Match preview: Stags vs Forest Green Rovers

23 February 2019

Stags welcome promotion rivals Forest Green Rovers to One Call Stadium on Saturday 23 February for our latest Sky Bet League Two fixture. Here's all you need to know ahead of the clash...

Mansfield will be without Ryan Sweeney through suspension, after the defender picked up his tenth booking of the season against Newport County in our last fixture. Sweeney served the first of his two-game suspension in last week's trip to Notts County.

Forwards Danny Rose, Jordan Graham and Craig Davies will be absent for this weekend’s clash.

Mansfield’s long-term absentees – goalkeeper Bobby Olejnik and defender Hayden White – will also miss out.

For the visitors, Dayle Grubb, James Montgomery and Joseph Mills remain doubts for the game.

Both sides have won one out of their last three matches in Sky Bet League Two. The Stags have won four of their last seven outings in the league, with Forest Green winning three of their last seven.

Last time out, Rovers recorded an emphatic 3-0 win at home to Yeovil Town.

STAGS' LAST FIVE GAMES: 2W | 1D | 2L

FOREST GREEN'S LAST FIVE GAMES: 2W | 1D | 2L

Following the abandonement of our originally scheduled fixture due to a waterlogged pitch, the Stags faced Forest Green towards the end of last month. An enthralling encounter ended 1-1, with Jorge Grant finding the net for Mansfield in the first-half.

The referee for Saturday's game will be Matthew Donohue, assisted by Christopher Ward and Ian Smedley. The fourth official will be Ross Joyce.

FREE tickets are now available for supporters aged 17 and under for Saturday's hotly-awaited league match.

This special offer has been set up by chairman John Radford and chief executive Carolyn Radford.

Tickets can be obtained by visiting the Stags’ ticket office at One Call Stadium from 10am until 5pm.

Tickets are available to acquire on the day of the game, however, the club strongly encourages supporters to acquire tickets as early as possible due to expected high demand.

Match tickets must be obtained at the ticket office prior to entry inside One Call Stadium. Tickets cannot be acquired online or via telephone.

Allocated seating is in operation at One Call Stadium, meaning all supporters must sit in the seat which correlates to their match ticket.

Supporters aged 12 and under must be accompanied by a paying adult.

Supporters who had previously purchased tickets in the under-18s' category can claim a full refund at the ticket office.

Otherwise, ticket prices for different age categories for the fixture are as follows:

Ian Greaves Stand (lower tier) is as follows:

CATEGORY	BEFORE MATCHDAY	ON MATCHDAY
Adult	£22	£24
Senior	£18	£20
Young adult (18-21)	£16	£18

Family tickets, priced at just £18 for an adult and a child are available to purchase both in advance and on matchdays from the ticket office.

The Stags' designated family section is Block B of the Quarry Lane Stand. Therefore, supporters purchasing a family ticket are required to sit in this area.

Ticket prices for the Ian Greaves Stand (upper tier) are as follows:

CATEGORY	BEFORE MATCHDAY	ON MATCHDAY
Adult	£23	£25
Senior	£19	£21
Young adult (18-21)	£16	£18

Quarry Lane prices are as follows:

CATEGORY	BEFORE MATCHDAY (with membership card)	BEFORE MATCHDAY (without membership card)	ON MATCHDAY (with or without membership card)
Adult	£11	£22	£24
Senior	£9	£18	£20
Young adult (18-21)	£8	£16	£18

Tickets for the match are available to purchase online via www.stagstickets.co.uk, at the ticket office on Quarry Lane, or by calling the ticket office on 01623 482 482.

Supporters can also purchase tickets on the day of the game. The matchday ticket office will be open for fans to buy tickets from 12pm until 3pm.

Our family ticket offer is also available for Saturday's game, which admits one adult and one child for just £18! Supporters that have purchased a family ticket will be seated in our family block, which is located in Block A of the Quarry Lane End. Fans with a family ticket may also be seated in Block B of the Quarry Lane End if demand dictates so.

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 1-0 Forest Green Rovers

23 February 2019

Tyler Walker’s second-half header ensured Mansfield Town return to winning ways as we overturned Forest Green Rovers 1-0 at One Call Stadium.

