Preview: Stags v Exeter

3 March 2022

The Stags are back at home tomorrow night for a Sky Bet League Two clash with promotion rivals Exeter City at One Call Stadium (7.45pm kick-off). Here’s all you need to know…

Please read these special notices, which include COVID-19 safety guidelines, before attending the match at One Call Stadium:

The match is now an all-ticket affair for what is expected to be the largest crowd of the season so far. Ticket sales are close to selling out ahead of the match, which kicks-off at 7.45pm.

In order to maximise the capacity of One Call Stadium, the decision to transfer to all-ticket means that tickets cannot be purchased on the day of the fixture but allows an increased number of tickets to be made available for supporters.

Supporters will be able to collect their tickets on the day, however, purchases need to be completed today.

We have extended the opening hours of the ticket office and supporters will be able to attend and purchase tickets until 8pm this evening.

We invite supporters to join us in a minute’s applause after the 30^th minute in tomorrow evening’s match – marking 30 years of Ukraine independence – as we show our solidarity with Ukraine.

Portland College are holding a bucket collection from 6pm on the evening of the game outside One Call Stadium. Please give generously to the Mansfield-based, specialist college for people with disabilities.
We are pleased to welcome guests from AKA – Health Wealth & Oneness CIC to One Call Stadium for this evening’s match. AKA - founded by our former youth team player Anton Brown - is a non-profit company which looks to make a positive impact in the community whilst making people happier, healthier and unified.

The Stags’ Supporters Association will be selling programmes at their table in Sandy’s Bar & Kitchen from 6.30pm
Proof of a negative test or double vaccination is not required for Tuesday's game
Please do not attend the match if you’re experiencing symptoms of COVID-19
Sanitiser will be available throughout the stadium
All our staff will be wearing masks for their own safety but also the safety of our supporters
We encourage mask wearing whilst not seated
Please respect others by keeping a safe distance especially within toilet areas, queuing and on the concourse
Kiosks will be open, along with Sandy's Bar & Kitchen and the fans' zone bar
Please arrive in plenty of time ahead of kick-off

Stags’ boss Nigel Clough says top scorer Rhys Oates and midfielder George Maris are ‘doubts’ for the home contest against the Grecians.

Centre-backs Oli Hawkins and John-Joe O’Toole will be unavailable as the pair serve the second match of their suspensions.

The Stags are unbeaten in the last 13 league games.

Mansfield sit inside the Sky Bet League Two play-off positions. Victory over fourth place Exeter would see the Stags go above tomorrow evening’s opponents and into the top three, ahead of the weekend’s games.

The Grecians have won four out of their last five league matches.

The last time the two sides faced each other was 23 October 2021.

Exeter won the match 2-1 at St James Park. Oli Hawkins scored for the Stags.

The referee for the match is Ollie Yates. Mr. Yates will be assisted by Conor Brown, Ian Smedley and fourth official, Andrew Hendley.

Please ensure you have read our ‘special notices’ section which provides an update on the fixture being an ‘all-ticket’ affair.

The safety of our fans is always our highest priority. We therefore politely remind all supporters that One Call Stadium is an all-seater ground and standing is not permitted inside the stadium.

Listed below are the club's general match ticket admission prices for home league games in 2021/22.

This includes family tickets, which allow one adult and one child to watch the game from Blocks A and B of the Quarry Lane end.

The prices for purchasing tickets in advance of league games (before matchday) at One Call Stadium are as follows.

Category	Ian Greaves Lower	Ian Greaves Upper	Quarry Lane End
Adults	£23.00	£24.00	£23.00
Seniors (65+)	£20.00	£21.00	£20.00
Young Adults (18-21)	£17.00	£18.00	£17.00
Juniors (7-17)	£14.00	£15.00	£14.00
Under-7	FREE	FREE	FREE
Family Ticket	Not Available	Not Available	£25.00 (QLE home only)

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 download your ticket via email after selecting 'print at home' and scan the barcode on your mobile ticket using the scanners at the turnstiles.

Tickets will be available to collect from the main ticket office from 10am on Friday, but please collect tickets beforehand if possible.

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

Sandy’s Bar & Kitchen will open from 12pm on matchday.

Our Fanzone bar will also be open from 6pm.

Supporters will also be able to purchase the latest edition of our matchday programme The Stag for just £2.50.

The Stags’ Supporters Association will be selling programmes at their table in Sandy’s Bar & Kitchen from 6.30pm

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

Can't make it to the game? This season's programmes are available to purchase online. To browse this season's programmes, click here.

Parking is unfortunately unavailable at One Call Stadium.

All reserved car parking spaces are within the location of the Ian Greaves Stand car park. 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.

