Pre Season Friendly
at Field Mill/One Call Stadium
Mansfield Town (1) 2
Ethan Stewart OG 33
Nicky Maynard 84
Nottingham Forest (1) 1
Jason Cummings 10
Attendance: 3,202 (inc. 1,039 away)
Stone, White (Hamilton 54), Benning, Preston, Pearce, Bishop, MacDonald, Mellis, Maynard, Sweeney, Rose.
Unused subs - Logan, Khan, Cook, Sterling-James, Gibbens, Smith, Clarke, Trialist.
Nottingham Forest:
Smith, Richardson (Mighten 46), Preston (Gallacher 66), Bridcutt, Spooner, Stewart (Walsh 66), Cummings (Taylor 46), Edser (Gomis 46), Murphy (Fornah 46), Clough (Swan 46), Ariyibi (Barnes 46).
Unused sub - Wright.
The Stags continued their series of warm up fixtures, with a 2-2 home draw against Championship side Hull City on Saturday.
Sabri Lamouchi announced last week that Forest would be sending an Under 23 squad to fulfil this fixture obligation, instead of the first team... and subsequently, both clubs offered full refunds on tickets for any supporters who didn't want to attend the game anymore under such circumstances.
He's also decreed that a similar squad will turn out in another friendly at Lincoln City next Monday night, and called off a pre-arranged game against Peterborough United in La Manga altogether. Lamouchi stated that he wants to spend more time with his first team players on the training ground, instead of taking part in these curtain raising games, in the run up to the new season.
In the event, 'twas a squad of youngsters and fringe players, or 'kids and deadwood' as a Forest supporting associate of mine, described the assembled opposition line up for tonight's entertainment.
That said, the visitors pinged the ball around in an eye catching manner from the off and took the lead inside the opening ten minutes through Jason Cummings, a player who, by all accounts, will be heading north to play for St. Johnstone any time soon.
Ironically, the visitors took the lead, just moments after the Stags had what looked like a good penalty call waved away, after Nicky Maynard had been tripped inside the area, as he prepared to take aim against the former Mansfield Town loanee Jordan Smith, in the Forest goal. The Reds countered quickly and Cummings claimed a headed goal, after Daryl Murphy's initial effort had been blocked, but he managed to play the loose back ball across the face of the hosts goal, when it rebounded kindly towards him.
Forest were having by far the better of the first half, but the Stags finished the opening thirty five minutes with a spring in their step, after pulling level when Mal Benning drilled a cross into the Reds area, that the visitors centre half, Ethan Stewart, inadvertently directed into his own net.
Moments later, Jordan Smith did well to prevent the home side from taking the lead, when he tipped Jacob Mellis' thumping long range shot over the bar... and just before half time Mal Benning's hooked effort from a Mellis corner, skimmed narrowly over the bar.
The Stags maintained the tempo that they had belatedly found after half time, with the aforementioned Benning and Mellis pulling the strings, but they didn't make good of their increased application until the eighty fourth minute, when Maynard fed the ball out wide to CJ Hamilton, who p[owered forward, half the length of the pitch, before cutting a return ball back to Maynard, who tucked away his fourth pre-season goal to give the Stags a victory, that their endeavours after a shaky start to the game, just about warranted.
FT: Mansfield Town 2 v Nottingham Forest XI 1
John Dempster's Stags finish their pre-season rota off with a home game against a Glasgow Rangers U23 side on Saturday at 1PM (Rangers first team are playing Derby County at Ibrox Stadium on the same afternoon), while Forest entertain Real Sociedad at the City Ground on Friday night.
