 Report by NigelBlues
Attendance: 4,032
City: 1,800 (hard to tell)
Weather: Overcast
Pitch: Excellent
Atmosphere:
From City Very good with support on both sides of ground
From Mansfield: 2nd half wonders
If you have never visited Mansfield Town before, you haven't missed a great
deal. It is a typical Division 3 run-down affair. The terracing behind both
goals was shut down because either safety work had not been carried out or in
preparation for renovation during the summer. City fans were in a terrace
running along the East End of the ground. Part of it used to be a stand but
they converted it to a terrace apparently as they couldn't afford to keep it
as a stand!! All 1,100 who had bought tickets from Ninian were in that part
of the ground.
On the opposite side were the West Stand and terrace, about 500 City fans
were identified by police and kept in one corner of the stand. However,
anywhere you looked throughout the stand or terrace, known City fans were in
evidence but mainly incognito too. The match sponsors were CCFC supporters
Club and their guests included a certain Mike Morris plus Huw-Owen Marketing
wearing a suit and no hats!
My Mansfield seat was ideal - directly in front of Samesh Kumar. He spent
the whole match gazing into the distance, just like he does in his p.r.
picture! He was joined by his wealthy brother and quite of few of the
family. If he appeared as a stereotype of a Chairman, his opposite number
was worse. His name is Haslam, Mansfield fans don't like him as evidenced
by continual chants of Haslam Out - it was good to join in with them! He
just sat there impassively for 90 minutes, not showing any emotion, even when
goals were scored, smoking an outrageously large cigar.
The fact that nothing really depended on the game was obvious from the start.
Frankie wasn't there (scouting apparently) and changes were made that
wouldn't normally happen.
No Wayne O'Sullivan as he was replaced by Danny Hill. Carpenter and Williams
failed fitness tests giving Bonner another opportunity and Bowen was back
upfront and yet again, proved he is a great talent but no striker.
City were much the better side in the first half but proved what we have
known all season, they just can't score enough goal or, more often than not
lately, any goal at all. Hill, Fowler and Bonner were in control of midfield
and Andy Legg was in storming mood on the left. But there was no real effort
on goal for half-hour. Then Jason Bowen should have scored a hat-trick.
The first opportunity saw him one-on-one, admittedly under pressure, he
lobbed the ball over. Next, he was clear on goal after being set up by crisp
midfield passing that cut up Mansfield but shot over. The best chance of the
match followed shortly afterwards as Andy Legg battled through and regained
the ball after a defensive mix up. He could have gone for goal himself but
squared it to leave Bowen in acres of space on the edge of the area. Jason,
as usual in attack, took a touch to control the ball allowing the keeper to
advance so when he shot, he looped over the bar off the goalie. A natural
striker would have buried it every time.
In between this, Jeff Eckhardt went closest of all when he met a beautifully
curled cross from Andy Legg and hit the bar.
Mansfield had chances too as Shay Kelly saved a Christie shot, a header went
narrowly wide, he spilled a weak effort falling backwards that Eckhardt had
to scoop away and a 20 yard shot hit the outside of the post. Kelly seemed
to lose some confidence today.
The City support were in celebratory mood and were easily outsinging
Mansfield, this was helped by the first half not being at all bad to watch.
It belonged to City but yet again, we had absolutely nothing to show for it
and we were just thankful nothing depended on the outcome of the game.
H/T Mansfield 0 City 0
Do I really have to write about this?
In the stand, Mansfield fans decided to move closer to the City main core and
others jumped over from the terrace. There were brief signs that it could
turn nasty but police moved in to stop anything deteriorating. The Mansfield
fans near me were fine even if some weren't always of my "Come on City"
chants or my very loud "we shag'em, you eat'em" when they decided to chant
the predictable sheepy song.
On the pitch, it was dire, rubbish, half-hearted by City but it didn't really
matter. In the same way that the side have rarely given a real exciting
performance during the run-in when we have clearly not played as well as
earlier in the season, they couldn't sign off in style either.
I can only recall a single City 2nd half effort - a Kevin Nugent weak header
from a corner that nevertheless seemed to be beating the goalie but was
cleared away by a defender.
So for the record, Mansfield's goals. How come a team who have only conceded
2 goals in 7 matches, 1 of them an own goal too, let in 3 within 9minutes???
