Nigel Clough believes Mansfield were denied ‘certain penalty’ in Grimsby draw

Nigel Clough believes play-off chasers Mansfield should have been awarded a “certain penalty” in their League Two draw with mid-table Grimsby.

An opener from Jordan Bowery put the Stags ahead towards the end of the first half but George Lloyd equalised at the start of the second half after Otis Khan saw his penalty saved for the Mariners.

Opportunities to win it were few and far between at either end but Clough insists Mansfield – who moved up to seventh with a point – should have had a spot-kick themselves when Bowery took a tumble in the dying embers.

Clough said: “I thought the performance was good from us.

“We started the game very well and controlled it, especially in the first half, and we got through that first 15 minutes in the second half to do the same.

“I thought we weathered the storm and just couldn’t get that second goal.

“We also thought we had a certain penalty. I thought Jordan got in front of his marker and he was absolutely adamant that it was a penalty – the Grimsby player said it was a penalty who fouled him.

“It was a tale of two penalties. Theirs certainly was, but ours was as well.”

Mansfield went close through former Grimsby defender Elliott Hewitt early on before team-mate Lucas Akins curled wide on the angle with his left foot.

Chances were at a premium but the Stags did manage to take the one that came their way when Bowery prodded beyond Max Crocombe and into the Grimsby net in the 39th minute.

However, Grimsby improved markedly upon the restart and were awarded a penalty when Christy Pym bundled Lloyd down. Pym nearly redeemed himself when he saved Khan’s resulting spot-kick, but Lloyd turned home the rebound.

As the game ticked by, Khan and Lloyd went close to earning Grimsby three points but Mansfield held firm to make it seven matches unbeaten.

Grimsby manager Paul Hurst said: “You always feel a bit better when you’re the team that do better in the second half, but to say I wasn’t happy in the first half would be an understatement.

“We never got going after we asked the players to try things. We made some poor decisions and didn’t do what we wanted.

“I can give the players a little excuse as we have only just worked on things, but the general feeling wasn’t good enough.

“What we can’t excuse is we didn’t compete and win enough first balls. We thought they were dominant in that respect in the first half.

“Credit to the players on that side. We had a few words with them at half-time and, thankfully, we were much better after that.”