Paul Stephen reports
The Stags crashed to only their second home defeat in 14 months this afternoon to a Gateshead side in the bottom four and in front of what was comfortably the largest crowd seen here at Field Mill for eight years.
Goals in the opening minutes of both halves were enough to send Mansfield to their second loss in as many games and tarnish a wonderful day for the club that saw an extra 4,000 fans on the average home gate this season.
David Holdsworth decided to revert back to the team that beat Chester City 4-0 here at Field Mill a fortnight ago as he tried to put defeat to Wrexham midweek firmly behind him.
Jon Challinor and Michael Brough were the major casualties and dropped to the bench as Louis Briscoe and Oliver Hotchkiss took their places in midfield.
In the other changes, striker Jon Shaw had recovered enough from a hamstring strain to be named as a substitute in place of Blair Sturrock whilst new 'keeper Neil Collett replaced Tim Sandercombe as back up to Marriott in goal.
The visitors were denied the services of ex-Stag Daryl Clare and loan signing Paul Heckingbottom due to the terms of their deals taking them from Mansfield to the North East but manager Ian Bogie did hand debuts to January signings Andy Ferrell and Peter Winn in midfield. The Tynesiders went into the game on a poor run of five defeats from their last six league matches.
The Stags got the game underway after a delay of 15 minutes because of crowd congestion at the turnstiles. Sections of the North Stand were opened to home fans that had come in unprecedented numbers to take advantage of the pay what you want scheme and doubled this season's average gate of 3.246. The club had to turn away 600 fans as they looked well on the way to beating the 6,258 that packed Field Mill in February 2008 to see our FA Cup Third Round defeat to Middlesbrough.
The biggest crowd ever recorded at the rebuilt Field Mill and the record to beat was the 8,600 that watched the last game of 2001/02 season against Cheltenham when the Stags achieved promotion from Division Three.
The pace of the game was set instantly with Gateshead midfielder Andy Ferrell being unceremoniously felled by Matt Somner within the first 20 seconds. The subsequent free kick was headed wide, however, by a white shirt.
The Stags got forward in the second minute when Ryan Williams beat his man down the left and crossed it to Louis Briscoe. The pacey wingman's first touch was poor though and the ball was hacked away to safety.
The worst thing possible happened just three minutes later as the Heed raced into an early lead through Brian Wake who unleashed a powerful shot from 30 yards that took a slight deflection off a yellow shirt. Marriott was beaten as he dived to his right and the ball crept into the bottom left corner.
The goal did not disrupt Mansfield's rhythm though and Briscoe led a charge into Gateshead's area from the kick off. Frustratingly, the ball got caught between his feet and ran away from him at the critical moment when a shot looked likely.
The Stags next chance did not come until the 20 minute mark as Briscoe, who has begun to play a more central role, raced down the left and dinked a cross into the area for Speight who got there seconds too late.
Williams sent in a dangerous cross a minute later that had to be headed behind before a long throw that Craig Armstrong launched into the area appeared to be handled prompting penalty shouts from all sections of the ground. It was to no avail though and play was waved on by referee Mr Hendley.
Our opponents really should have doubled their lead on the half hour mark as the Stags failed to deal with a long throw from James Sinclair. Mark Robinson flicked the throw onto Brian Wake who lurked completely unmarked at the back post but the tall forward somehow failed to connect with it when it looked far easier to score. This was followed up a minute later by a powerful shot from Graeme Armstrong eight yards out that Marriott saved at point blank range to spare his defender's blushes.
It was apparent that the Stags were struggling to deal with the Heed's physical strength and they were grateful to end the half, which has started so promisingly, only 1-0 down. After fluffing their own opportunities to score, the Stags had fallen behind to an early goal against the run of play and then reliant on Gateshead not taking theirs as they struggled to contain them.
Jake Speight drew a decent save from Paul Farman in the visitors' goal in the first minute of added time before the players trudged off for the break.
Unsurprisingly David Holdsworth made two changes at halftime sending out Jon Challinor in midfield and Kyle Perry up top in place of the largely ineffectual Louis Briscoe and Oliver Hotchkiss as the home side switched to a 4-3-3 formation.
They did not make the start the bumper crowd had been hoping for though and Gateshead were allowed to double their lead in the 48th minute. Brian Wake threaded his way into the area and bypassed three yellow shirts before rounding Foster and firing his shot past Marriott for his second goal of the game.
As the Stags tried to press forward for the goal needed to put them back into the game, Jon Challinor began to cause trouble with his long throws. In the 56th minute he launched one from the right which was cleared only as far as Ryan Williams who fired a shot from the edge of the D narrowly over the bar.
The Stags then got a corner on the 60 minute mark after a Challinor shot was tipped over by Farman. Williams found the head of Luke Jones but the centre half could not direct his effort and it raced away for a throw in.
Williams and Somner had long range efforts blocked before Holdsworth decided to hand Jon Shaw his home debut as he came for Rob Duffy as an alternative in attack in the 66th minute.
Gateshead were making it difficult for the home side to eke out many chances as they kept their fair share of possession and broke at every available opportunity. The Stags did create an opening in the 79th minute however, as Jake Speight raced into the area to get on the end of Williams cross whipped in from the left hand side. Although Speight managed to connect with it, his glancing header was not powerful enough and it flashed wide of the post.
On 82, Gary Silk's snapshot was punched onto the bar by Farman where the rebound fell to Shaw but he could not squeeze his shot in between the forest of Gateshead bodies in front of him.
As the game slowly ebbed away, four minutes added time were played out before the 74 away fans, who were outnumbered almost 100-1, were left with much to sing about at the final whistle.
Attendance: 7, 261 (74 away)
Sponsors' man of the match: Gary Silk
Team: Marriott, Jones, Briscoe (Challinor 45'), Somner, Duffy (Shaw 66'), Williams, Armstrong, Foster, Silk, Speight, Hotchkiss (Perry 45').
