Mansfield Town’s under-19s were toppled by Rotherham United in the Youth Alliance League at RH Academy on Saturday as the visitors ran out 3-0 winners
Forward McKeal Abdullah was reinstated in the starting lineup following his absence in Stags’ 3-1 midweek victory at Hartlepool United due to injury.
Creative midfielder Bailey Hamilton earned back-to-back starts following an impressive outing in the north east last Tuesday.
And goalkeeper Theo Avery returned in between the sticks, replacing Louie Turner, as Sam Collins looks to prepare some of the first-year scholars for the following campaign.
First-half strikes from forwards Leiwi Abraham and Joel Holvey, combined with a second-half finish from midfielder Jake Champion, secured the points for the visitors.
An electric start to the encounter saw the hosts’ versatile attacker Ronnie Kokkinos set his sights on goal following a sublime ball from Hamilton in midfield but Rotherham’s shot-stopper Bailey Hamilton pushed the ball to safety.
The Millers took an early lead on five minutes following a blunder at the base of midfield and Leiwi Abraham cooly rolled an effort into the bottom corner to break the deadlock.
Sam Collins’ young guns created a plethora of opportunities which lacked a clinical edge in the vital moments.
Abdullah had two golden chances to restore parity on 18 minutes with the first being a cross from left-back Darien Wauchope in which the forward came close to making contact and tapping home, whilst the following effort came courtesy of a perfectly weighted pass by Kokkinos but the chance went begging as Hamilton made the save.
The Millers were provided with a great chance to double their advantage on 22 minutes as defender Cormac Maher’s pass to fellow centre-back Tyler Whyle was cut out by a visiting player who looked almost certain to score but Maher charged back and made an outstanding sliding tackle to smash the ball to safety.
Ten minutes prior to the interval, Stags’ Bailey Hamilton showed tremendous ability to drive from one box to the other before laying the ball to attack-minded midfielder Jakub Kruszynski whose shot on goal required a sharp save from the ‘keeper.
Despite Mansfield having the better of the chances it was Rotherham who found the net two minutes later when attacker Joel Holvey converted to give his side a two goal cushion.
On the stroke of half-time Kruszynski lashed the ball towards goal from inside the area but Hamilton once again made a top stop.
The hosts entered the interval with work to do in the second-half following 45 minutes which lacked composure in front of goal.
Box-to-box midfielder Finn Flanagan was the first player cautioned on 58 minutes when he hauled Abraham back as he looked to flee on the counter.
And only two minutes later the midfielder was withdrawn, with under-16s’ full-back Elliot Hartmann his replacement.
Against the run of play the visitors extended their lead on 62 minutes when a deep cross into the area was met by midfielder Champion who nodded home his side's third of the game.
Following the goal Sam Collins made his second alteration as attacking full-back Louis Bonser replaced Maher.
And on 67 minutes he made his final two substitutions of the game as Abdullah and right-back Taylor Anderson were replaced by attacker Noah Aynsley-Johnson and midfielder Lewis Warnaby, respectively.
One minute after entering the field of play, Aynsley-Johnson came close to pulling a goal back following a well executed delivery from Bonser but the attacker couldn’t get the pivotal touch.
A Mansfield side, which lacked height compared to the opposition, came close to scoring a header on 72 minutes as Whyle crashed an effort towards goal but the ball dropped just wide following a corner.
With the game coming to a close Rotherham almost added a fourth as substitute forward Josh Ayres broke free on the counter but the Stags’ shot-stopper collided with his man outside the area to prevent the chance developing and Avery was then shown a yellow card.
A vibrant outing from Warnaby off the bench ended with his last big involvement to set up Kokkinos on 87 minutes but the attacker’s shot sailed over the bar.
MANSFIELD TOWN: Avery, Anderson (Warnaby 67), Maher (Bonser 62), Whyle, Wauchope, Carter, Flanagan (Hartmann 60), Hamilton, Kruszynski, Kokkinos, Abdullah (Aynsley-Johnson 67)
UNUSED SUB: Turner
SCUNTHORPE UNITED: Hamilton, Shepherd, Seisay, Jenkinson, Mare, Grove, Champion, Abraham, Hatton (Ayres 66), Holvey (Roddis 52), Nisbett (Clark 66)
UNUSED SUB: Ford
