Mansfield Town 1-2 Doncaster Rovers (2004)

Mansfield Town 1-2 Doncaster Rovers
Nationwide Division Three
Saturday 21st February 2004

This was one of the undoubted 'epic' Doncaster Rovers away days in modern times! An absolute classic which had passion, drama, excitement and a golden result which made everyone believe promotion really was going to happen!

Gregg Blundell wheels away in delight after his equaliser (Photo: Dan Westwell).

It was Saturday 21st February 2004 and whilst Britney Spears' new track 'Toxic' was competing alongside 'Take Me To The Clouds Above' (LMC vs U2) and 'Hey Ya' by Outkast in the UK Singles Charts, Rovers were positively perched in second position in Nationwide Division Three (nowadays League Two) and on the hunt for back-to-back promotions.

In opposition were Mansfield Town - two positions and six points worse off in the league table albeit having a game in hand, so it promised to be a crunch 'six-pointer' for both teams.

Rovers' away following had been both vocal and strong in numbers throughout the 2003/04 campaign up to this point and long queues had formed at Rovers' ticket office when the away allocation of around 2,500 went on sale a few weeks earlier. A capacity-crowd was expected and, bizarrely, it included Labour MP John Prescott (famous at the time for punching a protester who'd once thrown an egg at him). He was the 'Guest of Honour' and making a pre-match presentation...

Scuffles in the six-yard box (Photo: Unknown).

Paul Mayfield was doing a splendid job organising buses for away fixtures and at least a dozen of them departed Belle Vue's pot-hole ridden car park just after midday and if ever an omen was needed that it might be a good day, then it came when 'You Get What You Give' by the New Radicals - a one-hit wonder 'pump up' tune which could put anyone in a good mood and make them think positively, played over the radio.

Having arrived in Nottinghamshire just over an hour later, there was already a nasty and poisonous atmosphere swirling around inside Field Mill which just added to the big game tension. One way or another it was going to be a crunch occasion.

Nevertheless, in the build-up to kick-off, Prescott did his best to unite everyone. He was roundly booed, heckled and derided by all four sides of the ground with several 'W****r', 'You Fat B*****d' and 'Eggs' chants aimed in his direction as his smiles turned to scornful looks of disgust.

Blundell celebrates his equaliser, but what is the linesman doing? (Photo: Unknown).

Soon after that side-show came the main event as the teams emerged from the Quarry Lane End tunnel; the stand behind the goal where the bulk of Rovers' fans were located, and the subsequent 90 minutes proved to be a nerve-jangling, tension-fueled, toxic, rip-roaring rollercoaster of a thriller!

Rovers began brightly and spent much of the first 10 minutes pressing, probing and forcing Mansfield to carry out their defensive duties but they came unstuck when Tim Ryan was penalised by referee Graham Salisbury (who wasn't the best!) for handling inside his own box. Responsibility for the resulting spot-kick fell to Stags' talisman Liam Lawrence and he hit a low effort to Andy Warrington's left-hand side; the ball carrying just enough power for it to squirm beyond the Rovers 'keeper's dive and into the net as a few over-eager celebrations turned into quiet, ponderous groans. Mansfield were 1-0 up.

Ricky Ravenhill, who later played for Mansfield, tackles Liam Lawrence (Photo: Unknown).

The Stags fans were soon giving it the 'big one' - directing plenty of 'Dirty Yorkshire B******s' chants and other pleasantries in the direction of the Rovers' contingent, whilst also willing their heroes in amber and blue to get a second goal. Perhaps no surprise was that there were more than a few 'SCAB' retorts back to the less-than-friendly hosts. Tensions on the pitch boiled over on a few occasions as well with 'argy bargy' incidents with pushing and shoving aplenty forcing Mr Salisbury to dish out a handful of yellow cards in order to keep a lid on things.

It was still 1-0 at half-time, when some Rovers fans were chucked out after fracas with stewards, but not long into the second half (on 60 minutes, to be precise) came the release of tension and pure adrenaline-fueled pandemonium which everyone in the away end craved as Gregg Blundell got on the end of a flick on from Michael McIndoe's downfield ball and kept his composure to slot beyond Kevin Pilkington and make it 1-1; whipping his shirt off and sprinting away towards the corner flag in celebration. Rovers' fans were now roaring loudly with approval, belting out 'Rovers Til I Die' and other songs, whilst those in the home ends looked crestfallen, knowing the tide had shifted.

One goal was a definite advance but, seven minutes later, came another moment which sparked unadulterated jubilant joy, explicit euphoria and more pandemonium as Blundell spun niftily to get on the end of JJ Melligan's right-wing cross before slotting home from the edge of the six-yard box.

Paul Green attracts attention (Photo: Unknown).

The noise from the away end was deafening. It was a defining moment in not just the game, but the season and the comeback was completed. It was 2-1. It was incredible. In boxing terms, Mansfield were on the ropes, glumly slumping towards the canvas almost inconsolably whilst Rovers were triumphantly towering tall, feeling proud, and on the verge of taking a very important f**king step towards promotion.

Despite the Stags' best efforts as dusk descended on Field Mill, there were no further goals and the 2,500-strong away following sounded more like 10,000 - willing the team on and singing aloud, before they were able to jubilantly scream with pure delight and triumph when the referee eventually blew for the final whistle.

Having delivered a thunderous knockout punch to a genuine promotion contender on their own patch, there was a now an almost-tangible sense of anticipation amidst the joyful, passionate and adrenaline-filled celebrations that the promotion dream really could become a great big reality.

A montage of photos from this important win in Nottinghamshire.

As Rovers fans trudged out of Field Mill with joyful smiles in the minutes after the game, Mansfield's lunatic fringe (unable to accept defeat gracefully) opted to consolidate their reputation for being a bunch of d*ck heads by hurling bricks, bottles and other objects at any Rovers fan in sight - including those on the travelling supporters buses which had windows smashed. Others were targeted further away from the ground as Nottinghamshire Police struggled to maintain order and even Paul Mayfield, who'd been commentating on the game in the relative safety of the press box, received threats when he made his way out, only to be saved by good friend and all-round good egg, Rob Waite.

Events after this game cost Stags fans in the long-term though because at the end of the 2003/04 season and only days after a similarly sh*t penalty by Liam Lawrence cost Mansfield promotion to League One, Nottinghamshire Police forcibly switched the away end at Field Mill to the North Stand which backs onto a retail park - thus making it easier to safely police even though that stand had traditionally been for 'home fans' for decades previously. The Bishop Street Stand was condemned altogether and still hasn't been seriously developed in the many years since this game.

Despite shenanigans afterwards, the day will always be looked back upon fondly when it comes to discussions about great, fantastic and memorable Doncaster Rovers away days! Nothing might have been decided there and then but everyone present knew what it meant and knew promotion was just going to happen from this game onwards.

And 'You Get What You Give' by the New Radicals never, ever sounded so good!

A couple of other little known-facts about this game is that it was actually Dave Mulligan's debut for Rovers - having signed from Barnsley, whilst Adebayo Akinfenwa was an unused substitute and on the bench for the very first time. He'd been training with the club throughout the week, played in a reserve game at Scunthorpe three days earlier, and had signed a contract until the end of the season.

Team: Andy Warrington, Tim Ryan, Mark Albrighton, Steve Foster, Dave Mulligan, JJ Melligan, Ricky Ravenhill, Paul Green, Michael McIndoe, Greg Blundell (Chris Brown), Leon Fortune-West. Unused Subs: John McGrath, Adebayo Akinfenwa, Barry Richardson, Chris Beech.