70 minutes - Christie turned Mitchell near halfway and played a beautiful
pass centrally behind the defence. Lormor raced through and showing the City
team and Jason Bowen how a striker should shoot, he cracked home a low
diagonal shot into
the opposite corner. A great finish.
Three minutes later, it was 2-0. Yet again, a through ball got behind the
defence and Christie got to it ahead of Mitchell. He moved across the area
and collided with Kelly who came out to meet him. A penalty no doubt and
perhaps Kelly was lucky just to receive a yellow card. He stayed on but it
made little difference as he went the wrong way.
Iyseden Christie was the man who tormented the City defence during City's 4-2
win in December - easily the best match of the season, probably the best game
in the whole division too. He looked a class above many on display again but
Mansfield fans assure me that he has about 4 or 5 good games per season.
Most of the time, he seems disinterested and has an attitude problem. This
was apparently his first start for 2 months. He is lazy and inconsistent,
that's obviously why he plays at this level. Mansfield fans said if we want
him, we're welcome to him.
On 79 minutes, City introduced all 3 substitutes together. O'Sullivan,
Christian Roberts and Dai Thomas replaced Fowler, Hill and Ford. I jokingly
told the Mansfield fans that Dai Thomas would have an instant impact on the
game. I was right - 20 seconds later, it was 3-0!
The goal was a cracker as a midfielder, Clarke, who had just come on as a
substitute
hit a hopeful shot from 30 but it flew high, swerved and went into the far,
opposite corner off the bar with Shay looking helpless.
Mansfield fans chanted, "what's it like to be outclassed?", and "you're
coming straight back down" to which City responded with "we don't care",
"we're going up, you're not" and, of course, the perennial favourite,
"scabs,
scabs, scabs, scabs, scabs".
The next 10 minutes were played out with no further danger. The final
whistle blew and both Mansfield plus City fans decided to invade the pitch
and it did appear that there was about to be a major incident. Thankfully
there wasn't although some of the policing was heavy-handed as a couple of
City fans were whipped, barged into and, in one case, punched in the face by
a copper!
In 90 minutes, the whole season was summed up yet again to me. If we had a
natural striker and/or had kept Delaney, we would have been champions.
Delaney still sticks in the throat for me as he's only had 7 minutes 1st team
football at Villa, surely we could have argued it out and kept him esp when
Gregory said he bought his for next season? We didn't so we're not Champs
but I have little doubt that City were the best footballing team in the
division. As far as progress is concerned, the display showed, as if we
don't know, how much must be done in the summer. Nothing less than 5 or 6
quality new faces will be significant.
City must consolidate and not become the next Lincoln and Macclesfield who
returned to Division 3 after just a season in Division 2. Northampton were
also relegated (YES!) after just 2 seasons away. For City, it has to be
progress, this simply can't happen again.
 Report by Soccernet.
Mansfield destroyed promoted Cardiff's end of season party with three goals
inside ten second half minutes.
In an electric atmosphere, both sides struck the woodwork in a tense first half with Mark
Peters firing against the Cardiff post and Jeff Eckhardt's header
clipping the Mansfield crossbar.
But Mansfield substitute Tony Lormor made the breakthrough on 71 minutes when sent through
by Iyseden Christie, sending a low drive into the far corner.
Christie was again involved four minutes later as he tried to round 'keeper Seamus Kelly
but was brought down. The 'keeper was booked and Lee Peacock stepped up to bury his 19th
goal of the season from the penalty spot.
Mansfield saved the best for last as another substitute, Darrell Clarke, popped up to curl
the ball home from 35 yards off the inside of the crossbar to equal Cardiff's worst league
defeat of the season and complete their first defeat in ten matches.
The atmosphere off the field was just as tense all afternoon with hundreds of Cardiff's
supporters obtaining tickets for all parts of the ground in the all-ticket affair.
And Police and stewards did well at the end to defuse a potentially volatile situation as
Cardiff supporters spilled on to the field and ran at the Mansfield side of the ground.
 Report from a Mansfield perspective.
