Bawtry Town 1 v South Elmsall United Services 3 - Doncaster Senior League Premier Division

Left - The Keepmoat Stadium, home of Doncaster Rovers

Right - The players warm up ten minutes before kick off at the
other Keepmoat Stadium, the new home for Bawtry Town

Wednesday 31st August 2011 - at 'Lesser' Keepmoat
Doncaster & District Senior League Premier Division
Bawtry Town (1) 1
J.Green
South Elmsall United Services (2) 3
C.Gaskell, M.McDermott, P.Needham
Admission free, Programme N/A,
Attendance err ... double figures varied throughout game

Further right - Doncaster Rovers Belles training session on the
practice pitch which stands next door to the athletics stadium

After tonight's game, Bawtry Town have lost their opening two fixtures, both at home.

While South Elmsall United Services have won both of their first two matches.
Luck played a massive part in tonight's victory ... and the home side had very little of it.
For the majority of the game it was one way, non stop pressure on the visitors goal, but somehow Bawtry just couldn't make their dominance count.
They knocked the ball around well, attacked in numbers ... and it beggars belief that the South Elmsall side were able to absorb the frequent and unrelenting flood of raids into their box ... but they did.
If this blog had a software attachment for illustrating what amount of time the ball spent in each team's possession, it would show Bawtry Town 80%, South Elmsall United Services 15%, hanging around while the ball is recovered from across the running track, shot put ring, long jump pit, javelin chucking launch pad, pole vault mattress etc. from the four corners of the stadium 5%.
I'm not a fan of watching football in athletics grounds, where the pitch sits in the middle of the track and the dug outs invariably stand on the touchline blocking the best viewing spots, which is a shame ... because in spite of them losing tonight's game, Bawtry look to be quite an entertaining side to watch.A defensive cock up after just 2 minutes, where either Jack Burton or the Bawtry keeper Mick Hancock should have cleared the ball, gave Gaskell the opportunity to prod the ball home ... and he wasn't going to miss from a range of 15 inches.
So Bawtry rolled up their sleeves and got stuck into the task of making amends.
A succession of corners went begging and the main bulk of the play was down the visitors end of the pitch .. but on 26 minutes the ball found South Elmsall's McDermott, 30 yards out from goal, in the right channel, he moved forward unchallenged and placed the ball over Hancock's head to make it two nil.
It wasn't a deft chip, or a precision lob, or even a well weighted half volley that caused the damage, he lumped it .. it went in. 'Ave it!

The South Elmsall defence move like Jagger

Five minutes later, Bawtry took a leaf out of their no frills, no fuss (no finesse?) visitors game plan handbook ... and a big boot up the middle from Mick Hancock, took a single bounce before Jermaine Green whacked it home.
For the rest of the half it was all Bawtry, but much as they tried, the culture club weren't able to punish the Bash Street kids ... though there was a close call when Plug cleared Boy George's bicycle kick off the line. And the two teams retreated to their respective ends of the pitch for a half time pep talk.
I like the Doncaster Senior League, the players don't bleat to the referee about minor off the ball incidents and slightly late tackles ... they wait until he's looking the other way and respond in kind.
Don't misunderstand me here, it's not dirty and the games never look like descending into kicking matches, but a spell of learning the ropes on Edlington rec', on a freezing cold pitch on a February evening (not night, floodlights are a scarce commodity at Donny grass roots level) would soon sharpen the reaction times of a few overpaid superstar footballers and make them appreciate their overpaid standing in life.
So called 'hard men' like Joey Barton would soon get in line if they had to jump four feet in the air to avoid the incoming at 6 o'clock Exocet missile tackle homing in on their over pampered ankles, that would invariably arrive a couple of seconds after playing each and every pass they made during a game.
But like I said, it's not dirty ... it's competitive, it's fair but firm ... it's proper football!
Incidentally, I'm not singling out Edlo' rec' for special attention here, so no offence intended Lee Hayes ;-)

