Shame we don’t have Rob Quinn playing for us these days, otherwise that would have made a mildly amusing joke…
Well, it was a dreadful pitch, with some dreadful defending and at times dreadful passages of play. Not to mention another dreadful phone signal at a game.
But Yellow and Blue 2 Green and Black 2 turned out not quite so dreadful after all.
It could have been better, it certainly could have been a lot worse, but overall I think it was probably a fair result.
Typical League One fayre, one could describe it as. Which right now suits us just fine.
I’m having a bit of difficulty trying to start the match description, so I’ll cut to the chase straight off – it took seven minutes.
I won’t even try to say what happened after seven minutes, because you can pretty much guess what.
Even the traffic in and out of the nearby car park moved quicker than our back line, where we decided we wouldn’t bother actually making an effort to defend.
You know how Bradford scored against us last week? It wasn’t quite like that, although we’ve decided that defending isn’t a contact sport now.
I have to admit, after being reliably informed that’s how Barnsley scored their goals a couple of weeks ago, that the sight of two our own players colliding with each other at our own corner made me question my life choices.
Thirty quid for that. Sorry, I’ll amend it for accuracy – thirty fucking quid for that.
Thankfully, we’ve finally figured out that you can’t try and win every game 0-0 when you can’t keep a clean sheet, so we went up the other end and righted that wrong.
Or more accurately, James Tilley did. A fine solo run from just inside their half, a nice one-two, finishing with an even finer strike that seemed to go in as soon as he hit it – if that makes sense.
Even more impressive when you consider the surface he was on. At times, both midfields struggled to control the ball.
I wonder if he might be back with us full time next season?
The goal perked us up, as we needed the quick response that we actually got. And we started attacking.
So needless to say, Mansfield went ahead again. And that seemed to kick us in the danglies, because we just stopped attacking afterwards.
Although even before their effort, their #7 missed the free-est of free headers. We should have heeded that, though of course we didn’t.
We couldn’t get going after that, and it was no small relief only being 1-2 down at the break.
To be fair, we were much better after a complete bollocking by JJ readjustment, and while I won’t say it was inevitable that we were going to score, the penalty came at the right time.
When was the last time we had one, by the way?
Despite Mansfield trying to put Stevens off with two subs (which is the sort of thing I’m surprised is allowed), he stepped up and coolly slotted away the spot kick.
Penalties are always “slotted away”, aren’t they? But never just “slotted away”, because they have to be “coolly” done.
You don’t hear of a scuffed spot kick that just about bounced in because the goalie dived the other way. Perhaps that’s just as well.
Anyway, that was the end of the scoring for the afternoon. We started to tire towards the end, and JJ seemed to revert back to his one-man protest about the concept of substitutions.
One wonders how we could have done if we’d put on Nkeng and Bugiel for the last 15 minutes instead? An opportunity missed there, methinks.
Either side could have won it, mind you. We had a free kick on the edge of the box, that found their wall.
Oddly, the Sky Sports highlights featured their player dragging their shot wide at the end, where I’m sure he handballed it.
Because I would like to see their non-penalty right at the death, which I’m pretty sure we massively got away with.
On balance of play I don’t think we would have deserved to lose 3-2, but equally it wouldn’t have been a surprise if we had.
Maybe, just maybe, our luck is turning? Or at the very least, we’ve worked out that to do anything in this division, you have to do some attacking once in a while.
I wrote all of the above before looking at JJ’s post match comments, and it’s nice that he agrees with your editor 😉
Just wish he hadn’t mentioned about Stevens not missing a penalty yet, because we all know what happens the next time we get one.
All in all, I’ll take a point back down south. It doesn’t do our chances of playing Sheffield Wednesday next season any harm, although one suspects we’ll need to beat Northampton next Sunday.
Yes, it’s a very stupid kickoff time. You just know the atmosphere will suck, but as long as the game itself doesn’t…
Plus points: We didn’t lose. Came back twice. Looking better when we attack. Tilley’s goal. Stevens’ spot kick.
Minus points: We didn’t win. Their goals. Too passive at times.
The referee’s a…: Look, he managed to miss what was probably a certain penalty for them right on 94 minutes, so don’t say anything bad about him.
Them: Perhaps man for man better than us, but had the typical League One ability to score goals.
Probably thought they were going to piss all over us after their opener, before Tilley pissed back on them.
Second half, I did think they were for the taking though, and it was only when we started to tire did they look threatening.
Field Mill – or the One Call Stadium, as we must term it – was one of those venues we practically orgasmed about when we got promoted from Conference South all those years ago.
