Mansfield’s under-19s were defeated 6-0 at Burton Albion on Friday afternoon.
The game was originally scheduled to kick-off at 1pm at St. George’s Park. However, sub-zero temperatures throughout the week meant that the fixture ultimately got underway at 2.30pm on a pitch adjacent to the Pirelli Stadium, home of Burton Albion.
A few notable changes for the young Stags saw Owen Mason start in goal. Utility man Lewis Warnaby featured at centre-back alongside Ben Whelan whilst usual box-to-box midfielder Finn Flanagan occupied a deeper role in front of the back four due to the absence of Charlie Carter.
Under-16s’ midfielder Ollie Taylor featured off the bench for just under 40 minutes against the Brewers as he looks to continue developing his game.
Burton were handed an inexplicable early penalty when, on 16 minutes, Stags’ ‘keeper Owen Mason collected the ball following a cross and after attempting to distribute the ball to a teammate, the referee pointed to the spot after the keeper was deemed to catch an opposition player in the process of the throw.
The hosts’ number nine Dylan Scott stepped up and converted his penalty into the bottom right-hand corner to break the deadlock.
The amber and blue came close to restoring parity 10 minutes later as centre-back Ben Whelan climbed highest from midfielder Jakub Kruszynski’s free-kick but guided his header wide of Dan Moore’s net.
Brewers’ left-back Che Ranger looked almost certain to double his side's lead on 34 minutes but a superb last-ditch challenge from Mansfield’s right-back Taylor Anderson prevented a dangerous effort on goal.
Burton bagged a second on 39 minutes following a driving run down the left-hand side from winger Charlie Williams, whose driven cross into the box found Scott at the back post to tap in his second of the afternoon.
The Stags looked to inject fresh energy into the game on 53 minutes as under-16s’ midfielder Ollie Taylor replaced creative midfielder Bailey Hamilton.
The hosts’ goalkeeper, Dan Moore, prevented the visitors halving the deficit on 67 minutes after making an outstanding triple save; the first effort from a trialist and the two following shots by McKeal Abdullah.
The Brewers extended their lead on 72 minutes as Scott completed his hat-trick.
On 75 minutes forward Noah Aynsley-Johnson replaced attack-minded midfielder Alfie King for the young Stags.
And just one minute later, Burton added another goal, as midfielder Toby Oakes found the back of Owen Mason’s net.
In the final 10 minutes of the game, Dylan Scott scored his fourth and fifth goal of the game on 80 and 86 minutes, respectively.
It was a day to forget for the under-19s as they aim to bounce back in their first fixture of 2023 away to Harrogate on 07 January.
BURTON ALBION: Moore, Maginness, Ranger, Tamen, Delap, Gilbert, Baker-McKay (Nyahwema 65), Oakes, Scott, Robinson, Williams (Knowles 83)
UNUSED SUBS: Bennett, Ademiluyi, Dudek
MANSFIELD TOWN: Mason, Anderson, Whelan, Warnaby, Wauchope, Flanagan, King (Aynsley-Johnson 75), Kruszynski, Hamilton (Taylor 53), Abdullah, Trialist
UNUSED SUBS: Avery, Colton-Balogun, Whyle
REFEREE: Ryan Dobson