The second half was even more sided than the first ... and the South Elmsall goal led a charmed life for another 45 minutes (plus stoppage time).
But all the air raid sirens, the mortar fire, the relentless shelling, the kitchen sinks and numerous charges of the light brigade, could not breach the visitors last line of defence and blow them out of their bunker.
The punchline was as inevitable a joke as it was a cruel one, at Bawtry's expense ... and on around 80 minutes ... a rare counter attack from South Elmsall United Services saw them go 3-1 ahead through Needham.
It was a travesty
Yet although Bawtry deserved to be in front by virtue of attacking the 'Soldiers' goal throughout the game, just maybe (and only just), somewhere deep in the vaults of football folklore and horror stories (perhaps in that dusty leather bound untitled volume that nobody ever reads, tucked away behind Don Howe's infamous tactical journal 'Defend. Defend. Defend ... And defend some more.'), the visitors actually deserved at least a share of the spoils, for taking a battering and several standing counts, for the entire duration of the second half and most of the first.
"We shall not be moved" indeed.
On any other night, if Bawtry played like this again, they would comfortably win by at least 7 or 8 goals, but it just wasn't to be ... and both teams left the field shaking their heads and wondering how the bloody hell South Elmsall had escaped from the Keepmoat with a three point smash and grab raid.
It is the mark of a good footballing side, when they keep trying to play the right brand of passing, attacking football instead of resorting to the long ball even when they're losing; except, ironically, for the only goal Bawtry scored tonight.
But it is the mark of a side who are going to achieve things, when they don't play particularly well but still manage to come through games undefeated.
There is a long way to go yet ... so hopefully the beautiful game will come out on top over flukey wins in the long run.
Time will tell.

Askern Villa 2 v Louth Town 2 (AET) Louth won on penalties - Baris NCEL Wilkinson Sword Trophy 2nd Round

Tuesday 30th August 2011, at The Welfare Ground
Baris NCEL Wilkinson Sword Trophy 2nd Round
Askern Villa (0) 2
Lee Wilkinson 61, Ashley Towler 72
Louth Town (0) 2
Mark Fairburn 46, Ashley Willoughby 63
Louth won 5-4 on penalties after 6 kicks apiece
Score after 90 minutes 2-2
No further goals were scored in extra time
Admission £4, Programme £1.50, Attendance 33
The last time I visited Askern's ground (2007) there was just a perimeter fence around the pitch and the drive up to the ground from the A19 Doncaster to Selby road, resembled that rough arsed neighbourhood where the Clangers used to live, such was the extent of pot holes and craters one had to circumnavigate.
The club was still called Askern Welfare in those days and they played in the Central Midlands League.
The name change came about when the club won promotion to the NCEL in 2008.
Fast forward to 2011 and 'Villa' have a proper car parking area and a decent driveway ... the old bumpy lane was a sump pump hazard, the new one is a luxury by contrast.
A small covered terrace stands behind the dug outs and a decent sized 'work in progress' stand on the opposite side of the pitch seats 96 spectators, but that total is being increased, while the club continue to make progress with their ground, against all the odds.
To add to the the problems faced by the Manor Way based club when the council decided to withdraw funding for the Welfare Grounds football and cricketing facilities, the club suffered a spate of vandalism that curtailed their ground development plans for a while.
But they're soldiering on and are obviously heading in the right direction.
The first half was goalless ... the effort and application wasn't lacking from either side and there was a flurry of goalmouth action at both ends in what was an open and attacking cup tie.
The visitors goalkeeper Craig Wherry, was decked out in a resplendent bright pink shirt ... "You've got to be good to go out wearing that" I remarked to my sidekick for the night, prophetic words as it turned out.
The second half was barely a minute old when a dipping cross from out on the left caused chaos in the Askern penalty area and Mark Fairburn put the visitors ahead.
There did seem to be a suspicion of offside from where I was watching, but the linesman's flag stayed down ... and he was in a better position to call it than me.
The home side went looking for an equaliser ... and following a sustained spell of pressure around the visitors area, Lee Wilkinson drilled a shot into the back of Wherry's net from 15 yards out.
But two minutes later Andy Willoughby had restored the Louth's lead, firing home from close range after coming out on top of a tussle for the ball on the edge of the box, when it looked more likely that the Villa keeper Steve Hernandez was going to clear the danger .... a proper (Lincolnshire) poacher's goal.
Young Ashley Towler levelled the scores again on 72 minutes with a text book volley from just inside Town's box.
Both sides went at it full pelt to try finishing the game off inside ninety minutes, but two good goalkeepers, a goal line clearance and a stunning missed effort from under the cross bar (name withheld to spare somebody's acute embarrassment), meant the scores were still level at two apiece on 90 minutes.
I was really enjoying this no quarter given game of football and was impressed with both team's desire to give it a go ... even though it was starting to get a bit cold on this Autumn night in South Yorkshire.
Thankfully, the guy in the tea hut had the foresight to hang on to see how things went before shutting up shop and it was time for hot drinks all round before extra time commenced, as the entrepreneurial salesman doubled his takings for the night.
Extra time passed with no further goals but plenty of incident ... and with the teams locked at 2-2 on 120 minutes, plus a few cramp related stoppages, the referee Stephen Mercer blew for full time and a penalty shoot out was going to be required to separate the two sides and determine who went through to the third round.
It's a real shame that either side had to be eliminated after such a great game.
After the fifth spot kick, Louth were 3-2 ahead, after six they still were in front by virtue of a save by the pink shirted Craig Whetty.
But Steve Hernandez saved the next kick and then Askern levelled things up again.
Five kicks each and the score was 4-4 ... the 'instant death' rule came into play.
Louth netted their fifth goal and then Craig Whetty broke Askern's hearts with a fine save and was mobbed by his celebrating team mates.
Our original plan was to call into the Welfare for a drink and some supper at the final whistle, but by now it was after 10.30pm and I need to be up early for work in the morning so I headed home instead.
Hard luck Villa and all the best for the next round Louth.

