Match preview: Stags vs Crawley Town

15 January 2019

Stags welcome Crawley Town to One Call Stadium on Tuesday evening for our next Sky Bet League Two match (7.45pm kick-off). Here’s all you need to know ahead of the clash…

The Stags will be without defender Matt Preston, who was sent off for a second bookable offence in our recent clash against Yeovil Town.

The duo of Alex MacDonald and David Mirfin will miss out, as the pair continue their recoveries from respective knee injuries.

Goalkeeper Bobby Olejnik will be absent for the clash, after recently being ruled out for the season with an anterior cruciate ligament rupture. The game will also be without striker Craig Davies, who has an ankle injury.

Crawley will be without Joe McNerney, who will serve the third game of a three-match suspension, and the injured Jimmy Smith.

Stags suffered just their second home loss in Sky Bet League Two on Saturday with the narrow 1-0 defeat to Yeovil Town on One Call Stadium. The last home loss before the Glovers’ match came all the way back in early September, against Exeter.

Last time out, the Red Devils suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat away to Stevenage in Sky Bet League Two. Before Saturday’s defeat, Crawley had won their last two matches, at home to Cheltenham and high-flying Colchester.

STAGS’ LAST FIVE GAMES: 2W | 1D | 2L

YEOVIL’S LAST FIVE GAMES: 2W | 1D | 2L

We were due to face the Red Devils earlier this campaign, but the game was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

The last time we played against Crawley was on the final day of last season, a game that ended 1-1 at One Call Stadium.

The referee for Tuesday’s clash will be Martin Coy, assisted by Stephen Wade and Ollie Williams. The fourth official will be Ross Joyce.

The last time Mr. Coy took charge of a Stags’ fixture was our 1-0 victory over Port Vale at One Call Stadium in November 2018.

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 also be open for fans to buy tickets up until kick-off at 7.45pm.

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.

Tickets purchased for the original fixture can be exchanged for one of the following home league matches:

Date	Opponents
Saturday 26 January, 3pm	Tranmere Rovers
Saturday 02 February, 3pm	Macclesfield Town
Saturday 23 February, 3pm	Forest Green Rovers
Saturday 02 March, 3pm	Cheltenham Town

Tickets can be exchanged by visiting our ticket office from 10am to 5pm each weekday at One Call Stadium.

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 be open from midday on Tuesday, serving the main menu until 3pm.

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.

Following this, the matchday menu will become available from the kiosk inside the bar, and will serve pies, chips, burgers and hot dogs.

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 5.30pm.

Supporters will also be able to purchase our edition of 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. Please note that this programme was printed ahead of our originally scheduled fixture against Crawley Town in November 2018.

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.

You can also watch Tuesday evening's game for just £10 on iFollow by purchasing a match pass.

Supporters who purchased a match pass for our originally scheduled fixture against Crawley Town should receive a promotional code via email to watch Tuesday night's clash for free on iFollow Stags.

Supporters who do not wish to have the promotional code will be issued a full refund.

Those who purchased a match pass but have not been sent a code are advised to contact iFollow Fan Support on ifollow@efl.com.

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 6.00pm on Tuesday.

Match Previews

Match Reports

Match report: Stags 1-0 Crawley Town

15 January 2019

Tyler Walker lifted Mansfield Town up to third in Sky Bet League Two after his late, solitary strike secured a 1-0 victory over Crawley Town on Tuesday evening.

Mansfield dominated proceedings at One Call Stadium but it took until the final moments to secure victory – and it was the least they deserved.

Hayden White’s persistence down the right flank paid dividends in the 88th minute as his near-post cross was met by Walker who fired the ball home to revert his side back to winning ways.

There were three changes enforced by David Flitcroft for the evening’s clash with Crawley.

Neal Bishop returned from suspension, with the newly-signed pair of Jorge Grant and Nicky Ajose accounting for the remainder of the changes.

And it was almost the perfect start for the latter. Jacob Mellis released the Charlton loanee but was thwarted by the legs of Glenn Morris inside two minutes.

The hosts were zipping the ball around with purpose but Crawley themselves were not without threat.

Mark Connolly struck Jordan Smith’s upright with a powerful header just minutes before Ollie Palmer had a volley, which found the back of the net, ruled out for a foul seconds prior.

Mansfield then responded with an attack of their own. Bishop’s drive towards goal was spilled by Morris but neither Ajose or Tyler Walker could capitalise.

Jorge Grant began to join in the action, too. His deft flick was just inches away from reaching the boot of Walker inside the six-yard-box.

The attacking midfielder, on loan from Nottingham Forest, then chipped a delightful ball towards Hamilton; who could only find the roof of Morris’ net with his lob.

A crisp move just minutes before the interval looked to bore fruit but Grant was denied a debut goal, once more, by the legs of the Crawley shot-stopper.

With once last attack of the first-half, the hosts were unable to profit from their first corner of the match as it fizzled out to the sound of the referee’s whistle.

Flitcroft’s side picked up where they left off after the restart. Mellis combined well with Ajose on the edge of the Crawley area but to no avail.

Ajose then skewed a long-distance attempt wide of the target before Grant’s through-ball was well claimed by Morris.

And in the 53rd minute, the Stags’ faithful were left bewildered.

Walker’s square ball beat the Reds’ back-line and found Ajose lurking at the far post – however, the on-loan striker could only steer his effort clear of the bar.

The duo sought to combine from similar positions yet again on the hour mark, yet Connolly was on hand to hook away the imminent danger.

Moments later, Mellis drilled a bouncing ball towards goal and, as it looked to be heading towards goal, it was touched over by Morris.

The Yellows continued to go hammer and tongs at the Crawley defence – the latest attempt falling off target from Hamilton – but almost found themselves behind on 70 minutes.

Dominic Poleon latched onto a reverse pass from Panutche Camara but was denied the opener superbly by Smith.

Following this chance, Flitcroft opted for his first and only change of the night; Danny Rose replacing Ajose.

Walker then flashed a smart effort inches wide of the Crawley target as it seemed the hosts could not get any closer to opening their account.

The home side, soon after, had penalty appeals waved away after what seemed to be a nudge on Stags’ skipper, Krystian Pearce.

But for all of Mansfield’s hard work, it was so nearly undone with four minutes remaining on the clock.

Ollie Palmer looked to curl an effort beyond Smith, but an unbelievable sliding challenge from Bishop took the pace off and allowed the Stags’ ‘keeper to tip it away to safety.

And this vital moment was made even more so just two minutes thereafter.

White linked up with teammate Walker and, as the One Call crackled into collective noise, the on-loan striker beat Morris to move his side back into the automatic promotion spots in Sky Bet League Two.

Flitcroft’s charges now have three days to recharge before they make the journey to face promotion-rivals Colchester United.

SUBS NOT USED: Logan (GK), Khan, Atkinson, Sterling-James, Graham, Smith.

CRAWLEY XI: Morris (GK), Young (Sesay 81’), Payne, Connolly, Palmer, Poleon (Grego-Cox 90’), Gambin (Camara 67’), Francomb, Maguire, Dallison, Morais ©.

SUBS NOT USED: Mersin (GK), Nathaniel-George, Bulman.

REFEREE: Martin Coy.
ASSISTANTS: Stephen Wade & Matthew Jones.
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Ross Joyce.

ATTENDANCE: 3,739 (24 away).

Match Reports

Standings