Preview: Stags vs Colchester United

31 October 2019

The Stags return to One Call Stadium on Saturday afternoon as they face Colchester United in Sky Bet League Two. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the match…

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Jacob Mellis is back in contention after returning to training this week.

The game will likely come too soon for captain Krystian Pearce and wing-back Hayden White.

Strikers Danny Rose, Craig Davies and Jordan Graham are also expected to miss out.

The U’s could also be missing firepower as top scorer Luke Norris is a doubt due to an injury obtained earlier this week.

Fellow frontman Theo Robinson will not feature due to an ongoing three-match suspension.

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Last time out, goals from Andy Cook and Alex MacDonald provided Stags with a 2-1 victory at Walsall.

Colchester also come into the game off the back of two brilliant results. The first, a 3-1 win against League Two promotion hopefuls Newport County. They then, on Tuesday, defeated Crawley Town to set up a Carabao Cup quarter-final trip to Manchester United.

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The last time the two sides met, in January of this year, Mansfield staged a sensational second-half comeback to win 3-2 as strikes from Nicky Ajose, Tyler Walker and CJ Hamilton cancelled out the U’s’ two-goal lead.

The referee will be Sebastien Stockbridge, assisted by Matthew Bristow and Oliver Bickle.

Mr. Stockbridge last took charge of a Stags fixture in our 3-2 defeat to Leyton Orient in August.

Ticket information for the match is as follows:

A full breakdown of match ticket prices for the 2019-20 season in the Ian Greaves Stand (lower tier) is as follows:

CATEGORY	BEFORE MATCHDAY	ON MATCHDAY
Adult	£22	£24.50
Senior	£18	£20.50
Young adult (18-21)	£16	£18.50
Junior (7-17)	£12	£14.50
6 and under	FREE	FREE

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

CATEGORY	BEFORE MATCHDAY	ON MATCHDAY
Adult	£23	£25.50
Senior	£19	£21.50
Young adult (18-21)	£16	£18.50
Junior (7-17)	£14	£16.50
6 and under	FREE	FREE

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	£24.50
Senior	£9	£18	£20.50
Young adult (18-21)	£8	£16	£18.50
Junior (7-17)	£6	£12	£14.50
6 and under	FREE	FREE	FREE

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 who have purchased tickets via stagstickets.co.uk and selected the 'print at home' option can now use their mobile ticket received via email to access One Call Stadium. Just scan the barcode on your mobile ticket using the scanners at the turnstiles.

All pre-purchased tickets will now be available to collect from the 'Collections Only' window at our ticket office booth on matchdays, starting with Saturday's game.

You can find the booth next to the club shop on Quarry Lane. No tickets can be purchased from this window on matchday, although tickets can be purchased from other windows at the ticket booth.

Disabled supporters should view our disabled supporters' section for revelant matchday ticket information.

Supporters can also purchase tickets on the day of the game. The matchday ticket office will be open for fans to buy tickets from 10am until 3pm. Please note that tickets see an increase of £2.50 on matchday.

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.

The club's new fans' zone will be open this Saturday from 12noon. The fans' zone features bars, food, live music, entertainment and much more!

Supporters housed in the Ian Greaves Stand – upper and lower tiers – can leave the stadium at half-time to access the fans’ zone, but will require a stamp on their hand, given at the turnstiles upon exit from the ground.

The stamp is to indicate whether you are housed in the upper or lower tier upon re-entry to One Call Stadium.

The newly-refurbished Sandy’s Bar & Kitchen will open at 8am, showing the Rugby World Cup Final and serving all-you-can-eat breakfast for just £4.75 until 11.45am.

Following this, the bar will not serve food from its main menu, but a selection of matchday food will be available from 12pm.

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

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 remain open until 11pm after the match.

Supporters will also be able to purchase the latest edition of our new-look matchday programme The Stag - which features an exclusive interview with defender Krystian Pearce - for just £3 prior to Saturday's game.

The Stag can be purchased from the merchandise stand near Sandy’s Bar & Kitchen, our matchday kiosks, or any mobile programme vendor around One Call Stadium.

The Stags Supporters' Association will also be selling their Stags vs Colchester matchday pin badges for just £4 in and around Sandy's Bar & Kitchen before the game.

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 per car. Please note that the car park shuts 30 minutes prior to kick-off due to safety regulations.

The following sites, owned by Mansfield District Council and with easy access to 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 Sandy’s Bar & Kitchen, 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 Sandy’s Bar & Kitchen 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.

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

Away supporters are housed in the North Stand, which can be accessed via Portland Retail Park. Please note: there is no matchday parking at the retail park.

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

The match centre on mansfieldtown.net will also contain Opta-populated updates, and can be accessed here.