Footnote:
If you're the idiot who gets drunk and walks home along the 60mph stretch of the A19 between Bentley and Adwick le Street at night, get some bright clothing on and get the feck out of the middle of the road in future ... that was a bloody near miss and a half!!!

Stockport County 0 v Mansfield Town 1 - BSBP

Monday 29th August 2011 - at Edgeley Park
Blue Square Bet Premier
Stockport County (0) 0
Mansfield Town (0) 1 (Luke O'Neill 67)
Admission £16, Programme £3, Attendance 3,571
Officially there were 436 Mansfield supporters in the open 'Railway End' ... meanwhile a fair few who weren't included in that total, headed for the cavernous 'Cheadle End' stand at the opposite end of the ground, because it has a roof ... and some damn fine catering on offer too.
Segregation and getting soaked at football is soooo last year darlings.

Steak pie, mash, peas and gravy

Stockport County:
Glennon, McCann, O'Donnell, Piergianni, Holden, McConville, Nolan, Sheridan (Miles 75), Rowe (Chamberlain 71), Gritton (Chadwick 61), Elliott.
Subs Not Used: Ormson, Halls.
Mansfield Town:
Marriott, O'Neill, Sutton, Futcher, Kendrick, Briscoe, Murray, Howell, Meikle (Worthington 88), Green, Dyer (Connor 80).
Subs Not Used: Redmond, Stevenson, Wood.

