Mansfield Town 0 v Accrington Stanley 1 - EFL League 2

Friday 30th March 2018

SkyBet EFL League 2

at Field Mill/One Call Stadium

Mansfield Town (0) 0

Accrington Stanley (0) 1

Seamus Conneely 60

Admission £20. Programme £3

Attendance: 5,053 (inc. 543 away)

Accrington Stanley moved back to the top of the table this afternoon, as a consequence of having won thirteen out of their last fifteen games.

Today's high flying visitors to Field Mill have become something of a 'bogey side' for Mansfield Town over the years... in fact, today's result means that the Stags haven't beaten Stanley in any of the last fourteen consecutive games between these two sides. 

Mal Benning's straight red card in the thirteenth minute, for a 'studs up', high tackle, on the former Stags player Billy Kee, and a momentarily loss of concentration by the Mansfield defence as Seamus Conneely was allowed a free header from a corner on the hour, were major contributing factors to Mansfield's downfall today... along with some profligate finishing in front of the visitors goal.

But Stanley aren't sitting pretty at the top of the table with a cushion of two games in hand for nothing.
They're the form team in Division 2, riding high on the crest of a wave of momentum. And regardless of how well the Stags played at times today, or how much of a kick in teeth the final outcome was for David Flitcroft's side who deserved something out of the game; John Coleman's Accrington express is on a full steam ahead, unstoppable tilt to promotion to League 1... most likely as champions.

The match referee, Andy Haines, didn't always appear to be in total control of the game at times; in fact he didn't even see the lunge that Belling was ultimately dismissed for... his assistant beckoned him over and provided the evidence for that particular crime... but in that instance, it was completely the right decision to send the Stags number three off... and in the aftermath of the game, David Flitcroft, the Mansfield manager, said himself, that Benning would be getting fined by the club for his rash action.

Which kind of rubbishes several peoples opinion that the punishment was harsh and the challenge innocuous. 

I like and rate Belling a lot as a player, and he's recently been on a roll of good form, but his 'red mists' today, proved to be very, very costly. 

Certainly, the Lancashire side were adept at 'playing the ref' on a number of occasions throughout the afternoon, but not the one that involved Benning's sending off.

And much as some people always need to resort to playing the injustice card, while looking for a scapegoat to blame, for all of the conspiratorial evils in the world, Mr Haines never went out to 'do' anybody with his studs on show for everybody present to see.

Those who are blaming the recently installed management duo of David Flitcroft and Ben Futcher for the Stags recent dip in form, where they have picked up only four points out of a possible eighteen, or three out of fifteen since the newcomers actually took over; need to remember, that neither of them were responsible for pulling the rug unceremoniously, from under a virtual whole season's worth of tangible progress, nor did they cause massive disruption and upheaval at a critical point during what promised to be the outset of the final push for promotion... well, not at Mansfield anyway. 

And I don't need to name names as regards who did just that to the Stags, in spite of them receiving the unequivocal and total backing of the powers that be at Field Mill, so I won't! 

However, although by rule of thumb, changes at any football club will invariably take a while to gel and cement, time is of the essence for Mansfield Town, while also being in a chronically short supply.

In a nutshell... and without wanting to sound overly pessimistic or critical of anyone, the end of the season is rapidly approaching at ramming speed... and if the Stags don't pick up the pace again with immediate effect, then they're in grave danger of getting left behind and vanishing into the chasing pack of also ran teams. Flitcroft and Futcher, knew both the timescale and the enormity of the challenge that they readily accepted, when they moved to Field Mill from Swindon Town, who are now ironically snapping at Mansfield's heels in the league table, and were well aware of exactly what they were being asked to deliver.

The remit was to hit the ground running and finish the job (of at least finishing in a play off spot) off. Then build a team to compete at the next level up if promotion was achieved. 

That isn't meant by way of a criticism of how they've started their tenure, I'm merely stating the obvious facts, that are clearly out there for everybody to see, apart from those few who are stubbornly living in denial. 

It all needed to fall into place with immediate effect and as of yet, it neither has done nor even shown anything other than the odd fleeting moment and slight glimmer of promise that it might still do in the nick of time.

There are some really positive things happening at the Stags, below the first team level, since the enforced management switch took place. Like the successful young prospects at the club finally getting some game time with the reserves and proper recognition. By way of an example, Keaton Ward, a pivotal member of the Under 18 side, who recently signed a professional contract at the club was involved in the pre-match warm up today.

Which illustrates nicely, the underpinning fabric of the whole hierarchy of player development at Mansfield Town and the Brooksby Academy, which is something the previous self serving incumbent of the Stags hot seat would never have entertained in a million years. 