After a frantic first period in the Midlands that saw the sides go in level at the break, yet Mansfield returned for the second half with an extra spring in their step.

And it took 24 minutes for Walker to break the deadlock, and ultimately seal the three points, as he took advantage in a lapse in concentration to head home.

The goalscorer, however, was shown a straight red card in the final seconds to put a blemish on an otherwise perfect day for the Stags.

Mansfield boss David Flitcroft made just one alteration from defeat last time out as Will Tomlinson replaced Ben Turner.

The game began in sprightly fashion with both sides demonstrating an eagerness to take charge from the outset.

CJ Hamilton burst away down the left flank only to see his cross flicked away by Joseph Mills, before the visitors had their own delivery hooked clear by Krystian Pearce.

The quick-fire trend continued thereafter when a crisp move from Mansfield ended with Hamilton being effort being stopped by Lewis Ward.

The Stags’ skipper, Pearce, was then involved soon after but this time at the opposite end of the pitch as he prodded wide from a set-piece.

Forest Green responded once more via George Williams, however, Mal Benning was soon across to make a vital interception and retrieve possession for his side.

Jordan Smith was called into action for the first time on 11 minutes to smartly deny Junior Mondal’s effort creeping inside his near post.

There were hearts in Rovers’ mouths just shy of the half-hour mark when Hamilton’s low cross was only inches away from being turned into his own net by Gavin Gunning.

Instead, it skidded wide of Ward’s upright and the resulting corner was cleared after momentary confusion inside the 18-yard box.

Hamilton was soon free yet again down that left-hand side, yet his cross was wayward and allowed the visitors to regroup.

Mansfield were enduring the stronger spell following the frantic opening and Gethin Jones was next to try his luck.

Coming onto Hamilton’s reverse pass, the right wing-back could only drag his subsequent attempt wide of the mark.

Gunning then had his heart in his mouth once again – his left leg deflecting a Mal Benning effort from distance wide.

And Tyler Walker was then thwarted by the palm of Ward after a long-range drive had to be tipped over his crossbar.

Former Stags' midfielder, Paul Digby, was invited to shoot from range himself as the half drew to a close, but Smith got down smartly to keep his clean sheet intact.

And similarly to the closure of the first period Walker was again denied by Ward; this time as he lined up a shot inside the Rovers’ box.

Matt Preston had the plaudits of every fan inside One Call Stadium on the hour mark, when his decisive sliding block denied Williams a certain opener in front of the 171 travelling Nailers.

The game continued to ebb and flow with Tomlinson skewing an effort from range exactly a minute before Reece Brown tested Smith’s handling.

But it would not be long before the Stags found a way to break the deadlock.

On 69 minutes, Walker was able to capitalise on some hesitant goalkeeping by Ward, leap highest, and head home from close range give his side a deserved one-goal cushion.

Mansfield were soon on the attack once more with the game’s only goalscorer, Walker, but the striker was robbed of possession as he lined up a pass.

The Nailers were not without threat, though, epitomised when Christian Doidge rose highest from a corner to plant it wide of Smith’s far post.

Mondal then missed another opportunity to restore party courtesy of a half volley that arrowed off-target.

Referee Matthew Donohue brandished a straight red to Walker in the final moments of the match for reasons unbeknown to everyone inside the One Call.

Nevertheless, Mansfield now have a week to prepare for their next Sky Bet League Two outing as they face Cheltenham Town at home.

STAGS XI: Smith (GK), Benning, Preston, Pearce, Bishop, Mellis, Tomlinson (Turner 90+1’), Walker, Jones, Hamilton, Grant.

SUBS NOT USED: Logan (GK), MacDonald, Khan, Atkinson, Ajose, A. Smith.

FOREST GREEN XI: Ward (GK), Collins © (Godwin-Malife 89’), Rawson, Winchester, Doidge, Brown, Williams, Gunning (McGinley 81’), Digby (McCoulsky 81’), Mills, Mondal.

SUBS NOT USED: Montgomery (GK), James, Liddle, Reid.

REFEREE: Matthew Donohue.

ASSISTANTS: Christopher Ward & Ian Smedley.

FOURTH OFFICIAL: Ross Joyce.

ATTENDANCE: 5,256 (171 away).

Match Reports

Standings