A tale of two halves as a depleted Stags side secure a brilliant comeback win on Boxing Day

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Complacent in the first half but clinical in the second period, Mansfield Town came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 against Hartlepool United on Boxing Day.

The Stags gave their fans something to cheer about during the festive period as COVID-19 put several players out of action.

Notably, Ollie Clarke, Harry Charsley, Stephen Quinn, Richard Nartey, George Lapslie and George Shelvey were missing from the starting 11 as Nigel Clough could only name five substitutes.

John-Joe O’Toole, who signed for Mansfield as a free agent back in October, was an instrumental part of the lineup as his experience would be much needed with the absence of Quinn.

The 33-year-old was pushed up into midfield as a defensive midfielder and the versatile player was everywhere on the pitch.

Clough’s side started the game brilliantly as they put Hartlepool under immense amounts of pressure but were unable to capitalise on it.

Central defender Farrend Rawson had three golden opportunities to score but squandered all of them with two headers missing the target and a mishit effort which trickled into the path of Pools goalkeeper Ben Killip.

Only mere seconds later, Jordan Bowery had his header cleared off the line by Gary Liddle as the visitors cleared away and against the run of play opened the scoring.

On-loan midfielder Matty Daly squared the ball to Luke Molyneux who found the bottom corner and gave Hartlepool an unlikely lead.

It looked like it would be the Stags breaking the deadlock but the Pools, with their first shot on goal, were clinical and took their chance very well.

With one final attack in the first half, Rhys Oates, who faced his former employers, looked to find the back of the net to his current club level at the break. The forward faced Killip one-on-one but his chipped attempt failed to find the target as the Pools held onto their 1-0 lead at the interval.

That lead was doubled for the visitors as a scramble inside the box saw the ball fall to Nicky Featherstone on the edge of the box. The midfielder took a touch and beat Nathan Bishop with a strong finish to extend Hartlepool’s advantage.

O’Toole’s experience shone through after that however as the midfielder kept a cool head to halve the deficit in the 55th minute. An expert corner from George Maris floated onto the head of O’Toole who simply glanced the ball into the net.

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Stags’ number 35 won most of his battles in midfield and was the perfect player to occupy the defensive midfield role as he linked the defence, the midfield and the attack together fantastically.

Just after the hour mark, Mansfield scored the equaliser through the tireless worker Bowery. The forward also had a fantastic game with his hold-up play at the forefront but his goal following an Elliott Hewitt cross flipped the game on its head.

The comeback was completed by midfielder Maris whose shot made its way through a host of bodies before finding the back of the net.

Looking back at the fixture, the Stags showed quality in abundance during both halves but it was the clinical edge that carried them over the line.

The Boxing Day classic could have ended in a 3-3 draw as Gavan Holohan found the back of the net in added time of the second half. However, as the Pools players and fans celebrated, the linesmen put his flag up and the goal was disallowed.

It was festive delight for the Stags supporters after their players completed a brilliant comeback to make it 10 wins from 11 games in all competitions.

With COVID-19 playing a big factor on Clough’s lineup and substitutes, it may not be a surprise if Mansfield’s next fixture against Harrogate Town on Wednesday evening is cancelled.

At the current moment, the amber and blues are up to ninth in League Two and sit only a point away from the play-off places as they look to continue their fantastic form into the New Year.

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