Although essentially, Mansfield town is a 'club' and all of what that entails, at all levels of it's infrastructure, and isn't just about one 'flagship' team... what the over-riding vast majority of fans want to see, is immediate results in League 2, to justify the Stags pre-season promotion favourites odds, along with a climax to the current campaign that lives up to the (probably over) optimistic high levels of expectation and optimism that oozed from every nook and cranny at the ground not so long ago.

From past experience, it is fair to say that it it invariably never takes very long for the vultures to start circling, once there is any kind of perceived 'trouble at t'mill'. 

I want Flitcroft and Futcher to succeed at the One Call Stadium and feel that they're maybe a better long term investment than their predecessors were ever going to be, with all of their pomp, embarrassing baggage, unfinished business, lies and unfulfilled hype.
But I guess that only time will tell if the possibilities they bought to the table are ever going to become probabilities.
Regardless of anything else, the new guys need to start delivering results now, because that is what most people will judge them on... and when all is said and done, that is the magic trick that they have taken the king's shilling to perform for the waiting masses.

It was heart warming to see and hear the home crowd sticking with the team and generously applauding them from the field of play at the end of the game, in response to their running through brick walls Herculean efforts for the Stags cause, once they went down to ten men today, and for having only narrowly lost to the best team in this division... but points win prizes, not bonhomie, pragmatism, defiant loyalty and raising the roof with a noisy crescendo of raucous cheering and clapping. And to that end, the sands of time don't hang around for anybody and they're vanishing rapidly.

Of course, it is still mathematically possible that Mansfield Town could win automatic promotion if they were to somehow win the remainder of their games, but I doubt if even the most stoned of crack rock smokers, believes the fairies at the bottom of their garden anymore, when they tell them that the Stags will finish in a top three place.
And though it pains me deeply to say such a thing, I am beginning to think that even my dear old Grandmother tells fibs too, because her claims that: "The Stags will qualify for the play offs and f*cking piss it!", are starting to look ever more dubious, the longer that this lengthy run of games without a win continues.

Today, although Mansfield got zilch to show for their efforts against John Coleman's champions elect, it wasn't for a lack of trying.
Even before Mal Benning's crass and irresponsible episode foul play, the home side would have been in front inside the opening two minutes, if it wasn't for the alertness of the Stanley keeper Aaron Chapman, who pushed Lee Angol's dipping shot over the bar.
Despite their numerical disadvantage following the red card incident, Mansfield rallied and reorganised well, but were denied by Chapman once again, when he tipped a powerful Rhys Bennett header over his bar, while Angol connected with the resulting corner on the volley, but couldn't keep his effort on target.
Five minutes after the break, a deft back-heel by Alex MacDonald into the path of Haydn White, unlocked the visitors defence and White's low cross set up Kane Hemmings with an absolute sitter of a chance, but from just four yards out, he somehow managed to hook the ball wide.

The higher up the leagues you play, the more likely it is going to be that you'll get punished for making mistakes, so shortly after Hemmings glaring miss, the Stags were left to rue what might have been, when Conneely escaped the attention of his marker and everybody else in the Stags team, when he ran straight through the middle of their defence, to meet a right wing corner from Sean McConville head on and nod the ball past Conrad Logan, for what turned out to be the only goal of the game.

A few dissenting voices blamed CJ Hamilton for not tracking back and following Conneely, while others said that Logan ought to have done better on his line. But credit where it is due... what you have just witnessed, is a perfectly executed and obviously well rehearsed set piece goal.

Successful winning sides absorb pressure, pounce on mistakes and finish clinically, even when the opposition are possibly in the ascendancy possession wise.

They also shut up shop and repel each and every well intentioned ball into their final third, crowded out the opposition and ran the clock down every which way.

The Stags desire, effort and heart was clear for all to see, but regardless of how hard they tried... and believe me it was a massive effort by all concerned, Accrington are getting good at seeing games out and hanging onto a lead... and that is exactly what they did.

FT: Mansfield Town 0 v Accrington Stanley 1

There is no shame whatsoever in losing narrowly to such an efficient and in form side, after putting in a wholly committed shift, but it has now reached the time of the year when performances are of secondary importance by some some way and only the results really matter from hereon in.

Mansfield slipped out of the play off places this afternoon. And while there are worse case scenarios that they could find themselves in, as the season draws to a close, with either a grand finale or complete anti-climax awaiting them beyond the next few hurdles... but there are certainly much better ones too. COME ON YOU STAGS!