Woking 1-2 Mansfield Town

Wednesday 6th March 2013
Blue Square Bet Premier
Kingfield Stadium
Attendance:1179 (away support 140)

ON what later became a turbulent evening, Mansfield Town overcame Woking 2-1 at a wet Kingfield Stadium.

A first half goal from Louis Briscoe, initially disallowed for offside, and a 77th minute header from Luke Jones gave the Stags their 10th win in 11 games.  Bradley Bubb's 69th-minute penalty had brought Woking level.

But there were ugly scenes minutes after the final whistle when the window of Mansfield's dressing room was smashed, by a brick according to initial reports, inflicting a head wound on goalkeeper Alan Marriott.  Manager Paul Cox was then spat at in the face as he and the players rushed to investigate.

Mansfield's players and manager confronted the culprit in the car park, and according to a club statement from Woking, a season ticket holder has been identified and banned.  The incident has also been referred to the police.

Perhaps this is what Paul Weller had in mind when he wrote the 1982 smash hit "Town Called Malice", the lyrics of which are based on his experiences of growing up in the Surrey town.

This match, already re-scheduled twice since the original Conference fixture list was published last summer, should have taken place 24 hours earlier, alongside seven other Blue Square Bet Premier matches.  But two weeks ago Woking had requested that the game be put back a further 24 hours to avoid clashing with live television coverage of Manchester United v Real Madrid.

I hope all those who were so keen to spend their Tuesday evening in front of the TV had a good time watching United crash out of the Champions League.

Woking, last season's Blue Square Bet South champions, started tonight's game 10th in the table, having won eight and drawn one of their last 12.  The Cards, managed by former Dagenham & Redbridge boss Gary Hill, have performed well this season since their promotion last spring.

Just hours before kick-off, Mansfield Town had announced the signing of midfielder Adam Chapman, on loan from Oxford United until the end of the season.  Alongside Adam Murray and Matt Green, Chapman now forms a trio of players from Oxford's promotion-winning squad of 2010 who have since made the move to the Stags.

Two names in the Woking squad immediately caught my eye due to their Boreham Wood connections.  Reserve goalkeeper Elvijs Putnins had two loan spells at Meadow Park last season, and Loick Pires, scorer of two goals against Tonbridge Angels just four days ago, is now on loan to Wood for the rest of the current campaign.

On what turned into a wet Wednesday night in Woking, I spent the pre-match period enjoying a juice and some chat with Stags fans in the snooker club adjacent to the ground.  With segregation in force for this game, away fans were not allowed in the football club's own Cardinals Bar.  It was then that we learned of problems with the electricity supply in the vicinity, with the prospect of the game either being called off completely or play being held up.  That was the first inkling I had that I might be home even later than already planned tonight.  Little did I know what was to come.

With light rain falling at kick-off, many of the travelling support opted to migrate from the uncovered terrace which runs down one side of the ground and climb the steep steps of the Leslie Gosden stand behind the goal, which offers an elevated view of the match, as well as one of the loudest PA systems I have ever heard.  Several who remained on the terrace stood under umbrellas as kick-off approached.

Just minutes before the start, it was confirmed over the tannoy that there were electricity problems in and around the stadium and that the lights could go out at some point.  We were also informed that if this did happen, it would take about 15 minutes to reboot the system, and that we would have some music to enjoy in the meantime.  Great.

Adam Chapman made an impressive start to his Mansfield career, his inswinging corner from the Stags' left being parried by Woking 'keeper Seb Brown in the first minute of the game.  He was later to put the home defence under pressure with his long throw-ins too, and linked up well with Adam Murray in the centre of midfield.

It was amid some confusion that Mansfield went ahead on 34 minutes.  Chapman's long throw on the left had found its way to Louis Briscoe on the far side of the penalty area.  Briscoe curled a shot beautifully beyond Seb Brown and into the bottom corner, but the linesman raised his flag, with two Stags players possibly standing in an offside position.  A lengthy consultation between the two officials followed, before referee Lee Swabey awarded a goal, having adjudged that Matt Green had not got a touch on the ball and that neither he nor Colin Daniel was interfering with play.

As is often the case in non-league football, the half-time interval saw fans of both sides on the move, with several Stags supporters heading back to the open terrace and positioning themselves alongside the penalty area we would be attacking in the second half.  Meanwhile many home fans vacated the covered terrace behind the goal and made their way towards the opposite corner, hoping to see Woking get back on terms.

The home team did draw level from a penalty on 68 minutes, Mr Swabey pointing to the spot after Brett Johnson had tumbled over Colin Daniel's outstretched leg.  Although Alan Marriott got both hands to Bradley Bubb's effort from 12 yards, the ball had sufficient power to find the bottom right corner.

It was the culmination of a "funny five minutes", with both Exodus Geohaghon and Colin Daniel booked in quick succession before the penalty award, and Paul Cox became involved in what looked like a heated exchange with the referee as Stags prepared to restart the game.

When Matt Rhead was introduced as a 76th minute substitute, I immediately recalled how the big striker had helped swing the game in Stags' favour on our last visit to this ground 11 months ago.  Sure enough, it was just a minute later that James Jennings floated in a corner from the Mansfield right, and with Rhead in the middle of a crowd of Woking defenders, Luke Jones rose to head the visitors back in front.

It wasn't the prettiest of games tonight, but this was another job well done by Mansfield Town against a side who have been in good form themselves of late.  After the travelling fans had applauded the players from the pitch, we received a friendly "thank you" and "good night" from the Woking stewards.  Little did we know at that stage that one of the locals was not in such a generous mood.

Thankfully the floodlights had held out for the 90 minutes, but other events beyond my control would still see me arriving home much later than I had anticipated.

I had headed to Woking straight from work today, marching through the streets of London's Square Mile during the evening rush hour, proudly displaying my amber and blue Stags scarf in the melée of sombre-looking City Suits.

I hot-footed it back up to Woking station after the game to find that major signalling problems in south London could leave me struggling to get home at all that night.  A few other southern-based Stags fans were in a similar predicament too, but with a following wind and a rare and unexpected trip on the District Line, I eventually walked through my front door at one o'clock on Thursday morning.  I expect our supporters' coach was pulling into the car park at the One Call Stadium, 123 miles further north, at about the same time.  How I just love travelling across London.

But at least we won.  Was it worth the long day, the late night and not enough hours of sleep to see the Stags extend their fabulous run to 30 points out of 33?  Absolutely.

The window-breaking incident

Woking FC statement

Mansfield Town FC statement