Match preview: Stags vs Stevenage

26 April 2019

Stags welcome Stevenage to One Call Stadium on Saturday 27 April for our final home game of the Sky Bet League Two season (3pm kick-off).

Manager David Flitcroft confirmed in his Thursday morning news conference that midfielder Otis Khan could be available for selection on Saturday.

The Stags will be without forwards Craig Davies, Nicky Ajose and Jordan Graham, along with long-term absentees Bobby Olejnik and Hayden White.

Danny Newton and Jamal Campbell-Ryce remain on the injury list for Stevenage.

Last time out, Stags’ four-match unbeaten run came to an end, with a narrow 3-2 defeat away to Oldham. In our most recent outing at One Call Stadium, Mansfield recorded an emphatic 4-0 victory over Morecambe on Good Friday.

Stevenage have displayed impressive form of late, especially on the road, where they find themselves on a six-game unbeaten streak heading into the match. Last time out, they battled for a 1-1 draw against Exeter at home.

STAGS’ LAST FIVE GAMES: 3W | 1D | 1L

STEVENAGE’S LAST FIVE GAMES: 3W | 1D | 1L

We last faced the Boro at the Lamex Stadium in December. Despite trailing at the break, the Stags scored three times in the second-half via Ryan Sweeney and Tyler Walker (2) to secure a 3-1 victory away from home.

The referee for Saturday’s game will be Darren Drysdale, assisted by Ravel Cheosiaua and Peter Gooch. The fourth official will be Alan Clayton.

The last Stags’ fixture that Mr. Drysdale took charge of was our 1-0 victory over Carlisle at One Call Stadium in September.

Tickets in the home stands have sold out for the fixture.

Only 46 disabled tickets are remaining for the fixture. Otherwise, there are no other tickets to purchase for Stags' supporters for the game..

Precisely 6,407 tickets in the home ends have been sold.

Overall capacity at One Call Stadium is 9,174. EFL regulations state, however, that the club must reserve 10% of its capacity in each stand if match tickets are sold - or had intended to be sold - on the day of the game. The matchday capacity in the home ends is therefore 6,453.

Stevenage have sold 146 tickets.

Allocated seating is in operation at One Call Stadium and therefore supporters must be seated in accordance to the seat purchased on their match ticket.

Our ticket office is open tomorrow from 10am up until 3pm for ticket collections only.

Parking at One Call Stadium will be extremely limited and available on a first-come-first-served basis.

Please note that, on police advice and for ease of congestion, the gate between the North and Ian Greaves Stand will be closed after every home game this season, re-opening approximately 20 minutes after the final whistle.

The Sandy Pate Sports Bar will open at 9am, serving delicious cooked breakfasts until 11am. After this, the bar will not serve food from the main menu, although the matchday kiosk inside the bar will open at 12.30pm, serving pies, chips, burgers and hot dogs.

Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks are available for both home and away supporters, and the bar is located at the rear of the Ian Greaves Stand.

The bar will begin to serve food from its main menu following the full-time whistle.

The sports bar will remain open until 11pm after the match.

Ticket holders in Blocks N, P, Q and R of the Ian Greaves Upper tier will also be able to access our Kevin Bird Suite from 1pm.

Supporters will also be able to purchase our award-winning matchday programme, The Stag, which will be available to buy around the ground for just £3 before the match.

Fans can buy The Stag from the merchandise stand near the Sandy Pate Sports Bar, or any of our mobile programme vendors around the ground.

Car parking is severely restricted at One Call Stadium and works on a first come, first served basis. All reserved car parking spaces are within the location of the Ian Greaves Stand car park.

Matchday parking costs £5.00 per car. Please note that the car park shuts at 30 minutes prior to kick-off due to safety regulations.

The following sites, owned by Mansfield District Council and with easy access to the One Call Stadium are Grove Street, Victoria Street, Garden Road and Church Lane.

Charges are as follows:

Grove St 50p/hr.
Victoria St 50p/hr.
Garden Rd 50p/hr.
Church Lane 80p/hr.

All of the above pay and display surface level car parks offer cashless parking via RingGo as an additional way to pay.

Every car park has a unique code so people can either pay over the phone, by text, online or by using a free smartphone app.

Details of how to do this are displayed in each car park. Information about all Mansfield District Council car parks can be found at www.mansfield.gov.uk/carparks.

Where do I go when I get to One Call Stadium?

Hospitality

If you are a hospitality guest, please enter the stadium via the brown double doors to the rear of the Ian Greaves Stand, which is the entrance to our hospitality suites.

The doors are located to the left of the white merchandise stall outside the Sandy Pate Sports Bar, backing onto the main car park and sign-posted 'The Kevin Bird Suite'.

Media

Members of the media are asked to also head to the entrance to our hospitality suites, where our media steward will provide you with the necessary accreditation.

The required entrance is located to the left of the merchandise stall outside the Sandy Pate Sports Bar and signposted 'The Kevin Bird Suite'.

Supporters

If you need to collect tickets, please head to the main ticket office on Quarry Lane. For ticket purchases, please visit the matchday ticket office, adjacent to the Quarry Lane Stand, around the corner from the main ticket office.