The local police decreed that today's game would kick off at noon, to avoid a repeat of a minor skirmish that kicked off after the County v Stags game a couple of seasons ago.
The aim of the Greater Manchester Police, was to prevent people from drinking before the match, which would obviously prevent a repeat of the six aside handbags at ten paces 'battle' that erupted that day.
From personal recollection it was a sustained 'riot', which threatened to disrupt planet earth's tectonic plates whilst bringing the lithosphere crashing down around our ears (I'm being ironic), that must have lasted for almost 25 to 30 seconds before the GMP heavy mob restored order.
Sledge hammers and walnuts if you ask me.
Either way, we were mixing freely in the Prince Albert public house at 9.50AM with Stockport fans, Mansfield fans, a few neutrals here for the early start who were ticking two or three different games off today and a couple of bemused looking locals who were wondering why the pub was open so early on a Monday morning.
So much for bringing forward the kick off time to prevent people from consuming intoxicating beverages.
At £1.70 a pint, I indulged myself several times over .... and then had another couple of pints in the bar in the ground before kick off ... in the 'home fans only' end of Edgeley Park.
The County fans knew we weren't locals, but they knew (and we knew) that we were all there for the same reason ... to have a beer or five and watch a couple of ex league clubs trying to check their fall from grace in recent years.
We got along just fine.
While the local plod teamed up with their Notts counterparts and roamed the streets outside searching for likely looking lads (i.e. easy targets) to pick on.
Big up n' nuff respect to the staff in the Prince Albert, who kept the beer flowing and the waiting time down to a minimum (I don't suppose they're available to help train the slow coaches in the Sandy Pate Bar at Field Mill are they?) ... and to the locals we met up with under the Cheadle End to carry on drinking with ... getting dumped out of the football league not only helps people get some kind of perspective on humility, it helps to keep the peace when one comes in contact with a horde of fellow sufferers and the cheap beer is flowing.
I guess there was a large serving of gallows humour in evidence too.
Of course, the Stockport and Mansfield fans have a common bond, they've both been through the same kind of hell and back, soul crushing trauma, that comes from having had that clown Carlton Palmer managing your team.
Don't even think of telling me you've had a hard life until you've had that kind of psychologically head crushing crisis to deal with.
There are still nights, when my dearly beloved wakes me up from screaming nightmares, needing to reassure me that he's gone now, before checking under the bed with a torch to make sure he's not lurking about.

Admit it guys, you should've come down this end too ;-)

Anyway, where were we? Oh yes ... Stockport County v Mansfield Town on a wet and miserable Bank Holiday ... I heard on the news today that Hurricane Irene has reached such a level of ferocity as it devastates the north east coast of America, it's classification is now being upgraded to that of 'an average day, all year round in Greater Manchester' ... well, I might have done ;-)
It was the home side who started the liveliest and with a noisy crowd behind them, it has to be said, they looked like they were going to take some stopping.
But Mansfield weathered the early pressure and began making in roads into Stockport territory themselves, signalling their intentions on 9 minutes, when Louis Briscoe found Ross Dyer unmarked in front of goal ... but the Stags striker headed wide.
Bit by bit, the Stags picked up the tempo and County began to misplace a few passes and lose their shape.
The visitors needed to be more clinical in front of goal, but the final touch went wanting several times.
Half time came and went and the longer the game remained goalless the more ominous the prospect of Mansfield having to settle for a point, despite being the better side (again) became ... of course, there was always the possibility that Stockport might snatch all three points from one of the sporadic counter attacks they were launching too.
But on 67 minutes, Matt Green and Luke O'Neill exchanged a series of neat passes en route to the County penalty area, before the latter fired the ball across the goal and into the far corner.
His first ever goal for the Stags.
Stockport's late rally was as half arsed as it was half hearted ... and while the Stags deserve credit for withstanding some pressure in the closing stages, the home side were their own worse enemy today, squandering several good chances and surrendering possession cheaply ... and didn't their fans let them know about it!!!
Though County saw a lot of the ball towards the end of the game, Mansfield had done more than enough when it mattered and deserved to be in front ... they hadn't won a game at Edgeley Park since 1993 and had to stay really focussed right at the finish to ensure they picked up all three points this afternoon.
On the balance of play, Stockport possibly had possession for longer spells than the Stags, but they were wasteful in the last third, their manager Deitmar Hamann must've wanted to kick himself in response to the amount of stray balls and uncompleted passes his side played today ... and that was probably his best option ... because if he'd asked any of his forward line to kick him, they would probably have missed on this showing.

Still five minutes to go, but a lot of Stockport fans had seen enough already

So back over the Woodhead Pass we headed like a snaking convoy of unhinged rally drivers, vying with all the holiday traffic for the best overtaking spots ... and got home before 4pm on a match day afternoon.
A six point Bank Holiday weekend for Mansfield, with two clean sheets into the bargain ... whatever else unfolds this season, they're definitely staying up at the rate ... and then some!
I resisted the temptation to head over to Matlock tonight for their 7.45pm kick off, I've had a great weekend, with some really good company ... why on earth would I want to spoil things by driving through that horrible town that has a silly looking church with a bent spire ... Chesterfield here I DON'T come!

Next up: I'm going to watch Villa play.

