Match Reports
If David Holdsworth was seeking inspiration on how to mould Mansfield into a top-notch Blue Square Premier side, he saw it at first hand at Field Mill last night - in the shape of Burton Albion.
THEY say a week is a long time in politics. The last seven days at Mansfield Town suggests it is an even longer time in football.
IN between leaping out of their seats and punching the air, more than a few Mansfield fans would have been rubbing their eyes in disbelief at the identity of Saturday’s last-gasp match-winner.
What started out as a night of celebration for Mansfield soon became one of all-too-familiar despondency.
With the only 'McEwen' at the Racecourse Ground a company logo emblazoned on the side of the visiting supporters' coach, the big question was whether Mansfield would play any better in their sacked manager's absence.
On a day when Mansfield badly needed some inspiration, Emile Sinclair stepped forward to provide it - and how.
Arsene Wenger was not the only manager to sit down and watch Match of the Day on Saturday night with plenty to think about.
Going into Mansfield's game at Weymouth, it was announced that the South Coast town has become the first venue to be ready for the 2012 London Olympics.
After spending most of the day praying the game would be on, Mansfield fans spent most of last night's second half wishing it wasn't.
It is a sign of how far Mansfield have fallen in the last few months that their fans were simply pleased to come away from the home of their greatest rivals not on the wrong end of a hammering.
It looked at one stage as if extra-time was going to be needed. In fact it seemed even a penalty shoot-out could be required.After 45 minutes of dire football it seemed there was little chance of separating Mansfield and York.
It is the fixture that has thrown up more sequels than the Police Academy franchise - and now fans can look forward to a fifth instalment.
Football can be a fickle mistress. Anyone doubting that should take a look at the shift in fortunes for Mansfield over the past month.The Stags went to Crawley on September 13 top of the Blue Square Premier table and with not unrealistic ambitions of finishing the season in the play-off places.
It said much that when Mansfield's players turned to applaud their sizeable away following behind the goal at the final whistle, they got precious little response.
It is the kind of start to a game normally confined to a pub team. "What, have we really kicked off?" ask the bewildered defenders as the opposing striker runs through to score after a matter of seconds.
Way back in the dark days of June, Mansfield Town were in danger of becoming a laughing stock in the footballing world.
Not much more than a stone's throw from Gatwick Airport, Mansfield were hoping their season would take-off away from Field Mill.
When "We are top of the League" has resounded around Field Mill in recent times, Mansfield fans have been forced to sit and listen as the noise has emanated from the away section.
Every goalkeeper makes mistakes. What separates the best from the rest is their ability to put an error to the back of their mind.
Ask any fan what is the single, most important thing about any game they go to watch and the answer will invariably be the same - the result.
As he emerged for his post-match press conference, Billy McEwan slid into a seat at the bottom of the Quarry Lane Stand, slowly shook his head and said: "It was a heart attack job, that."
There are plenty of games that Mark Stallard will look back on with a great deal of fondness when his playing career finally comes to a close.
Saturday was a brilliant day to be a Mansfield sports fan, as goal rush followed gold rush.
Over the summer break, a giant sign has appeared on the outside of the West Stand at Field Mill that reads 'Mansfield Town: Proud to be members of the Blue Square League'.
The 29th Olympics games in Beijing is a long way from Stonebridge Road, Ebbsfleet.
The last away game of the season has always been a day for Mansfield fans to don their fancy dress costumes and party - but not this year.
Most Mansfield fans know just how lucky they are.
As he admitted during the first week of his tenure as Mansfield manager, Paul Holland did not agree with everything predecessor Billy Dearden did.
For those Stags fans taking the Cat and Fiddle route to and from Moss Rose, there was reason to ponder the outcome to this season.
It only takes a second to score a goal - but it took even less than that to decisively change the course of this match.
Unsuccessful Grand National punters were not the only ones left ruing a lack of staying power on Saturday - Mansfield fans felt exactly the same way.
How times change.
It was a day of fierce rivalries - as Old Firm foes Rangers and Celtic met in the SPL and Oxford and Cambridge contested the Boat Race on the Thames.
Although he had the freedom of the Gigg Lane pitch, Paul Holland was prowling around liked a caged tiger before kick-off - and no wonder.
New man in charge, new style of play - but still the same, sorry, predictable tale for Mansfield Town at Field Mill.
It was fitting Mansfield's tremendous away following cheered their side to victory at Valley Parade from the TL Dallas Stand.
Caretaker manager Paul Holland's rhetoric before the match was all about the Mansfield squad showing pride in their performance and playing without fear - and he certainly engendered both.
It was a desperately sad end to what is almost certainly the final chapter in the managerial career of one of the game's most colourful characters.
Everybody was standing as the Welsh national anthem was belted out around the Racecourse Ground.
There is no exact science to success on the football field.