Entry to the Quarry Lane End is via the turnstiles situated parallel to the road running alongside One Call Stadium.

The Ian Greaves Stand is the main stand at One Call Stadium, which backs onto the main car park.

Away fans are housed in the North Stand, which is located next to Portland Retail Park. Please note: there is no matchday parking in the retail park.

Can't make it to the game? You can follow the action live via our Twitter updates or via the match centre on mansfieldtown.net, which can be found here.

iFollow Stags subscribers can listen to full-match commentary of the clash, courtesy of commentators Martin Shaw and Dean Foulkes.

A report of the match will be published on the club website after the full-time whistle, and post-match reaction will be available to view on mansfieldtown.net and iFollow Stags.

Supporters who are blind or visually impaired can take advantage of our fantastic free audio descriptive commentary service.

Provided by Alan March Sport, supporters can listen to commentary from trained audio description broadcasters.

To take advantage of this free service, please visit the entrance to the Kevin Bird Suite at One Call Stadium after 1.00pm on Saturday.

Match Previews

Match Reports

Match report: Stags 1-2 Stevenage

27 April 2019

Despite Tyler Walker's 83rd-minute equaliser, Mansfield's afternoon ended in defeat following Ilias Chair's last-gasp winner.

It was a frantic encounter that began to open up when Kurtis Guthrie broke the deadlock midway through the second period.

Walker’s smart finish restored parity for all of nine minutes before Chair secured three points for the away side in the 92nd minute.

David Flitcroft named one solitary change for Saturday’s outing as Will Tomlinson replaced Jorge Grant.

Amidst blustery conditions at One Call Stadium the Stags began to hunt down the all-important opening goal.

Mal Benning, with only Mansfield’s second free-kick of the encounter, forced Paul Farman into a smart near-post stop.

This unfolded just minutes before Will Tomlinson was also denied, following a crisp passage of play.

The hosts showed little signs of easing but had to keep their concentration when Stevenage began to ease into the game.

Conrad Logan made a huge, close-range save to thwart Michael Timlin before Guthrie clipped the post with his header from a corner.

The Stags ‘keeper then produced a moment of brilliance to prevent Chair’s effort from distance nestling into the top corner.

Mansfield had weathered the storm that Stevenage had conjured and looked to profit from a mistake at the back, soon after.

Ben Nugent hacked CJ Hamilton as the winger was inches from racing clear – with Benning unable to direct his subsequent effort through the crowd of bodies that faced him.

An even first period concluded without a mark on the scoresheet from either side.

But with only three minutes elapsed in the second half, the Stags almost did just that.

Benning pumped a delivery into the middle and it looked to be sneaking under Farman’s crossbar before the shot-stopped quickly turned it behind.

The home side continued to ramp up the pressure – and the Stags faithful responded in fine voice.

Gethin Jones applied pressure at the back post as he sought his first goal in Mansfield colours, yet it was defended smartly by Nugent.

Walker then latched onto a bouncing ball but was unable to find the desired connection as it ran wide of Farman’s upright.

However, for all of Mansfield’s endeavour, they were dealt a killer blow in the 71st minute.

Guthrie found himself with just enough space inside the Stags’ area to be able to bring the ball under his spell and fire a spectacular volley beyond Logan.

The Stags would not lie though.

Mellis stung the palms of Farman from distance and the follow-up saw Hamilton’s goal-bound effort blocked superbly by Nugent.

Substitute Danny Rose then had a brilliant chance to draw his side level but nodded over the bar.

And on 83 minutes, for all their hard work, Mansfield had their reward.

Logan claimed possession and wasted no time in finding Walker down the other end of the field with an exquisite ball.

The on-loan striker subsequently spotted Farman off his line and proceeded to poke the ball beyond the stranded ‘keeper.

With a final roll of the dice – with the clock ticking into additional time – Benning made way for Alex MacDonald.

But it was Stevenage who instead found the vital third goal in the encounter.

Chair made his way forward and when possession eventually fell to the midfielder he was able to find the back of the net from the edge of the area.

The result leaves Mansfield in third place in Sky Bet League Two with an all-or-nothing fixture rounding off their campaign away to MK Dons next Saturday.

STAGS XI: Logan (GK), Benning (MacDonald 90’), Preston, Pearce ©, Bishop, Mellis, Tomlinson (Rose 64’), Sweeney, Walker, Jones (Grant 73’), Hamilton.

SUBS NOT USED: Smith (GK), Atkinson, Turner, Hakeem.

STEVENAGE XI: Farman (GK), Wildin, Timlin, Cuthbert ©, Byrom, Sonupe (McKee 81’), Chair, Vancooten, Guthrie, Nugent, Martin.

SUBS NOT USED: Byrne (GK), Hunt, Revell, Gibson, Smyth, Wilkinson.

REFEREE: Darren Drysdale.

ASSISTANTS: Ravel Cheosiaua & Peter Gooch.

FOURTH OFFICIAL: Alan Clayton.

ATTENDANCE: 6,390 (209 away).

Match Reports

Mansfield Town

Standings

Match preview: Stags vs Stevenage

Match report: Stags 1-2 Stevenage