Mansfield Town aim to continue momentum when travelling to bottom-placed Southend

Credit: Mansfield Town FC

The Stags continue their away journeys with an encounter at the Roots Hall against basement boys Southend United.

Mansfield made it four league wins on the trot as they battled hard at Oldham Athletic’s Boundary Park and made it out of rainy Manchester with all three points.

Nigel Clough’s men were able to smash another milestone with their victory on Wednesday evening as the Stags won their fourth consecutive game in League Two for the first time in four years.

The game started off horrendously for the Stags as Alfie McCalmont gave the Latics the lead after six minutes. His shot was a weak one which should have been saved by Aidan Stone but the goalkeeper fumbled the ball as it rolled into the back of the net.

Mansfield continued to press and they managed to get the equaliser in the 36th minute. George Maris put the ball into the box and Ian Lawlor looked to punch the ball clear of his box. The goalkeeper was only able to punch it as far as Harry Charsley with the midfielder smashing the ball into the back of the net.

It took the amber and blues two minutes to complete the turnaround and put themselves ahead. Maris crossed the ball into the box with Andy Cook flicking the ball onto Bowery. He then directed the ball into Ryan Sweeney’s path with the Stags captain in space at the back post and sliding the ball into the goal to give the Stags the lead.

After half-time, Jamie Reid made it 3-1 in favour of the Stags after he slotted it past Ian Lawlor with a true strikers finish.

Conor McAleny was able to get a goal back for Oldham with six minutes left of the second-half but Mansfield Town were able to hold on to earn their fourth consecutive victory in League Two.

Mansfield have not played since the 13th January after Carlisle had to withdraw from three league fixtures due to a number of players returning positive Covid-19 tests.

Southend United, Mansfield’s opponents this weekend, have played twice in that time and have only been able to pick up one point from those two fixtures as the Shrimpers sit bottom of League Two.

Firstly for Southend was a trip to Blundell Park to face the team directly above them in the league table, Grimsby Town.

The Mariners parted ways with Ian Holloway and brought in Paul Hurst as his replacement. It hasn’t been an easy ride for the Lincolnshire side as they last tasted victory on November 24th after a 2-1 victory against Crawley.

They would have to wait even longer to get their much-needed victory after the fixture against Southend ended in a 0-0 draw at Blundell Park.

The Shrimpers returned to home action as they faced high-flying Cambridge United at the Roots Hall Football Stadium.

In the first half, they were able to stun the U’s after Simeon Akinola scored the opener in the 27th minute to take the home side temporarily out of the bottom two.

Jake Iredale’s strike a minute into the second half saw Southend return to the relegation zone but in 23rd place as Grimsby Town dropped to last place.

Joe Ironside completed the comeback for Cambridge in the 68th minute as the hosts returned to the bottom of League Two and saw United jump to the top of League Two.

Mansfield’s last meeting with Southend ended in a 1-1 draw at the One Call Stadium which was at the start of Nigel Clough’s management.

James Olayinka opened the scoring for the away side for this fixture with a fantastic strike which saw the ball end up in the top right corner of Marek Stech’s goal and leaving the Czech goalkeeper helpless.

Jordan Bowery was able to get the equaliser for the home side with ten minutes of the fixture to go with both sides having enough chances in the game to try and win it and gain a valuable three points.

The last time the Stags beat Southend, you’d have to go back to February 2014. The Stags earned a 2-1 victory over the Shrimpers at the One Call Stadium.

Mansfield’s last away win against this weekend’s hosts came in December 2004 as the amber and blues earned themselves a narrow 1-0 victory.

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