Mansfield Town v Kettering Town - BSBP

The psychological barrier that's been preventing the Stags from scoring more than one goal per game is finally broken ;-) Rejoice!

Saturday 27th August 2011 - at Field Mill
Blue Square Bet Premier
Mansfield Town (1) 3
Louis Briscoe 11, Matt Green 51, Ross Dyer 64
Kettering Town (0) 0
Admission Season Ticket
(not mine, hope you're having a nice holiday Mick),
Programme £3, Attendance 2,051 (112 from Kettering)

Left click photos to enlarge images

An academic, straight forward and fairly comfortable win for Mansfield this afternoon.
The performance was perhaps not as good as the one against Luton Town in midweek, but with the greatest of respect to Kettering Town ... the opposition were nowhere near as good as the Hatters either.
Not that the Poppies were without their moments mind you ... but Alan Marriott was equal to anything the visitors had to offer today ... and a few defensive lapses coupled with some slapstick finishing in front of goal from the Northants based side must've had their manager Morrell Maison going half crazy with despair, especially after his side's 5-1 capitulation at home to York City in midweek.

Kettering manager Morrell Maison lamented after the game about his
defences propensity to indulge in a spot of break dancing at the most
inappropriate of times ... not that Louis Briscoe minded

Incidentally, that home, is now Nene Park, where the now defunct Rushden & Diamonds used to play.
The Poppies vacated Rockingham Road at the end of last season.
When R&DFC went bust, Kettering made a great gesture by offering fans of the Irthlingborough club who had already paid up front for their 2011-12 season tickets and who subsequently lost their money, free season tickets to watch Kettering Town instead.
Kettering are also offering their own fans a number of admission price incentives in conjunction with their local newspaper ... hopefully their attendances will reflect the effort that has gone in to making the relocation as painless as possible on the pockets of their fan base.
I guess if a club has to vacate it's ground for whatever reason ... and lord knows there has been enough of that sort of upheaval in North Notts this last few years ... then it must be quite handy to have a ready made stadium like Nene Park standing empty just 8 miles up the road.

Kettering kicked off, but pretty soon the Stags had the ball and weren't in the mood to let their opponents have it back for the first ten minutes or so.
A sustained spell of pressure from the home side, culminated in the opening goal on 11 minutes, when Lindon Meikle provided the simplest of chances to open the scoring from close range.

Meikle combining with Ross Dyer, Louis Briscoe and Matt Green caused the visitors all manner of problems today, the latter in particular was on fire today.
Green is on loan from Oxford United until December.
On joining the Stags he said "I will be relentless in my work rate and I am hoping this move will be successful" ... well, you'd expect any new striker to say that wouldn't you?
But bloody hell, get him signed on permanent terms ASAP, if his application these last few games is anything to go by.

"No foul three! I'm watching!"

The Stags failed to build on their lead before half time ... and it was nearly their undoing, yet again, when Phil Ifil's free kick needed a top class save from Alan Marriott to keep his sides slender lead intact, in first half stoppage time.
The home side were in the ascendancy and definitely on top in this game, but Ifil's effort would have set the alarm bells ringing and served as a reminder that the best way to hold onto a single goal lead is to increase it.

On the stroke of half time, fingertip save by Alan
Marriott at full stretch in the Stags goal

Six minutes into the second half, Jean Paul Marna was shown a yellow card when he conceded a free kick for a challenge on Paul Futcher ... and then he laid on the floor with the referee stood over him for ages, before getting up to accept his punishment ... making a rather silly looking spectacle of himself into the bargain.

Ben Futcher 'limps' away while Jean Paul Marna has a long think
about picking on someone his own size in future.

The Kettering number 10's humiliation was compounded, when straight from the free kick, Ross Dyer flicked the ball on to Matt Green, who cleverly left George Taft for dead in the box, before firing the ball under Laurie Walker in the visitors goal, to break the single goal hoodoo and put the Stags firmly in control.On 64 minutes, Louis Bsiscoe played the ball into the path of Matt Green, who beat off the challenges from a couple of Poppies defenders, before putting in a cross for Ross Dyer who gleefully smashed home the third Mansfield goal of the afternoon.

