Match preview: Stags vs Crewe Alexandra

22 March 2019

Stags welcome Crewe Alexandra to One Call Stadium on Saturday 23 March for our latest clash in Sky Bet League Two (3pm kick-off). Here's all you need to know ahead of the match...

Mansfield will be without long-term absentees Bobby Olejnik and Hayden White for Saturday's clash.

Forwards Danny Rose, Craig Davies and Jordan Graham will also miss out.

For Crewe, George Ray will be sidelined due to suspension, having picked up his tenth booking of the season during the Railwaymen's 0-0 draw away to Cambridge.

Stags faced league leaders Lincoln City last time out, with the game ending 1-1 at One Call Stadium on Monday night. Krystian Pearce headed Mansfield into the lead in the first five minutes, but John Akinde levelled from the spot in the second-half.

Crewe recorded an emphatic 6-1 victory in their last match, despite opponents Crawley Town taking the lead early on from the penalty spot.

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

CREWE'S LAST FIVE GAMES: 1W | 1D | 3L

We travelled to face this weekend's opponents back in October 2018. The Stags ran out 3-0 winners on the night, with goals coming from former loan midfielder Timi Elsnik and Tyler Walker.

The referee for Saturday's game will be Thomas Bramall, assisted by Isaac Searle and Joe Simpson. The fourth official will be Stephen Wade.

Mr. Bramall last took charge of a Stags' fixture back in October 2018, our 0-0 draw with Oldham at One Call Stadium.

Ticket information for Saturday's game is 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 1-2 Crewe Alexandra

23 March 2019

Despite a late goal from skipper Krystian Pearce, Mansfield Town suffered defeat in Sky Bet League Two as they fell to a 2-1 defeat against Crewe Alexandra at One Call Stadium.

After a lacklustre first period that saw little chances created by either side, it turned out to be an afternoon to forget for the Stags.

Following the stoppage time effort from Pearce, Callum Ainley fired home two goals after climbing off the substitute’s bench to ultimately seal three points for David Artell’s men.

David Flitcroft made only a single change and it came between the sticks as Jordan Smith reclaimed the first-team gloves in place of Conrad Logan.

It was a quiet start to affairs at One Call Stadium with neither side able to carve out any opportunities in the early moments.

But the game began to twinkle with life as the clock reached double figures.

Perry Ng, Crewe’s captain, drove from defence with purpose and delivered a teasing cross that was marginally too high for any red jerseys in the middle.

Mansfield responded with a cross of their own – Mal Benning’s delivery landing on the head of Neal Bishop who could only nod the ball into the palms of Ben Garratt.

Jorge Grant then looked to spot CJ Hamilton’s darting run as the Stags sprung a counter attack, but the diagonal carried too much pace.

Flitcroft’s side continued to settle into their attacking verve when Matt Preston, up from the back, was denied a spectacular opener.

Unmarked from a corner, the centre-half unleashed a spectacular volley that was somehow blocked on the line by Paul Green.

Tyler Walker then produced some brilliant hold-up play inside Crewe’s 18-yard box, only to see Ryan Sweeney’s follow-up smothered by even better defensive work.

The visitors, though, reminded everyone they were still not without threat when Jordan Bowery released a curling effort that was subsequently gathered by Jordan Smith.

And moments prior to Green flashing an effort wide of Smith’s target, Hamilton watched as his low cross bobbled slightly too far in front of his fellow frontman, Walker.

The hosts then had several goal-bound opportunities pounced upon by Crewe defenders in order to keep their clean sheet intact.

Flitcroft opted for a solitary change during the interval – Nicky Ajose taking the place of Gethin Jones alongside a slight formation tweak.

And the substitute was only inches away from connecting with Walker’s pinpoint delivery to give his side the lead.

Hamilton then delivered yet another teasing ball into the mix, yet saw it cleared away by a resolute Alexandra defence.

Soon after, Bowery was able to escape the attentions of Mansfield’s back-three only to miscue his subsequent attempt wide of the mark.

Last Monday’s goalscorer, Pearce, was next to pose a threat for the amber and blue as his header back across goal almost fell towards Ajose.

However, despite Mansfield’s continual pressure, they were dealt a blow in the 71st minute.

Substitute Ainley was able to wriggle away from several challenges inside the penalty area, and fire a low shot beyond Smith to place the visitors in the driving seat.

The Stags sought a response and almost had it three minutes thereafter.

Walker’s reverse pass found Mellis’ late, surging run but the midfielder fell victim to an untimely slip as he struck his effort clear of the crossbar.

And on 84 minutes Crewe had their second.

Ainley, the goalscorer once more, was fed possession via Tommy Lowery before finding the far corner with a powerful finish.

Bishop then lined up an effort towards goal but it lacked the required power, which allowed Garratt to claim.

But there was to be a grandstand finish as the game entered its first of six additional minutes.

The hosts were awarded a corner and subsequently, following a goalmouth scramble, Pearce was able to bundle the ball beyond the goal line to reignite a faint glimmer of hope for the Stags.

Otis Khan was then given the chance to become Mansfield’s hero on Saturday afternoon – however, his header that ultimately bounced wide would not have counted either way as the assistant’s flag had been raised.

The Stags’ final fixture in March takes them to St James Park to face off against Exeter City.

STAGS XI: Smith (GK), Benning (Khan 76’), Preston, Pearce ©, Bishop, Mellis, Sweeney, Walker, Jones (Ajose 46’), Hamilton, Grant (MacDonald 63’).

SUBS NOT USED: Logan (GK), Tomlinson, Turner, A. Smith.

CREWE XI: Garratt (GK), Ng ©, Porter, Jones (Ainley 63’), Bowery (Miller 81’), Nolan, Wintle, Green, Finney (Lowery 81’), Hunt, Taylor-Sinclair.

SUBS NOT USED: Jaaskelainen (GK), Nicholls, Dale, Kirk.

REFEREE: Thomas Bramall.

ASSISTANTS: Isaac Searle & Joe Simpson.

FOURTH OFFICIAL: Stephen Wade.

ATTENDANCE: 4,675 (247 away).

Match Reports

Standings