Stags impress even though they are defeated by Salford

In last night’s fixture, I saw a very confident Mansfield side which did not fail to impress even though they ultimately fell to a 2-1 defeat.

The opening 20 minutes were in favour of the Stags having so many chances to score a goal and put themselves in the lead and could have even made it two or even three nil.

The strike partnership of Andy Cook and Nicky Maynard was present with both of the strikers having a few chances to put the amber and blues ahead, with Cook’s header going wide of the right hand post the closest chance for Mansfield.

After a dominant display at the start, Mansfield start to drop back and a bit deeper which allowed Salford to string a few attacks.

Jake Jervis caused problems for Mal Benning on the left side and was able to sprint at the Mansfield Town with ease with the amber and blues midfield looking to lapse in concentration in most parts of the first-half.

The half-time whistle was blown and the score remained 0-0 at the break.

Mansfield had a huge number of shots which they could have taken, but were unable to do so. The frustration on the Stags’ players faces showed how much they need an early goal to become and grow more comfortable in this game.

Salford used that confidence that they built at the end of first-half and scored through the pacy Jervis who slotted over and passed Conrad Logan. With Salford’s number 9, Adam Rooney, doubling their lead.

Maynard converted a chance in the end to only get a consolation goal for the Stags.

The whole Mansfield team played very well with the mistakes in the end costing them dearly as they lost the game.

But, a few players stood out for me in this fixture and deserve all the praise they can get.

Conor Shaughnessy, the on-loan midfielder from Leeds impressed me a lot with his play on and off the ball all game long.

His distribution last night was the head and shoulders above any midfielder on the pitch. He assisted Maynard for his goal with a fantastically passed through ball which went into the forward’s feet as he easily slotted the ball past Mark Howard.

The versatile midfielder did lose the ball on a few occassions, but fought back and recovered the ball as soon as he lost it which was great to see from him.

A Salford player which was great last night was the winger, Jake Jervis. The few attacks that Salford went through this man.

He used his pace and agility to dribble and run through the Mansfield defence which was evident in the first goal for Salford which Jervis scored.

He was able to sprint past the whole Mansfield defence and slot the ball into the back of the net.

The last player’s that had great performances were the deadly duo of Andy Cook and Nicky Maynard.

Maynard was the one to score the only goal for the Stags, but both of the forwards had very positive games. Cook was able to hold the ball up, control it and pass it out to the wings to start an attack which gave Maynard the freedom to run in and around the box which caused the Salford defence many problems.

The game was not contested in both boxes which Salford did well and in the end deserved to win purely from that aspect, but if you look at it statistically Mansfield were dominant through the whole game accumalating 70% possession and had 24 shots all game to Salford’s four.

Although stating his belief that the Stags were the better side in tonight’s loss to Salford, manager John Dempster says he is ‘very frustrated’ at the two goals his team conceded at One Call Stadium.

“I think the best team lost,” he told iFollow Stags. “It was disappointing to concede that first goal because it was from a boot down the pitch.

“The second goal was a throw-in high up and it’s just basics that we can do a lot better with. To find ourselves 2-0 down at home is shocking.

“We have to be better in our defensive box, but the amount of shots we’ve had and opportunities to get a decent cross in, we should score more.

“I’m very frustrated. I think in general play, if we play like that, we’ll dominate teams. We dominated Salford tonight but we can’t defend like that and concede goals like that.”