had eventually finished rattling on about Notts C*unty and Notts Forest.

And to be fair to the Stags first team manager; his thoughts on the game and the 100% honest and factually accurate overview of what we had just watched, had us both nodding in agreement... and that speaks absolute volumes about his analysis, because the pair of us seldom agree about anything whatsoever.

The 'Stags' actually dominated the opening fifteen minutes or so and the 'Chairboys' were lucky that Scott Brown's reflexes and limbs were supple and sufficiently warmed up from the off, when he was forced into pulling off a great save from Lee Angol's header early on, after a decent ball from CalumButcher.
But once the away side got to grips with the conditions, they were,in truth, the better team for the remainder of the first half and Mansfield only went in at the break on level terms, because their goalkeeper Conrad Logan set about proving that Stretch Armstrong was his dad, when he somehow managed to reach Dan Scarr's thumping goal-bound header, minutes before pulling of a double save from Marcus Bean and then Luke O'Nien from the rebound.

The first half had been bereft of clear cut chances, but it was a veritable thrill-fest compared to how the second forty five minutes turned out.
Neither side or any flair minded individual was likely to provide a flash of inspiration that was going to break this deadlock tonight and the weather was winning this one hands, stifling both teams intentions, dampening their efforts and rendering inert the possibility of anything in the way of entertainment.
All that either set of fans could hope for, was that when the inevitable slips and mistakes came in such dreadful conditions, they would prove costly to the opposition.
But, in the event, we were even denied such an element of slapstick comedy, because what we had out on the field of play tonight, were twenty two grafters who weren't about to let the tail end of Hurricane Irma break their concentration or conjure up any unforced errors.

Sure, it was bloody awful to watch for long spells, bur credit where it's due to all concerned for battling on regardless.
As full time arrived, Wycombe had now avoided a defeat at Mansfield for the seventh game in a row between the two sides.
Craig Mackail-Smith fired narrowly over from the right hand side of the area after controlling Anthony Stewart's flick on, encapsulating in just a few moments in time why this game was destined to finish goalless and the closest that Mansfield came to forcing the issue was inside the last ten minutes, when Dominic  Gape blocked Paul Anderson's  shot on the turn from Alfie Potters low drilled cross. All told a point is a point... especially when the opposition are a bit of a bogey side who had more shots on target tonight.

I did hear a few moans and groans on the way back to the car after the game, but 'kinnel! What do some people want!?
The application and effort was there, along with lorry loads of resilience and fight. Given the conditions that was all anybody could realistically ask for.
FT: Stags 0 v Chairboys 0