Friday's game will be streamed live for both UK and overseas subscribers on iFollow Stags. To purchase your match pass for £10, click here.

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

You can also 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.

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.

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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Match Previews

Match Reports

Report: Stags 2-1 Exeter

4 March 2022

Mansfield Town equalled a club record of ten successive home league victories – first set in 1949 - as they overcame fellow promotion battlers Exeter City 2-1 in a Friday night thriller at One Call Stadium.

Defender Farrend Rawson opened the scoring by poking Mansfield into an early lead on 34 minutes, the defender’s first in Stags’ colours.

Having assisted the Stags’ first, Matty Longstaff scored his second goal in as many games to seal a crucial victory and send Nigel Clough’s men into third position in Sky Bet League Two before the weekend’s other matches.

Mansfield’s first home victory over Exeter in 24 years ends the Grecian’s nine-game unbeaten run in the league.

Manager Nigel Clough named one change to the side won victory away at Bradford in Mansfield’s previous fixture last Saturday.

The Stags’ only change saw forward Jordan Bowery return to the line up in place of midfielder George Maris, who moved to the bench.

The two sides battled for possession from the kick-off and it was the away side who had the first chance inside two minutes.

The Grecians’ striker Kieran Phillips was played in following a one-two with Josh Colley, however, Stags defender Elliott Hewitt recovered heroically to make an important sliding challenge.

Mansfield organised themselves well to shut out their visitors for the following period.

After an evenly contested opening, Mansfield tested Cam Dawson for the first time on 15 minutes as Matty Longstaff’s lively volley was clung on to by the Exeter ‘keeper.

Having produced a fine save in the closing stages of Mansfield’s victory away to Bradford last week, Nathan Bishop again demonstrated his reactions two minutes later. Phillips found space to turn and shoot in front of goal before Stags’ stopper denied him coolly from close-range.

Mansfield soon began to find their rhythm and they threatened Exeter’s goal after 20 minutes through some half-chances. First, Ryan Stirk’s volley inside the box was miscued on 22 minutes, before Jamie Murphy’s guided cross came close to linking up with Longstaff at the back post three minutes later.

The Stags’ high tempo came to fruition in the 34^th minute as Farrend Rawson thumped Mansfield into a first-half lead. Longstaff’s tempting cross into the six-yard box came off the back of Rhys Oates for Rawson to react quickest to tap it over the line.

With their tails up, McLaughlin fronted a Mansfield soon after the restart, which ended when the Irishman whipped the ball narrowly over the crossbar.

Mansfield began the second-half brightly as Rhys Oates provided the Stags’ first effort through a shot from the edge of the box on 50 minutes.

The hosts continued to test the Grecians’ defence shortly before the hour. Quinn’s smash across goal was agonisingly collected by Dawson before a Mansfield man could poke home on 54 minutes.

Then, three minutes later, McLaughlin’s delivery picked out Oates superbly, but the in-form striker’s header was off target.

On 58 minutes, Bishop produced a couple of point-blank stops in quick succession. Josh Coley latched on to a right-sided cross to volley low at the Mansfield goal, but the ‘keeper pulled off a superb reaction save, stood up, and denied Coley again with a second impressive diving save.

Mansfield weren’t intimidated though and they doubled their lead on 67 minutes. A well calculated attack up field was finished off when McLaughlin’s cutback drilled its way to the unmarked Longstaff, who settled himself before blasting the ball past Dawson.

The Stags pushed for a third goal when Oates intercepted the ball on 77 minutes before squaring it to Longstaff who struck narrowly wide.

Two minutes later, Mansfield came close again. Straight off the bench, George Lapslie played a delicate through ball into Bowery who cut the ball back to Oates. The striker controlled the ball on the turn and volleyed it inches wide of the post.

Despite the hosts controlling the later stages well, the Grecians claimed a consolation goal through Matt Jay with less than a minute to go.

Mansfield’s record-equalling victory moves them up to third in the league before other fixtures this weekend and sets up another mouth-watering battle with promotion rivals Tranmere Rovers next Friday at Prenton Park.

STAGS XI: Bishop, Akins, Rawson, Hewitt, McLaughlin, Stirk, Quinn (Wallace 82’) , Bowery, Longstaff (Lapslie 79’) , Murphy, Oates (Perch 90’)

UNUSED SUBS: Stech, Clarke, Maris, Johnson

EXETER XI: Dawson, Caprice, Stubbs, Jay, Collins, Key, Dieng, Phillips (Nombe 62’), Sweeney, Grounds (Sparkes 74’), Coley (Zanzala 79’)

UNUSED SUBS: Brown, Atangana, Taylor, Hartridge

REFEREE: Ollie Yates

ATTENDANCE: 6,702 (392 away)