Magic Maris’ goal and assist helps the Stags beat fellow promotion chasing Swindon Town

George Maris was once again a key cog in a Mansfield Town win as his goal and assist saw the amber and blues run out 3-2 victors against Swindon Town.

The Stags’ number 10 was not the only player that shone, in fact, the whole team were brilliant and it showed through the runs of the forwards, the quality midfield play and the tough-tackling from the defenders when it was needed most.

After the late heartbreak in the FA Cup last weekend, Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough named an unchanged side from the Middlesbrough game ahead of the clash against the Robins.

The amber and blues got off to a flying start, which culminated in Maris getting on the scoresheet. Brilliant play down the left-hand side saw Stephen McLaughlin and Stephen Quinn exchange passes before the former played the ball over the top for Rhys Oates.

Stags’ number 18 did very well to hold the ball up and play it into Bowery, who had his back towards goal and was also holding off some Swindon Town challenges, but the 30-year-old showed great awareness to find the on-running Maris who found the bottom corner and gave Mansfield the lead after only four minutes of the game.

The ex-Cambridge United man showed the composure of a striker with that finish as the Swindon defence looked at one another in pure disbelief!

Ben Garner’s side did get level however just before the half-hour mark. The in-form Harry McKirdy was allowed to ghost into the box and smash the ball past Nathan Bishop at his front post. Could that goal have been prevented? Yes, very much so. The defence did not put enough pressure on the forward and allowed him to score from an incredibly tight angle.

Clough’s men came back with more fight and determination moments later as Oates won a penalty after completely bamboozling Akinwale Odimayo.

The forward picked up the ball on the edge of his own box and darted forwards with real pace and power. As he made his way closer to the Swindon box, the only defender in his way and the goal was Odimayo. Brilliant skill from Oates saw the 22-year-old commit a foul giving referee Tom Reeves no choice but to point to the penalty spot.

After recent penalty misses, Nigel Clough confessed in his post-match press conference that no one spoke up when he asked ‘who is on penalties then?’

One man who stood up to the task was McLaughlin who stepped up to take the spot-kick and his powerful low effort beat Lewis Ward, with the Robins goalkeeper guessing the right way but was unable to repeat his heroics from Friday’s FA Cup game against Manchester City where he saved Gabriel Jesus’ penalty.

Just before the half-time interval, midfield maestro Maris was at it again with a fantastic ball into Bowery with the forward lobbing Ward to put Mansfield into a 3-1 lead.

Swindon looked to clear their lines but the ball was headed forward by Hawkins and it fell to Maris, who rode two challenges before finding some space to pick out a pass. The midfielder had Bowery ahead of him making a brilliant run, and with one ball over the top, Stags’ number nine dinked the on-rushing Ward to score the amber and blues’ third goal of the game.

This once again encapsulated the teamwork, determination and willingness from the Mansfield players as they could have easily given up at 1-1 but did not let their heads drop and continued to play fantastic football.

Maris played an integral part in keeping the score at 3-1 for most of the game as he made loads of forward runs and could have potentially had a hat-trick if he took his chances well enough.

The biggest chance that the midfielder had was similar to the one he scored in the opening five minutes. Brilliant play down the Stags left side saw Quinn square the ball to Maris, however, the 25-year-old rushed his effort and fired his shot over.

Making seven recoveries, succeeding in aerial duels, winning tackles and making key interceptions, Maris showed that he is one of the key members of the Stags squad.

With six-goal contributions from 21 league games, the midfielder has surpassed his numbers from last season and will be looking to get into double digits for goals and assists combined.

Swindon were able to score late on through Ellis Iandolo as he ghosted in and slotted the ball into the bottom corner to make it 3-2, but it was too little too late for the Robins as the Stags held on for another three points and their sixth successive league victory.

Mansfield Town now take on Walsall at the One Call Stadium on Saturday before enduring two away trips to Harrogate Town and Barrow.

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