Preview: Stags v Colchester United

2 December 2022

The Stags are at One Call Stadium on Saturday afternoon for a Sky Bet League Two clash with Colchester United (3pm kick-off). Here’s all you need to know…

The One Call Stadium car park will be closed 15 minutes prior to full-time until footfall reaches a safe level to enable supporters to leave the ground on foot.
The club advises supporters to enter the stadium as early as possible, once turnstiles open at 1.30pm.
The gate in between the Ian Greaves Stand and the North Stand will be closed 20 mins prior to full-time until Colchester’s supporters coaches have left the ground. The gate will not be locked pre-match.
Pyrotechnic detection dogs will be on duty at the home and away turnstiles to ensure the safety of fellow supporters.
Samaritans will be outside Sandy’s Bar and Kitchen before and after the game for anyone who wishes to discuss anything that is troubling them, no matter how small or large the issue feels. They will also stage a raffle before the game, which will be drawn at half-time.

Captain Ollie Clarke will be assessed ahead of this weekend’s fixture at One Call Stadium against Colchester United.

Riley Harbottle will also be assessed ahead of Saturday’s visit of the U’s after being replaced last weekend at Sheffield Wednesday due to cramp.

The referee for the game is Ross Joyce. Mr. Joyce will be assisted by David Avent, Matthew Parry and fourth official, Thomas Harty.

Tickets are available to purchase online via stagstickets.co.uk or by calling 01623 482 482 (option 1).

Family tickets – priced at £23 – are now available to purchase online by selecting one adult and one junior in blocks A or B of the Quarry Lane Stand. Once this has been added to the shopping cart, the discount will be automatically applied.

The prices for purchasing tickets inadvance of matchday are as follows:

	Ian Greaves Upper	Ian Greaves Lower	Quarry Lane
Adult	£23	£22	£20
Senior (65+)	£20	£19	£18
Young Adult - 18-21	£18	£17	£16
Early Junior 13-17	£15	£14	£13
Early Junior 07-12	£11	£10	£9
Family (1 adult 1 child)	N/A	N/A	£23
Hospitality - Purchase	£60	N/A	N/A
Hospitality - Upgrade	£40	N/A	N/A

Matchday prices are as follows:

	Ian Greaves Upper	Ian Greaves Lower	Quarry Lane
Adult	£25	£24	£22
Senior (65+)	£22	£21	£20
Young Adult - 18-21	£20	£19	£18
Early Junior 13-17	£16	£15	£14
Early Junior 07-12	£12	£11	£10
Family (1 adult 1 child)	N/A	N/A	£23
Hospitality - Purchase	£60	N/A	N/A
Hospitality - Upgrade	£40	N/A	N/A

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'.

Sandy’s Bar & Kitchen - at the rear of the Ian Greaves Stand - will be open from 12pm. The matchday menu will also be served from 12pm.

Our Fans’ Zone bar - located at the rear of the Ian Greaves Stand - will be open from 12.30pm.

Live streaming of the encounter is available on iFollow Stags, with commentary courtesy of Martin Shaw and Dean Foulkes. Whether you’re in the UK or abroad, you can watch the game live.

Purchase your match pass now for just £10 here.

You can follow the action live via our Twitter match updates, which can be found here.

Alan March will be providing commentary for the visually impaired on Saturday.

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 onmansfieldtown.net and iFollow Stags.

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.

Match Previews

Match Reports

Report: Stags 2-1 Colchester

3 December 2022

Man of the moment Lucas Akins sent One Call Stadium into raptures as his last-gasp goal earned Mansfield a confidence-boosting victory over Colchester United.

The game looked to be heading for a draw, but Akins climbed off the bench in stoppage time and converted Stephen McLaughlin’s left wing cross three minutes into time added on.

The win was far from plain sailing as Alex Newby put the Essex outfit ahead after 10 minutes with a well-taken free-kick before Will Swan rose stupendously later on in the first-half to nod home an equaliser.

But it was Akins’ header which ultimately proved decisive to send almost 6,000 Stags’ fans home happy.

