Stags begin their Papa John’s Trophy campaign with a defeat at the hands of Harrogate Town

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Harrogate Town striker Danilo Orsi-Dadomo went wild as his hat-trick helped the Sulphurites to a 3-1 victory against Mansfield Town at Wetherby Road.

The forward opened the scoring in the 44th minute and goals either side of George Lapslie’s consolation strike six minutes after the hour mark gave the hosts a very comfortable win.

Nigel Clough gave younger players and regular substitutes the chance of getting minutes under their belt. Keaton Ward, James Clarke, George Shelvey, Ethan Hill, Harry Charsley, Jason Law, George Lapslie, Jordan Bowery and Tyrese Sinclair all started with Ferrand Rawson the only regular starter in the side.

Simon Power had the first chance of the game inside the first five minutes. The 23-year-old breezed past James Clarke and forced Shelvey into a save as the shot-stopper tipped the ball over the bar.

Harrogate continued to push for an opener as Aaron Martin fired a shot goalwards but his effort only found the side-netting.

Stags were inches away from taking the lead in the 11th minute. Burke’s fantastic delivery found the head of Bowery with the striker’s effort hitting the post.

The hosts continued to pile on the pressure as chances from Lloyd Kerry and Alex Pattison would end up off-target. However, the latter was close to scoring if it wasn’t for a last-ditch challenge from Ward to divert the effort wide of the post.

It was Harrogate’s turn to hit the post just before the half-hour mark. Power released a shot from outside of the area only for it to bounce back into play off the woodwork.

Shelvey was forced to make another good save as he got down low to his right to deny George Thomson’s driven shot from outside the area.

Harrogate took the lead just before half-time through Orsi-Dadomo. The forward latched onto the ball after it was spilled into his path and he had the easy task of tapping the ball into the goal.

Six minutes into the second half, the Stags had a penalty after Sinclair’s effort hit a Harrogate arm. Up stepped Bowery but fired his effort onto the crossbar which saw the hosts double their lead a minute later through Orsi-Dadomo.

The post was hit once more as James Clarke’s fantastic volley from the edge of the area hit the woodwork with Law’s rebound saved by Joe Cracknell.

Lapslie gave the Stags a glimmer of hope as he made it 2-1 in the 66th minute. His powerful shot was too much for Cracknell to handle as the midfielder halved his side’s deficit.

In the 69th minute, Harrogate made it 3-1 with Orsi-Dadomo grabbing his hat-trick. Martin’s initial effort was saved by Shelvey with the hosts’ hero bundling the ball into the net.

The Sulphurites held off the Stags for the remainder of the match as they secured maximum points from their first game in the competition.

Mansfield only have to wait a couple of days to try and get their revenge with the Yorkshire club travelling to the One Call Stadium on Saturday for their League Two encounter against the Stags.

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