Iain Turner reports from Field Mill for mansfieldtown.net
A 1-0 victory gave David Holdsworth the perfect start to his tenure at Field Mill who looked to have instilled discipline at the back and a desire to get forward.
In his first game in charge; Holdsworth gave starts to four of his new signings and they were key factors in ending Crawley's nine game unbeaten run. A superb volley from Robert Duffy in the 29th minute gave the Stags the lead and managed to hold on with some fine saves from Man of the match Alan Marriott.
Before the match got under way players and fans took part in a one minute round of applause to mark the passing of former Stags' boss Ian Greaves.
After a quiet opening couple of minutes it was Mansfield who created the first chance. Some neat footwork from Aaron O'Connor in the middle of Crawley's half he then laid off a neat ball to Nathan Arnold, who crossed the ball over from the left flank. Crawley's defence failed to deal with it and the ball fell for O'Connor who on the turn fired over the bar. After a scrappy period a neat one two between the lively O'Connor and Jonathan D'Laryea opened up Crawley and was only stopped by a last ditch tackle from Adam Quinn. Crawley's first chance came from some good work by Dannie Bullman. His cross found Steve Fletcher who chested it down into the path of Lewis Chalmers who fired wide.
The visitors then started to take control. Glenn Wilson's long throw causing a scramble in the Mansfield penalty area which was eventually cleared away.
Crawley's front man Jon-Paul Pittman created an oppurtunity with a neat turn but his shot was denied by Alan Marriot who managed to get down and palm it wide for a corner.
Despite this Crawley pressure it was Mansfield who broke the dead lock in the 28th minute. On the counter attack Nathan Arnold, who had drifted over to the right found Duffy in the box with a measured cross. The new boy had time to bring it down with his chest and volley it past Simon Rayner into the bottom left corner of the net. A great strike and perfect start for debutant.
After the goal Crawley pushed forward, Marriott, playing his first game for the Stags, kept them in front with a fine save from Simon Weatherstone's header at the back post. The final few minutes of the half were end to end with both teams playing positive passing football but only managing to create half chances.
The Stags started the second half slowly. Failing to deal with a ball in their own box the ball finally fell to Pittman who fired across the Mansfield goal.
Holdsworth made an early change, bringing on James Kay in place of Alex Jeannin in the 53rd minute.
Two minutes later Mansfield were awarded a free kick for a foul on O'Connor outside the Crawley penalty box. From 25 yards Nathan Arnold blasted his free kick straight at goal forcing Simon Rayner to beat it away. Soon after Arnold was brought off making way Tomi Ameobi to make his fisrt appearance.
The next ten minutes was all Crawley. Crosses being delivered from both flanks put pressure on the Mansfield's defence but the back line looked solid and managed to keep getting the ball clear. The best Crawley chance falling for Simon Rents who, from the edge of the box fired over. After soaking up the pressure Mansfield played their way back into the game through good passing and hard tackling in the midfield.
With 20 minutes to go Holdsworth made his final change, bringing off goalscorer Duffy for Mark Stallard.
With time ticking away Crawley threw men forward looking for an equaliser, Rents cross from the left byline found Pittman whose first time volley hit the wood work.
It was backs to the walls defending for a while with Kay making some vital last ditch clearances and Man of the match Alan Marriott diving at the feet of Pittman to stop a shot on goal. In the final minutes Mansfield kept their composure and hung on with strong defending and some decent hold up play from Stallard.
When the final whistle finally arrived it was greeted with huge cheers from the Mansfield faithful. The win is a perfect start for David Holdsworth and his men who were disciplined at the back and showed a desire in getting forward.
