MANSFIELD LEFT FRUSTRATED BY EXETER

MANSFIELD TOWN 0 V EXETER CITY 2
LEAGUE 2 AT FIELD MILL-ONE CALL STADIUM
24 NOVEMBER 2015 --- 7.45PM

A frustrating night for the home side after a resilient and determined Exeter City side controlled much of this game despite Mansfield having most of the second half in possession as they tried to come back from a 2-0 half time deficit.
The blog settled for one of its occasional dalliances with league football and Field Mill is always a good visit.  In the bygone days with the main stand roofed from Southwell Racecourse I witnessed many a challenging game in the days of Staurt Boam's leadership often with a sparse crowd of 1,800 or so.  The view from the stand was always good and even with the old wooden seats challenging the comfort levels there was always a commanding view of the surrounding area if things were not so good on the pitch.  Of course The Ian Greaves stand its two tiered replacement offers even better views from near the back of the structure and much of the ground as received a development that brought the ground up to date, although Field Mill always offered a good view from all terraces I felt.  Later on in the evening there was even time to back track further and remembered the old lettered half time scoreboard which graced the Quarry Lane terrace.  Tonight I managed to capture a nice view of the former double set of steps that approached the turnstiles for this away terracing but now give access to the home stand.

ENTRANCE FROM QUARRY LANE

Before the game time was spent in the nearby KFC as the hoards of hungry fans came along it was looking like a nice attendance, somewhat disappointingly for Mansfield who were well positioned in the play off zone before the start of the game it was just 2,435 with a note worthy 140 making the lengthy journey from Exeter.
Ticket purchased earlier along with a commendable programme it was time to make the way to the ground, sadly early on I missed a good photo op when I completely failed to recognise former Tottenham star Steve Perryman who is now Director of Football with The Grecians.
As previously mentioned its always a wow factor feeling as you come down the gangway on the upper tier and survey all around you. 
Having failed to see Mr W of The 66 POW blog apparently he was still consuming pudding[s] at just gone 7.30pm and would be residing in the comfortable seat zone.  Having sent out a match update to a few people it was a pleasant surprise to receive one back from flag man Dave formerly of the Glapwell parish to say he was also in the ground.  Within a few minutes he appeared and as you can see he didn't deny a photo op for the blog. 
Dave is a Burnley fan as regular readers will know and he was here tonight to mainly witness the Mansfield Towns Danish keeper Brian Jensen who had spent 10 years at Turf Moor.

DAVE'S IN THE BLOG AGAIN!

The first half saw two well taken goals from the visitors shock Mansfield Town firstly after 6 minutes Joel Grant fired Lee Holmes cross into the roof of the net.  The second goal 4 minutes before half time was a reversal of the first as Grant turned supplier for Holmes to seep the ball home with confidence from 14 yards out.  Two well taking goals and Mansfield had little in reply as move after move seemed to break down under a double bank of Exeter players sat deep frustrated.
The second half continued much the same way with Mansfield having a lot of possession but doing little with it and Exeter breaking down most of the Stags forays, indeed in the second half Jensen only had two minor saves to make.  The game was spent in the enjoyable company of Dave and three regular Mansfield fans who were full of some excellent banter as they re created Waldorf and Statler of The Muppets....... brilliant its what football is all about.  The night though was poor for Mansfield but they seemed off the pace and lacking confidence at times, but frustration would be the summing up of the encounter from a home supporters point of view.  An interesting match stat summed up the encounter from a neutral point of view just 7 efforts on target in the whole 94 minutes from both sides.

THE IAN GREAVES STAND TOWERS HIGH FROM PORTLAND WAY

Overall the blog always enjoys its irregular journey back into league football and with a £22 ticket price sadly it will remain that way.  One disappointing aspect of that lovely stand though is why the club do not jet wash the stand and the seats which were filthy.
Upon leaving the ground it was interesting to see so few people walking back into town I well remember some big crowds at Field Mill when supporters were enjoying banter about the proceeding 90 minutes with their fellow travellers.
Mansfield manager Adam Murray clearly has had the side well tuned this season with their league position and I guess this was just a bad day at the office but I'm sure he will demand a response at Barnet on Saturday.