Accrington problems!

Mansfield Town 2-3 Accrington Stanley

Sky Bet League Two

Saturday 21st December 2013

Depending on who you follow, the dramatic finish to this match was one of either joyous pandemonium and complete ecstasy or total gut-wrenching devastation, despair and dejection.

Working at Mansfield Town, at the time, then for me it was definitely the latter!

Accrington's players celebrate their dramatic win (Photo: James Williamson)

To paint a picture, in the three months leading up to this game, we had slid rapidly down the League Two table and straight into a relegation dogfight courtesy of an alarming 11-game winless streak during which everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. By December, optimism had long since evaporated, confidence was at rock-bottom and the poor results themselves came against a backdrop of off-field problems including Paul Cox and Adam Murray (manager and assistant-manager) falling out with one another and then becoming embroiled in a public spat. It's fair to say that foreboding grey clouds were lingering and Field Mill, with its never-ending daily dose of internal politics, wasn't anyone's 'happy place' during this particular period!

Following a club record-equalling six straight losses which included injury-time defeats to Plymouth - a result which, incidentally, saved John Sheridan from the sack and Fleetwood, plus a throwaway defeat on home soil to Morecambe, a 0-0 draw at Wimbledon in the league game prior to Accrington Stanley's visit to North Nottinghamshire at least arrested the plummeting descent.

With James Beattie's team struggling and actually below us in the league table, surely this would be the occasion when we got back to winning ways and enjoyed some early festive cheer? Surely? Possibly? Maybe? Well, lets just say we lived in desperate hope rather than burning expectation!

Nevertheless, fortunes had to change at some point if we were going to avoid an instant return to the non-league abyss and with injuries and suspensions wreaking havoc with the manager's selection plans, outcast defender John McCombe - not the fastest by any means but still someone with plenty of experience under his belt, surprisingly, found himself back in the starting line-up without having played a single minute in six weeks.

Initially, it appeared as if he'd be the unlikeliest of heroes who'd provide the much-needed 'kick-start' and turning point that our season so badly needed because his close-range rebound finish on 23 minutes put us into a 1-0 lead which was still in place by the half-time interval.

Accrington weren't just going to surrender though and their 'upping of the ante' paid dividends shortly after the re-start when Kal Naismith's looping shot from the edge of the area caught the slightest of deflections and evaded Alan Marriott to end up in the net.

The equaliser acted as a wake up call and a quarter-of-an-hour later it was McCombe who was once again the unlikely scorer when he volleyed home, via the underside of the woodwork, having had his initial effort kept out by future Premier League 'keeper Marcus Bettinelli. The goal sparked celebrations and genuine optimism that (finally!) this would be the much-needed turning point in our season.

The relief was almost tangible following the second goal, but as was 'typical Mansfield' during this traumatic period, there were to be agonising further twists.

With Field Mill now illuminated by the floodlights, minutes felt like hours and as the full-time whistle got nearer and nearer, our defending got deeper and deeper. It wasn't long before Accrington began to throw the proverbial 'kitchen sink' at us which meant anxiety levels intensified as we sought to hold on to such a precious advantage.

Eventually, stoppage-time arrived and five minutes were signalled. Five minutes to hold on to a 2-1 lead and thus alleviate three months worth of frustration, worry, pressure and anxiety!

But it didn't happy because three minutes into injury-time, a looping long-throw wasn't dealt with and the ball dropped to Naismith who drilled a low shot through a crowded penalty area and into the bottom left-hand corner. It was 2-2 and a crushing equaliser to concede. Some of our lads' heads were down, other heads had gone altogether. Some players looked lost and forlorn as if the life had been sucked out of them. Whilst Accy's players sensed blood and wanted to quickly re-start, ours were devastated and just wanted the ground to swallow them up. It was demoralising but, importantly, there were still two minutes or so of injury-time that needed to be played - two minutes now to hold on for a point!

Immediately from the re-start, we couldn't keep possession and with the few hardy souls in the away end willing their team on, hearts were in mouths once again. Surely the worst couldn't happen? Surely not? Surely it would be 2-2? However, the worst nightmares WERE realised as a low ball into the six-yard box from the left wasn't cleared and fell towards an unmarked James Gray who smashed it beyond Marriott to make it 3-2 in dramatic fashion with pretty much no time remaining.

It was utter devastation, dejection and demoralising! After leading for so long, we had nothing!

Euphoria amongst the visiting contingent - including James Beattie (later interviewed for the Mansfield job) who was on the pitch celebrating with his players, contrasted sharply with vicious and nasty scenes amongst our fans who were screaming for Paul Cox to be sacked.

Everything afterwards was a blur but the atmosphere was toxic as the players left the pitch at full-time with some Mansfield players becoming embroiled in verbal spats and skirmishes with angry supporters. Tempers had reached boiling point, the devastation was etched on even the angriest of faces who were gathered near the tunnel area - and the Christmas Party, ironically later that night, had the mood of anything other than a celebration!

A memory which sticks in my mind is seeing John Dempster and George Pilkington (two non-involved first team players that day) in the Main Reception just after I'd been out in the car park to check whether any idiots had thrown bricks through any car windows. Neither of them had seen the late drama because they'd left their seats in the Directors Box during injury-time to get down to the players' tunnel to congratulate the lads on what they anticipated would be a win!

On a personal level, it was undoubtedly the most gut-wrenching finale to a football match which I'd experienced since Arsenal equalised deep into extra-time against Doncaster Rovers (my hometown club) in the Carling Cup Quarter-Finals in 2005.

That cup tie, ironically, was exactly eight years to the day of this dramatic comeback!