Mansfield were boosted by a return to the lineup for left-back Stephen McLaughlin and frontman Rhys Oates.

Kellan Gordon and Lucas Akins were moved to the subs’ bench following last Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Sheffield Wednesday in the Emirates FA Cup.

Defender John-Joe O’Toole was suspended after accumulating five yellow cards.

Stags had the game’s first opportunity after three minutes when McLaughlin directed a harmless low free-kick into the gloves of Colchester goalkeeper Kieran O’Hara from 30 yards.

Mansfield had a big shout for a penalty waved away two minutes later.
Oates raced clear of the U’s defence to latch on to a superb long ball from stand-in captain Oli Hawkins, and after being seemingly knocked to ground by Colchester defender Tom Dallison, referee Ross Joyce was unmoved.

Colchester – following their first purposeful attack - opened the scoring after ten minutes with a brilliant free-kick.

Stephen Quinn upended Alan Judge 25 yards from the Stags’ goal and Alex Newby stepped up to steer the ball beyond the defensive wall and into the left-hand corner.

Mansfield almost found a leveller when referee Ross Joyce played a good advantage after Hiram Boateng was fouled in midfield.

George Maris showed first-class vision to spot the advancing Rhys Oates who burst beyond the defence to the goalline. But no one in an amber and blue shirt was able to pounce on his pull-back in the six-yard box.

Despite their deficit, Stags were asking the questions and Boateng tried his luck on 25 minutes with a left-footed sizzler which arrowed into the palms of O’Hara.

Hawkins entered the referee’s notebook on 29 minutes for a trip on Luke Hannant.

Mansfield equalised on 34 minutes through a brilliantly worked goal.

Hewitt received the ball on the right-hand touchline and swung a high, hanging cross to the back past where Will Swan rose magnificently to head against the underside of the bar and into the net.

In the closing seconds of the first-half, O’Hara had to be alert to punch clear Maris’ inswinging corner, the first of the encounter.

After an uneventful start to the second-half, Hiram Boateng swung a cross-cum-shot into the gloves of O’Hara on 54 minutes before Hewitt lashed a wild effort high and wide soon after.

Colchester almost caught Stags on the counter surge.

Alex Newby darted forwards from midfield to slide in Daniel Chesters who advanced into the penalty box, only to see his low drive deflected behind for a corner.

At the other end, Oates twisted and turned on the edge of the U’s box before rifling a venomous effort over the bar.

On 67 minutes, Stags’ forward Will Swan was booked for a late challenge on O’Hara inside the visitors’ box.

Mansfield were the only side looking to probe and in the search for a lead, Boateng released Lapslie on the inside flank, but his cross flew into a deserted goal area.

Colchester though were beginning to look a threat late on but with ten minutes of normal time remaining, U’s substitute Emyr Huws got it all wrong when he lashed off target from 20 yards.

Stags made their first change moments later when Quinn was substituted for Ollie Clarke.

On 86 minutes, McLaughlin’s inviting free-kick from the left channel evaded everyone.

Seven minutes of time added on gave brief hope of a late goal .

Swan was replaced by Lucas Akins in the first minute of stoppage time and it proved an astute and game-changing move.

Moments after coming on, Akins struck against the legs of the goalkeeper after being fed by Oates, but he made no mistake soon after.

McLaughlin delivered superbly from the left and Akins nodded home from the edge of the goal area to send the Stags’ fans into raptures.

STAGS: Pym, Hewitt, Hawkins, Harbottle, McLaughlin, Maris, Boateng, Quinn (Clarke 80), Lapslie, Oates, Swan (90+2)

UNUSED SUBS: Flinders, Gordon, Perch, Wallace, Hartigan

COLCHESTER: O'Hara, Tchamadeu, Chambers, Smith, Dallison, Ashley, Judge (Huws 71), Newby (Nouble 90+5), Hannant, Chesters (Tovide 90+5), Appiah (Sears 71)

UNUSED SUBS: Collins, Chilvers, Kazeem

REFEREE: Ross Joyce

ATTENDANCE: 5,918 (163 Colchester fans)