Central League
Tuesday 11th February 2020
Omari Sterling-James scored the winner as Mansfield Town edged out Doncaster Rovers in a tightly-fought contest at a windswept Cantley Park.
The Stags’ second-string shaded the first 45 minutes and led at half-time due to Branden Horton’s unfortunate own goal.
Kian Sketchley put through his own net to level things up shortly after the break, but Sterling-James soon found the bottom corner with a curling strike to give Mansfield the victory.
Rovers would have rescued a point in the dying stages had Jack Watson not blazed over from Elliott Walker’s inviting cut-back to him inside the area.
Overall, it was an entertaining and competitive enough game despite the challenging wintry weather conditions; a decent work out for the majority of those involved.
Both line-ups included some senior players with Sterling-James and Hayden White featuring for Mansfield whilst Alex Baptiste and Jason Lokilo appeared for Rovers. The rest of the teams were made up with Under 23s and youth team players.
The Stags had the wind behind them in the first period and had some territorial pressure in the early minutes without creating any real openings to score from.
Instead, it was Horton, operating in a central defensive position for Doncaster, who almost unlocked the door with a string of delightful balls towards Watson further up the field. In one instance, visiting skipper Aiden Walker read the danger well to nullify a potential one-on-one from emerging.
Alistair Smith also received treatment having suffered an early knock but was able to continue for the full duration of proceedings.
Rovers saw off the threat from a couple of set-pieces though they almost came unstuck on 19 minutes when some good football by the Stags resulted in Jason Law finding empty space inside the box to receive a pass, but he couldn't find the target with his shot.
Lokilo, impressive and dangerous on the ball, then showcased his potential at the other end twice in quick succession; firstly with a low shot that flew just wide of the post, before he took responsibility with a free-kick (awarded after a clumsy challenge by Smith) which took a deflection and went wide of the target.
It was a scrappy yet decent affair at this stage; competitive, combative and with some unpredictability about it as the referee definitely wasn't getting all his decisions correct.
Mansfield's Josh Scott could have done better when he dispossessed Baptiste in a dangerous position but instinctively drove a first time shot high and wide of the target, before Rovers created their best opening when some terrific passing link-up play involving Watson and Danny Amos saw the latter play a cute pass through to Will McGowan. He subsequently flashed a dangerous low ball through the six-yard box from the byline but nobody in a red and white shirt had got that far forward to gamble on it and the game remained goalless.
Around the half-hour mark the weather turned from windy to downright wild and a rain shower, also including hailstones, made conditions even more challenging.
It was during this phase that Mansfield took the lead in somewhat fortuitous circumstances as they broke away excellently on the counter-attack following a corner and got the ball high up the pitch on their left-flank. The Rovers defence was stretched and an intended pass inside to Scott, lurking just inside the box, was well-intercepted by Horton - though his touch (potentially an intended back pass) took it past Kian Johnson, who was slightly off his line, and into the net.
It was unfortunate and harsh, especially as Horton had arguably been Rovers' best player up to this point, but it mattered little as Mansfield led 1-0.
Things nearly got worse soon afterwards as the Stags' seized upon some sloppy defending to create problems - with Johnson being called upon to keep out a shot from Law, using his legs, at the expense of a corner which caught the horrible wind and came to nothing.
Doncaster then got back on the front foot in the run-up to half-time with Lokilo in particular causing quite a few problems. He was unlucky not to be awarded a free-kick when he was taken down on the edge of the box but the referee was unconvinced and let play continue.
Less than a minute later (with Elliott Walker also down in need of treatment following a separate challenge), Myron Gibbons went close when he latched onto a ball and opened up his body to shoot though his effort caught a couple of deflections and went wide.
Lokilo curled another attempt narrowly wide as the visitors' defence were caught napping, then the Crystal Palace loanee then turned provider for Watson - delivering a brilliant right-wing cross towards the youth team forward who volleyed over from the far-post position which he had taken up.
