Nigel Clough: Point good in circumstances but 10-man Stags deserved all three

Posted Sunday, August 06, 2023 by PA

Nigel Clough was pleased with Mansfield’s reaction to being reduced to 10 men in their 2-2 draw at Crewe and felt his side deserved to come away with a victory.

Defender Calum MacDonald received what Clough thought was a “very harsh” straight red card for a challenge on Chris Long just before the hour mark, which halted the Stags in their stride after they commanded a two-goal lead in the first half at Gresty Road.

Davis Keillor-Dunn punished Crewe twice inside three minutes, but Mickey Demetriou hit back for the home side and Rio Adebisi levelled from the free-kick which resulted from the sending off.

Clough said: “It was a good point in the circumstances when you’re facing 35 minutes and more with 10 men, but over the course of the whole game we should have had the three points.

“I didn’t think we had to defend that much and after the equaliser I don’t think Christy Pym had a shot to save. We were good going forward and I was pleased with our shape when we went down to 10 men.

“We were positive and we tried to be entertaining. We got two goals and we should have got more. Keillor-Dunn had a great chance to make it 3-0 in the first half, which would have probably sealed the game then. But we gave away a needless corner and then within minutes of hitting the post we get what I thought was a very harsh red card.

“For the red card, both Calum and their player looked to be high and it’s a yellow card in my view.”

Keillor-Dunn despatched two fine strikes to put Mansfield in the driving seat, firing past keeper Harvey Davies from the edge of the box in the 22nd minute, then turning neatly to tuck a low finish from inside the box soon after.

Crewe grappled their way back into contention with a close-range finish from veteran defender Demetriou at a corner following the half-hour mark.

Keillor-Dunn wasted a good chance to claim a hat-trick when he skewed an effort onto the post and then, down to 10 men, the visitors found themselves pegged back by Adebisi’s header from Jack Powell’s cross.

Crewe boss Lee Bell said: “I was pleased we scored from two set-plays as our percentage from them last season was really low. We’ve got to get better there and we had good delivery into the box; Rio (Adebisi) has a knack for that, he’s good in the air.

“We were under a lot of pressure early on but we turned that around and Chris Long hit the bar. It was probably too exciting – at one stage it could have been 7-5 to them. But it was perhaps a bit of a missed opportunity after coming back from 2-0 down to level.”

Bell believes the new added-on time directive needs careful examination as he feels it will take its toll on players.

After more than 17 extra minutes were added on by referee Ben Atkinson, Bell said: “In some case you could be asking the players to continue for another half an hour. It doesn’t feel like football – you can’t manage the games as you don’t how much time is left.

“The players could break under this and I hope the officials will see some sense.”