Stags’ boss Adam Murray hailed his players’ attitude after his men got our League Two campaign off to a flying start, courtesy of a 3-2 win away at Newport County.
Mansfield thrice took the lead in the match following strikes by Matt Green, Danny Rose and crucially, Kevan Hurst, in injury time.
And whilst an away point at Rodney Parade would have been considered a positive result, boss Murray was encouraged by his players' desire to earn a magnificent three points on the opening day of the season.
"
"I didn’t have to say much to the lads in the last ten minutes [of the game] – they were running to get the ball back in play.
Away from home on the first day of the season at Newport, a point would have been okay," said Murray, in his summary of first game of the season. "It wouldn’t have been the end of the world, [it would have been] a positive result. "We’re disappointed with the goals we conceded, but that will come with work and time. The main thing today was that we came out with a positive result. I’m chuffed to bits."
And whilst the Stags' chief was clearly delighted with maximum points, he insisted there is more to come from his charges.
"
"I didn’t have to say much to the lads in the last ten minutes [of the game] – they were running to get the ball back in play.
Away from home on the first day of the season at Newport, a point would have been okay," said Murray, in his summary of first game of the season. "It wouldn’t have been the end of the world, [it would have been] a positive result. "We’re disappointed with the goals we conceded, but that will come with work and time. The main thing today was that we came out with a positive result. I’m chuffed to bits."
And whilst the Stags' chief was clearly delighted with maximum points, he insisted there is more to come from his charges.
"I think it was the perfect result, I wouldn’t say it was the perfect performance. I think it was a typical ‘first day of the season’ performance.
"You can play as many [pre-season] games as you want but nothing really prepares you for the first game of the season, with the tempo and intensity [that it brings].
"In pre-season, you’re not used to that. [In] Pre-season, there’s a lot of football played and you don’t see a lot of the ugly side. We had to get to grips with that at half time and change the shape a little bit to do that and I felt we got a foothold in it and scored some very good goals.
"In pre-season, you’re not used to that. [In] Pre-season, there’s a lot of football played and you don’t see a lot of the ugly side. We had to get to grips with that at half time and change the shape a little bit to do that and I felt we got a foothold in it and scored some very good goals.
"In the first half, at times, they caught us out. They played at a very high tempo, quite direct and made us defend.
Stags could have sealed the win earlier in the second half when Hurst crossed to Green, only for his short range header to be denied by a magnificent save from 'keeper Joe Day - to whom Murray paid credit.
"The pitch was sticky at times and they put us under pressure and we couldn’t ‘get out’. We ended up getting rid of it as quickly as we could to take the pressure off the defence."
"The pitch was sticky at times and they put us under pressure and we couldn’t ‘get out’. We ended up getting rid of it as quickly as we could to take the pressure off the defence."
"We could have had another goal [but for] a ‘heck of a save’ which Day [the Newport goalkeeper] has made. We created a lot of chances today and that’s pleasing."
The manager gave the final word to the Stags' faithful: Stags PlayerHD
Adam Murray's post match interview is available now on
“They were awesome. It took us six hours to get here yesterday. It’s a long trip and we’re glad that we gave them something to smile about."
“They were awesome. It took us six hours to get here yesterday. It’s a long trip and we’re glad that we gave them something to smile about."