The half-time whistle couldn't come soon enough for both Mansfield and the hardy souls on the touchline who were frozen to the bone due to the weather.
However, in the first 10 minutes or so following the re-start, it continued to be one-way traffic as Donny, now playing with the wind in their favour, probed and pressed forward.
AJ Greaves drew a routine save from the visiting goalkeeper and in the next attack Watson went even closer with a quick spin and powerful shot from a tight angle inside the box which cannoned against the upright before it was scrambled away.
An equaliser seemed inevitable at some point with the way things were going and it duly arrived when Lokilo's powerful strike also hit the woodwork but caught a deflection off Sketchley which was enough to divert the ball into the back of the net.
Back on level terms and with around 35 minutes to play, the game was now very much in the balance.
Nevertheless, with momentum in their favour, Doncaster continued to dictate the play in the immediate aftermath of the equaliser. A corner was awarded when Amos saw his long-range, left-foot shot go wide - though confusion reigned before the set-piece was taken as Lokilo had gone down under a challenge in the build-up to that chance.
Eventually, when McGowan was able to take the corner, his teasing and in-swinging ball looked troublesome and was dropped by the 'keeper on his goal-line but then gathered at the second attempt - with nobody able to stick a leg out to convert the loose ball in the split-second it was out of the 'keepers hands.
Gradually, a momentum shift then occurred with the first sign of it being when Sterling-James let fly with a low drive that had to be gathered by Johnson.
Rovers then made a double change on the hour mark with Baptiste being replaced by Under 18s skipper Ben Blythe at centre-back, whilst Lokilo was withdrawn for second-year youth team scholar (and top scorer in the Under 18s) Junior Smith.
Neither player could prevent what happened next, however, as Mansfield applied some pressure and Sterling-James got possession on the edge of a crowded penalty area. The Stags' first-teamer looked up, curled a shot goalwards and with Johnson potentially unsighted by the sheer volume of bodies infront of him, it crept into the bottom-left corner.
It was a tad unfortunate, again, but once more it mattered little as the visitors had regained the advantage which they'd held at the interval.
The animated Mansfield bench were by now barking out instructions to their players every two seconds with shape, structure and discipline appearing to be the things which they craved most as they sought to hold onto three points.
Their sentiments were re-iterated when Smith had a verbal exchange with his own skipper, Aiden Walker, over an instance of sloppy positional play with around a quarter of the game remaining.
From this point onwards, Rovers saw more of the ball, enjoyed territorial pressure, but despite all of this they didn’t create a string of clear-cut openings.
A free-kick was comfortably saved by Maison Campbell, though three minutes later the young ‘keeper was tested much more by Elliott Walker’s cross-cum-shot which caught the wind and seemed goalbound until it was palmed away at the last moment.
Substitute Rieves Boocock then enjoyed a couple of chances in quick succession; heading narrowly over at the culmination of one attack when the Stags’ defence were too busy bothering themselves with questioning the officials as opposed to concentrating on their own jobs.
Rovers didn’t really drive things or absolutely grab the game by the scruff of the neck enough as they should have in the final quarter-hour. Instead, minutes ebbed away with little in terms of goalmouth action.
However, that didn’t prevent a huge chance just two minutes from time when Elliott Walker showed some brilliant skill, having advanced high up the pitch into a dangerous position. Having tied his marker in knots, the youngster got to the byline and played an inviting lay-off towards an unmarked Watson who uncharacteristically blazed his effort high and wide.
It was a let-off; everyone knew it and it was pretty much the last action of a turbulent afternoon, weather-wise, but a decent enough workout for the players involved.
Team: Kian Johnson, Elliott Walker, Danny Amos, Branden Horton, Alex Baptiste (Ben Blythe), Lirak Hasani (Liam Ravenhill), Jack Watson, AJ Greaves, Will McGowan, Jason Lokilo (Junior Smith), Myron Gibbons (Rieves Boocock). Unused Sub: Nathan Dimou.
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