They say the first goal is the most important in any game, as it can give you the adrenaline to continue pushing further and get the win, and it can make the opposition feel depleted. Today, it was the opposite. On Nottinghamshire Derby day, Notts lost 4-1 at Meadow Lane to Mansfield Town, even after going up early on.
It was quite a different side for the Magpies this afternoon, with the skipper Kyle Cameron and winger Jodi Jones being forced out of the squad due to injuries/ illnesses, and Connell Rawlinson and Sam Austin taking their spots. Another change in the squad was Stone being replaced by Slocombe, who impressed midweek against Derby and clearly got the gaffer thinking who the number 1 should be, Slocombe got the nod and earned his first league start since last season. Nemane also returned to the side, replacing Adebayo-Rowling who started in our 1-1 draw at Barrow. Nigel Clough made two changes from his goalless draw at home against Wimbledon. MacDonald started left-back for the Stags - moving Cargill back to his more natural centre-back role and replacing youngster Lewis Brunt, midfielder Ollie Clarke came in for forward Will Swan - pushing Keillor-Dunn up top, and George Maris into the number 10 role - slotting into the midfield three.
After a poorly attempted minute’s silence, the game kicked off, and almost instantly the Magpies were in the lead. Nemane did well to get past his opposing full-back, and put in a deflected ball which nearly fell nicely to striker Macaulay Langstaff, but Aden Flint got in the way of it, only for it to be set up perfectly for Dan Crowley to fire it home, hitting Flint on the way in. The away end was silenced, and Meadow Lane was rocking.
After going ahead, Notts didn’t seem like their usual selves, and adopted a very negative style of play instead of their free-flowing, attacking football that we are so used to seeing. We rarely looked to go forward, and instead played the ball sideways and backwards, part of it was due to a lack of movement, but it was also down to a strange unwillingness to get the ball forward. Fans were fuming, and the home side were in for a long 90 minutes if they were to continue playing like this, which they did.
On the 24th minute, stand-in skipper John Bostock lost possession out on the left wing to Akins, who played it square to Maris who, in turn, played it square to Reed; slotting it into the bottom right corner from roughly 12 yards out. Once again, the Magpies were playing around with the ball too much in our own third, we got dispossessed and could only blame ourselves. Notts did have a couple of chances to get a second goal in the half, but nothing paid off and the sides went into the break with the scoreline at 1-1.
There were no changes from either side at half-time, and it was a very hectic first 25 minutes of the second half for both sides, unfortunately, however, mainly in our own defensive third. Slocombe made a couple of good saves and punches to clear the ball from danger, but for a couple of minutes of the half, Notts were playing with ten men. Bostock unluckily went off injured, and went to the sidelines to recover and, hopefully, come back onto the pitch. That did not happen, and we had to defend to our greatest ability to ensure that the Stags didn’t capitalize on their one-man advantage - O’Brien eventually replaced Bostock when the ball finally went out. The Magpies could also have gone down to ten men for the rest of the game if the referee took a different view on a tackle done by David McGoldrick, which from an angle looked as if he went into a sliding tackle with his studs up in an out-of-control manner, luckily, he was only given a yellow. Notts continued their eagerness to play defensively when Nemane had a chance to go through on goal and use his magic, which we have seen so many times out on that right wing. This attack was through the middle this time, and he has the opportunity to get past a couple of players, instead, he stopped in his tracks, and the attack was over.
In the 70th minute, the goals started to come thick and fast for the away side. The first goal came from Baily Cargill after he won a free header in the middle of the box from a Keillor-Dunn corner, that was the defender’s first Mansfield Town goal in one of the biggest games he’ll play for them. The third goal came from yet another Davis Keillor-Dunn corner that the Magpies failed to deal with. This time, it fell to Akins whose shot was saved by Slocombe, only for the ball to hit the post and fall straight into the path of the 6ft 4in defender Aden Flint, who rifled it into the roof of the net to put the game, well and truly, in Mansfield’s hands.
The final goal of the day came in the 82nd minute, after two more big chances from the away side, with Keillor-Dunn once again becoming a playmaker for the Stags. He played it into striker Lucas Akins, who was inside the six-yard box, and managed to get to the ball before Brindley and Slocombe and got just enough on it for it to go into the back of the net. Three goals in 12 minutes for Mansfield, and Notts County were completely out of the game. Jim O’Brien had a very big chance late on in the game but failed to turn in recently-subbed-on Adebayo-Rowling’s cross from close range, for what would have just been a consolation goal.
With this result, Notts County’s 100% winning record at home came to an end, whilst Mansfield’s unbeaten record in the league continued as they took the Matt Salmon Trophy back to Field Mill. With Stockport winning 3-1 away from home at Harrogate Town, Notts fell from the top of the table, they now sit second in the league, just 1 position and point above Mansfield, who rose from fifth.