It is a sign of the times that even ardent Mansfield fans are now giving more than a passing glance to the Blue Square Premier table in their Sunday paper.
It wouldn't be a bad idea for Mansfield to rename Field Mill ahead of Chester's visit on Saturday.
This was a place the Stags had been to four times since Christmas.
Down the years, Harry Johnson, Ted Harston, Ken Wagstaff, Ray Clarke and Chris Greenacre have all made themselves cult heroes at Mansfield for the very same thing - scoring a bucketload of goals.
BEING a Mansfield fan has come to resemble the life of an amateur surfer - occasionally you catch an exhilarating ride on the crest of a wave, but a spectacular wipe-out is never far away.
THROUGH the driving rain and gloomy January skies, the imposing sight of Lincoln Cathedral stood out like a beacon from the stands of Sincil Bank.
FACING a team littered with international players and assembled at a cost of millions, there was never going to be any disgrace in Mansfield bowing out of the FA Cup to Premier League Middlesbrough.
EFFORT and determination get you so far, but an extra slice of quality makes all the difference.
IT wasn't a vintage performance by any means, nor was it particularly pretty one. In fact, Mansfield have played better away from Field Mill this season and lost.
GOALS wrongly ruled out for offside, cruel deflections, harsh red cards, a catalogue of injuries and untimely fixture postponements - they're just some of the reasons put forward for Mansfield's struggles this season.
READING striker Dave Kitson may not give two hoots about the FA Cup, but try telling Mansfield Town this competition is a waste of time.
THEY say things never go your way when you are down at the bottom of the league, and after events at Stadium:mk Mansfield are hardly likely to disagree.
IT has become such a familiar tale at Field Mill over the past 12 months that Mansfield fans know exactly what is coming.
WITH Mansfield propping up League Two and Peterborough having won eight of their last ten matches, many people had decided the outcome of this match before it had even started.
There are few who doubt that teenage striker Rory Boulding has a promising career in front of him.
NEVER before will Mansfield fans have sat down for their Christmas dinner feeling so dejected about their beloved club’s prospects.
AN air of bemusement and frustration hung over Field Mill last night after the latest round in the long-running boardroom battle left Mansfield fans wondering what on earth is going on at their club.
IT may not have been the result that millions of people watching live on television wanted, but for the tiny percentage cheering on Mansfield this victory was more than welcome.
THERE is something about playing at Spotland that inexplicably brings out the worst in Mansfield.
FOR fans who believe in omens, the sight of Michael and Rory Boulding becoming the first brothers to score in the same Mansfield match for a century is sure to set pulses racing.
AFTER watching such an accomplished and determined performance as this one, it is hard to fathom why Mansfield remain the only side in League Two still to win away from home.
IF there comes a point in the rest of the season where results start to go badly wrong for Mansfield again, boss Billy Dearden only needs to pull a DVD of this game out of his office drawer to give his players inspiration.
ONE is just setting out on his managerial career while the other is one of the most experienced operators around.
THINK of Mansfield's recent League Two progress in terms of a graph and their steady decline is beginning to resemble the notorious slope on Barnet's Underhill pitch.
JAMES Derry may have won his fight for control of Mansfield Town, but less than 24 hours later there was a stark reminder of an altogether tougher battle.
THEY say teams at the bottom of the league never have any luck - and there can be no better example of that than at Field Mill last night.
Bottom of the table, four League Two defeats in a row, uncertainty over their future owners, continued injury problems, a dwindling support and another home defeat against a poor Dagenham side. It is hard to envisage how things could get any worse for Mansfield right now.
With its sloping pitch, Spartan changing facilities and open terracing, neither Mansfield's players nor their fans are likely to regard the Fraser Eagle Stadium, Accrington, as their favourite destination.
WHILE Mansfield’s fans may have gone home feeling a nagging sense of derby-day injustice, there is no disguising their team has big problems.
It is such a depressingly familiar story for Mansfield this season - but one they need to learn from if things are to improve.
THE fact Mansfield are out of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy this morning will not particularly concern manager Billy Dearden. What will, though, is the ever-decreasing number of central midfielders available to him.
IT was Keith Curle who said during his tenure as manager that Mansfield never seemed to do things the easy way
Morecambe may be the birthplace of Britain's greatest comic talent, but Saturday's visit was no laughing matter for Mansfield or their fans.
Alex John-Baptiste described it as the Jekyll-and-Hyde syndrome.
ENCOURAGING is not a word commonly associated with a 4-1 defeat. But it could certainly be applied to Mansfield’s performance in their Carling Cup exit at Boundary Park.
In recent times, a Mansfield Town win on the opening day of the season has become almost as rare as finding a four-leaf clover.
Mansfield Town's final home pre-season friendly was a big disappointment for the crowd of 1,363 who saw them lose 4-0 to League One team Huddersfield Town.