Fast forward from 2009 (yes, it was that far back) to 2026, and their gaff still doesn’t look too bad. Not as new, but still a decent enough view.
Though the concourse wasn’t particularly adequate with just one kiosk for the whole stand.
They did do nice plastic cups though, which I hope AFCW would look into, although the wine inside them was apparently not nearly so nice.
Mansfield itself feels a bit, ahem, “traditional”. Even down to their PA guy sounding like he was the compere at a Working Men’s Club in Worksop.
I couldn’t help noticing that during the game, they were advertising “Official Family Friendly Away Travel”. I know that part of the world can be a bit rum, but how bad must away travel there be for them to advertise that?
It’s worth remembering they play Arsenal next week in the FA Cup, and I think they’ve got a chance – especially with that playing surface.
There were two individuals outside their home end selling half-and-half scarves. Not for us, but for the Gooners next week.
Yes, they should be doused in petrol and set alight. The scarves, too.
Oh, and remember that Field Mill had a condemned stand? They’ve refurbished it now, although to me it looks a bit like the North Stand at old Plough Lane…
Point to ponder: Assuming we stay up, and assuming our budget doesn’t go down from £1.50 to £0.99 next season, will we need to be brutal about our current back line?
I’m not sure who’s out of contract, I think most of them are. At least, I’m assuming Bauer and Seddon were signed for the year.
It should get us over the line this campaign, but it was clear yesterday that it’s not quite good enough now.
Which means we’ll have to upgrade it in the summer. And that means getting the proverbial chopping block out.
I think we tried to carry on where we left off in 2024/25, but there were two not-minor snags.
Firstly, League One attacks are better than League Two forward lines. Perhaps not by massive amounts (yesterday is a good example of that), but still notable.
Secondly, and just as importantly, the defenders we do have are a season older. Bauer is 33 and looks it at times.
I just looked up Ryan Johnson and he’s not far off 30 years old. He’s probably our best defender, and he’s probably the least disposable.
Joe Lewis is much younger at 26, but he’s starting to get injured and there was a reason Stockport released him.
People will want to keep Steve Seddon, and he’s been one of the best players this campaign, although if we do I would want him on a 1+1 deal and no longer.
All in all, it needs updating by the time we kick off in August – hopefully in the same division as we’re in right now.
Thankfully, we are able to score goals, and one hopes we’ll see Browne and Stevens in our shirts next season.
Ditto Tilley, if we can afford him. I assume the likes of Nkeng and maybe Kai Jennings will come more into their own next season, if we don’t have to sell them.
I mention all this because we’re starting to get to the stage where we must make our first thoughts about what we do in the close season.
It’s now March, the season ends in about eight weeks time, and that can sneak up on you very quickly.
Obviously we all want to be safe by about Easter so we can enjoy the games without any pressure.
But much will need to be done after we play Huddersfield at Plough Lane. And maybe we might need a new manager…?
Truth is stranger than fiction: 1) Like Doncaster, Mansfield have places for those fan stickers you see. Most are the usual “Lincoln On Tour” types, though this one from Stockport was quite clever. 2) Advert for Country Music Festival at the ground. Insert incest joke here.
Anything else? Yeah, I’m sorry to be a bit of a broken record on this, but the club’s inability to give out basic information continues to piss me off.
Yes, it’s about the ability to buy tickets on the day again. Something your editor often has to do, and quite a few others too.
I knew you could because I eventually ended up going to the Mansfield website and look at the information for away fans, but the point is there should be a readily available guide on our site the day before the game.
Stevenage managed it earlier this season, and it was very helpful. And I doubt they have a media team any bigger than ours.
The club did mention the status in passing the day of the game on Twatter, but many people don’t touch social media and as such they may not have known.
You only have to look at the OS to see where the priorities lie – articles for WOWSA, kit sponsor bashes, public training sessions, and shirt-bidding competitions.
There’s the match reports and post match interviews, which I think are mandatory. If they weren’t, we’d probably advertise some new cola at the kiosks instead.
Nothing for those who actually travel to games. But then, that doesn’t make the club any money, so it’s deemed irrelevant.
It’s not just that side of things either – today, I’ve seen somebody ask whether the women’s game today is at 2pm (what the website says) or 3pm (what a recent programme and email says).
That’s not only potentially going to put some people off going, but it’s quite sloppy as well.
We’re slowly getting more things right at the club, as the need to become more “professional” gets ever more obvious.
But it’s reassuring to know that our ability to communicate basic information remains as CCL-level as ever…
So, was it worth it? Eventually.
In a nutshell: Another point.