Mansfield record another great victory

Mansfield 4-2 Cheltenham

Mansfield Town faced Cheltenham at the One Call Stadium in a incredible display from determination and resilience from both teams. Mansfield came into the game needing the three points, in order to keep up with Lincoln and Bury in the league. Cheltenham needed the three points that would cement their place in the mid-table spots.

In the first half, Mansfield looked to assert their dominance by having a lot of shots at the Robins’ goal but nothing coming from it. In the 42nd minute, Stags’ striker Nicky Ajose and winger CJ Hamilton combined together with Hamilton striking the ball into the back of the net to open the scoring for Mansfield.

Three minutes later, Cj Hamilton grabbed his second of the match after a great solo effort giving Mansfield a two goal lead going into the half-time interval.

In the 59th minute, a perfect tackle from Benning was awarded as a free kick to Cheltenham which ultimately ended in Cheltenham’s Chris Hussey firing the ball perfectly in the top corner, 2-1.

Mansfield’s trouble continued to pile on when another set piece was not defended properly which allowed Cheltenham defender Charlie Raglan to head the ball into the back of the net from a brilliant corner took by the Robins first goalscorer Chris Hussey making the score 2-2.

Knowing that a draw would not be good enough to carry on the promotion charge Mansfield did not give up and responded with a set piece themselves. The corner was swung in and the substitute for Will Atkinson arrived at the back post to head the ball into the goal effectively restoring Mansfield’s lead.

The Stags’ Alex MacDonald returned in this game as he was subbed on for Nicky Ajose in the 90th minute and gave Mansfield’s fourth goal in this tightly contested match-up by intercepting the ball 40 yards away from goal made a darting run and slotted the ball in the far corner to gift Mansfield the victory they needed.

This win meant another three points added to the table for Mansfield keeping them in third place still five points away from Lincoln and two points behing Bury as both teams won their respective matches. Where as for Cheltenham, that loss keeps them in 17th place increasing the gap to Northampton to four points and decreasing the gap for Crawley to overtake the Gloucestershire club.