Dwyer on target for Stags, but Hull continue 100% record.
2014/15 Football League Youth Alliance - North East DivisionSaturday 11th October 2014
Hull City 4 (Rodgers 8, Bowen 15, 85, Morton 32)
Mansfield Town 1 (Dwyer 17)
Our youth team were left to rue early defensive errors against an unbeaten Hull City side at Bishop Burton College on Saturday lunchtime and despite dominating possession for large periods of the game, they were made to pay for their lack of attacking bite by a clinical Tigers team.
Going into the game, John Ramshaw's side were perched comfortably in mid-table after a quarter of the season and went into the game buoyed by impressive back-to-back league victories over Lincoln City and York City.
However, Ramshaw was unable to call upon the services of the injured centre-half paring of Jack Koczalski and Corbin Shires, so full-back Tom Slone was brought into the side to make his Football League Youth Alliance debut, whilst goalkeeper Frazer Hampson replaced regular ‘keeper Adam Bishop, who had been called up to travel to Portsmouth with the first team squad.
Mansfield had yet to keep a clean sheet in the league this season and after eight minutes, they knew they would have to wait another week to break that particular record, when Harvey Rodgers leapt the highest from a corner kick and his downward header found the back of Stags' net.
Three minutes later, Anthony Dwyer almost found an equaliser for the Stags, when his powerful, low shot just crept past the Hull keeper's right-hand post.
In almost a carbon copy of their first goal, the Tigers then found themselves 2-0 up on the quarter-hour mark, when Jarrod Bowen headed home from a cross from the right-wing.
A shell-shocked Mansfield side rallied and bounced back two minutes later, when Dwyer was in the right place at the right time to capitalise on a goalkeeping error from eight yards out.
Hull restored their two-goal advantage on 32 minutes, when Dev Morton found himself unmarked on the edge of the penalty area and coolly slotted the ball past Hampson, to end a sweeping attacking move from the hosts.
Hampson had to be at his best four minutes later, when his acrobatic save denied the Tigers a fourth and Ben Hinchliffe a spectacular long-range goal.
Midfielder Louis Danquah replaced Charlie Brownlie at the start of the second half, as Ramshaw sacrificed one of his three centre-backs to try and find a way back into the game and the Stags went on to dominate the majority of play, but continued to struggle to trouble Hull goalie Jonathan Hirst.
Mansfield came closest to finding a second goal on 59 and 67 minutes, firstly with Dwyer's long range effort, which cleared the host's crossbar, followed by Joe Fitzpatrick's sweetly-struck shot, which rebounded off the foot of the post, with the midfielder then unable to find the target with the follow-up.
As the Stags urgently pressed forward in they dying minutes of the game, the hosts began to find extra space on the counter attack and sealed their win with Bowen's second of the game, on 85 minutes.
Next up for the young Stags are Rotherham United at the Worksop Van Hire Stadium on Saturday 18th October (11.00am k/o), as Ramshaw's youngsters look for revenge against the side that beat them on penalties after a 0-0 draw, in the League Cup, back in August.
Team: Hampson, Slone, Green, Brownlie (Danquah [Thomson]), Gibson, Hempshall, Fitzpatrick, Spencer, Fletcher, Dwyer, Blake. Unused Subs: Holmes, Roome, Wilson.
Attendance: 100 (approx).