Mansfield 3 Cardiff 0
by Martin Shaw at Field Mill
Att 4,032
Swansea`s win on Thursday night had meant that Stags could no longer reach
the play-offs. Today`s opponents Cardiff were already promoted and could not
win the title. You might have thought the game would be a damp squib with
both teams playing as though nothing was at stake. Not a bit of it. It
proved to be a really exciting game with chances at both ends and plenty of
passion from both teams. In an interview afterwards, Cardiff full back Andy
Legg admitted that despite being promoted, the Cardiff players were terribly
disappointed by this defeat at Field Mill and that they had indeed been "up
for the game." Meanwhile the Stags players` celebrations following each goal
clearly showed how much victory meant to them. Overall this was a good
performance from the Stags to end the season in rousing style.
Mansfield made two changes from the team defeated at Shrewsbury: Schofield
came in for Clarke in midfield, while Christie came in for Lormor in attack.
The first half was very even as neither side was able to dominate for long
spells. The best chance of the half fell to Mark Peters who picked up a
rebound from a corner and cracked a 10 yard shot against the angle of bar
and post, the ball coming straight back into play but not falling for a
Stags player. Cardiff also hit the bar with a header from a cross, though
most fans failed to see that the offside flag was already raised. Stags
defence generally looked comfortable though Linighan`s lack of pace nearly
caught him out on a couple of occasions. On another occasion where Linighan
was chasing back with a Cardiff striker, he just managed to put the Cardiff
striker off and the shot over Adamson was just wide. Stags midfield of
Schofield, Kerr and Williams were competent and didn`t allow themselves to
be overrun. Cardiff wing back Andy Legg, who Stags fans may remember for his
86th minute winner for Swansea against us at Vetch Field some years ago, was
a threat throughout the first half down the left wing.
During the second half, Mansfield began to get a grip on the game and
remarkably Cardiff failed to create a single chance of note in the whole
half. Stags brought on Tony Lormor for the tiring Tony Ford (Ford getting a
terrific reception from the home fans) and then Clarke for Kerr and Walker
for Schofield. Peacock moved back into midfield, while Williams moved to
right wing-back. Despite dominating the whole half, we had to wait until 71
minutes for the first goal. Christie managed to put Lormor through in some
space. Lormor moved forward and struck a lovely shot low in the left hand
corner of the net from 20 yards to give the keeper no chance. It reminded me
of Lormor`s goal against Southport way back in November. Stags were visibly
raised and I soon commented to my brother that it looked like they could
score at least once more. And so it proved. Within 5 minutes, Christie was
through on goal and was brought down by the keeper in a similar incident to
that in the game against Shrewsbury at home in December. Peacock blasted the
penalty down the middle. Stags were now really on fire and soon afterwards
we were treated to the goal of the season as Clarke picked up the ball 40
yards out, strode a few yards forward and to his left and from a good 30 to
35 yards smacked the ball left footed into the very top right hand corner.
The Cardiff keeper didn`t even bother to move and just watched the ball sail
into the net. From Clarke`s celebrations, you would have thought he had
scored the winner at Wembley. Stags continued to go forward but couldn`t
score again. At the final whistle all the players made a dash for the tunnel
which meant the team failed to get the standing ovation they deserved on the
day.
So Stags finished one place beneath the play-off zone and 4 points behind
Swansea. It`s small consolation that we finished above rivals Halifax,
Peterborough and Plymouth.
Ian Bowling was presented with the CHAD player of the season award at half
time which drew rich applause from the Stags fans. He was dressed in a white
tee-shirt and looked basically ok, with his arm bandaged of course. Prior to
the game, Lee Peacock received another player of the year award.
The game was played throughout with an unpleasant atmosphere in the West
Stand where about 300 Cardiff fans, who had managed to get tickets intended
for home fans, had been congregated together at the North Stand end of the
West Stand. A decision had clearly been taken that ticket seat numbering
would be abandoned in an attempt to keep the Cardiff fans together. There
was much baiting between the sets of fans which my brother and dad and I
found ourselves in the middle of. So at half time when a large number of
Stags fans moved from the South Stand end to the North stand end to get
nearer the Cardiff fans, we made our way in the opposite direction, away
from the nasty atmosphere. We did not see any actual violence - I am not
sure if there was any. There was a large police presence outside the ground
and fans without tickets were not allowed into Quarry Lane.
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