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

iFollow Stags subscribers can listen to full-match commentary of the clash - courtesy of Martin Shaw and Dean Foulkes - by logging into iFollow Stags 15 minutes before kick-off.

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 1pm on Saturday.

Follow us across our social media accounts to keep fully updated on all areas of a Stags’ matchday. Click the below links to redirect to the corresponding social media account.

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To add us on Snapchat, search ‘mtfcofficial.’

Match Previews

Match Reports

Report: Stags 2-3 Colchester United

2 November 2019

Ryan Sweeney and Omari Sterling-James’ goals proved to be in vain as Mansfield Town were dealt a 3-2 defeat by Colchester United on Saturday afternoon.

Brandon Comley had the visitors ahead after an outrageous, long-range effort early in the contest before Sweeney’s first of the season restored parity on the stroke of half time.

And while Sterling-James notched as the clock ticked into added time, two goals prior from Courtney Senior and Luke Gambin meant the mountain proved too big to climb for the home side.

John Dempster made only one single enforced change from his side that picked up three points against Walsall as Krystian Pearce, sidelined with a groin injury, was replaced by Matt Preston.

And with only three minutes elapsed the hosts were so nearly ahead.

Kellan Gordon’s pinpoint delivery from the right side met the head of Andy Cook, who was unable to guide his attempt beyond the outstretched palm of Dean Gerken.

However, nothing would prevent the opener that arrived in the eighth minute.

Comley received possession in seemingly harmless territory before taking one look and finding the top corner with a thumping drive.

A shock to the system had to be addressed quickly with Mansfield seeking a route back into the contest.

Andy Cook rolled the ball towards Nicky Maynard but the striker was unable to make a clean connection on his first-time strike.

Ben Stevenson then fired a volley towards goal but Conrad Logan was able to safely gather, alleviating pressure.

Soon after, Senior danced his way through a crowd of amber and blue jerseys before striking into the midriff of the Stags ‘keeper.

Mansfield had a period of sustained possession as the half drew to a close – and they almost made it count, too.

Maynard spun and used two supporting runs as decoys in order to force another smart stop by Gerken.

But just minutes later, on the stroke of the interval, the Stags found themselves an equaliser.

From a corner taken by Mal Benning, Sweeney emerged from a crowd of bodies inside the six-yard area to restore parity.

It was a frenetic opening to the second period, which yielded a spot-kick for the visitors just two minutes in when Kwame Poku was adjudged to have been fouled.

Frank Nouble stood over the ball from 12 yards but was unable to find a way past Logan’s superb diving save to keep the scores level.

And it so nearly paid dividends when Maynard had soon flicked a header wide from a promising position.

Both sides’ latest Sky Bet League Two fixture had an already open feel as the levels were raised even further past the hour mark.

First, Cook was somehow denied by Ryan Jackson from point-blank range before Logan pulled off an extraordinary fingertip save to push Harriott’s effort onto the upright.

The Mansfield shot-stopper, though, could do nothing as Poku fed Senior through the middle.

Colchester’s number seven was able to escape the attentions of Preston before notching a curler inside the near post.

In response, the Stags boss introduced Jacob Mellis and CJ Hamilton in a bid to find a second equaliser.

The former then fed the latter, who was able to drill a low cross into the mix, yet the U’s defence hooked clear.

Although, four minutes from time the visiting side had found the back of the net once more.

Tom Lapslie had his initial effort blocked but watched as Gambin was on hand to knock home the follow up.

And while all hope was momentarily lost, Mansfield were handed a lifeline on the 90 minute mark.

Hamilton produced another good delivery – this time it found substitute Sterling-James who calmly rolled home to set up a grandstand finish at One Call Stadium.

Four minutes of added time remained for the Stags to salvage a point, however, they were unable to find another as Colchester secured the win.

The amber and blue will look to put Saturday’s disappointment behind them next Saturday, when they face Chorley in the Emirates FA Cup First Round.

STAGS XI: Logan (GK), Benning, Preston, Bishop (Mellis 78’), MacDonald (Sterling-James 85’), Khan (Hamilton 78’), Maynard, Shaughnessy, Sweeney, Cook, Gordon.

UNUSED SUBS: Olejnik (GK), Tomlinson, Knowles, Smith.

COLCHESTER XI: Gerken (GK), Jackson, Bramall, Prosser ©, Senior, Comley, Harriott, Eastman, Stevenson (Pell 89’), Nouble, Poku (Lapslie 82’).

UNUSED SUBS: Ross (GK), Sowunmi, Pell, Brown, Clampin.

REFEREE: Sebastien Stockbridge

ASSISTANTS: Matthew Bristow and Oliver Bickle

FOURTH OFFICIAL: Lisa Rashid

ATTENDANCE: 4,125 (212 away)

Match Reports

Standings