A huddle in a puddle, 3-0 on 65 minutes

On 71 minutes Moses Ashikodi, almost got a goal back for the visitors when his thunderbolt of a shot cannoned back into play off the underside of Alan Marriott's crossbar. Unlike his namesake, this Moses wasn't about to lead his charges out of their plight today and they continued to wander around in a desert of space while, the Stags toyed with them for the remainder of the game.

For the third consecutive game, the Stags left the pitch after 90 (+3) minutes, to the sound of generous applause ringing in their ears. Just maybe some of those present don't think Paul Cox is the next David Holdsworth any more after all. Then again the fickleness gene is rampant amongst all football supporters. And though it's far too early to be talking about how good this Stags side could become and what might happen come the end of April ... if Kettering's Moses couldn't reach the promised land with his team this afternoon, well ... somebody might as well rise to the challenge.

Matt Green, cover star and man of the match.

Though it wasn't an especially good side the Stags beat this afternoon ... step by step, progress is being made. Onwards and upwards, as a former Mansfield Town manager was wont to say ... he was the last one to reach a play off final, by way of a completely unrelated and not tempting fate at all coincidence.Next up - I'm going to Stockport County for a noon kick off on Monday ... followed by a couple non BSBP grounds and teams before next weekend.

Stay tuned pop pickers!

Mansfield Town Under 19s 10 v Blidworth Welfare Under 19s 1 - PSF

Wednesday 24th August 2011 - at Field Mill
Mansfield Town U19 (2) 10
Adam Somes 2, 24, 65, 66, 82
Scott Rogers 55, Joe Flint 57, Danny Barke 85
Lewis Chambers 87, Jack Hawkins 89
Blidworth WelfareU19 (1) 1
Admission £2, Free team sheet, Attendance 192

Dan Westwell photographs Scott Rogers before kick off

A first half that was nowhere near as one sided as the final scoreline suggests ... followed by a second half that definitely was.
Adam Somes fired the home side ahead after just two minutes and things looked ominous for the visitors.
But the Blidworth fans who'd made the short journey into town had something to cheer on 15 minutes when their left back fired home an equaliser from the edge of the box ... an opportunity that was created by Kieran Wells persistence and refusal to give the ball up as a lost cause on the right hand side of the area.
On 24 minutes Somes tussled with the Blidworth keeper on the edge of the area and came away with ball ... and he slotted the Stags 2-1 ahead from 18 yards out.
Mark Hemingway, the Stags U19 manager must be quite some motivator, because his side came out after the break and netted a further eight goals.
On 55 minutes Scott Rogers, who was in goal for the Stags Under 19's the last time I saw him play (and he was making a good job of it too) fired home his sides 3rd goal ... it took a bit of a deflection en route, but his shot was on target, so Scott's claim on the goal was a valid one.
Two minutes later, Joe Flint surged into the box and with the Blidworth defence in his wake stabbed home MTFC U19's fourth goal ... the floodgates were well and truly open.
Wells found himself devoid of any support from his Blidworth team mates in the Stags penalty area, whilst he was surrounded by Stags defenders ... he improvised by created an overhead kick for himself from an unlikely angle and was unlucky that the ball just the wrong side of the right hand post.
On 65 minutes Adam Somes scored again.
On 66 minutes Adam Somes scored yet again.
On 82 minutes Adam Somes scored his fifth and last goal of the night, before being substituted ... his effort from just outside the 6 yard box that made the score 7-1, did look marginally offside to me, but the linesman was in line with it and thought otherwise ... besides, it was hardly going to influence the outcome of the game either way now.
Danny Barke was next on the score sheet, with Blidworth's number 6, Peter Jr. Spencer getting the final touch on the ball as he tried in vain to make a last ditch clearance.
With three minutes remaining Lewis Chambers made space for himself and scored the ninth goal for the Stags from a totally unmarked position.
In stoppage time Jack Hawkins claimed a goal for himself, having been the creator of several of his team mates scoring opportunities, he won the ball outside the right hand side of the box and belted home an unstoppable solo effort.

Amy, the66pow's temp. assistant for the night, she knows all the U19's names

That's nine wins in ten pre season games for the Mansfield Town Academy side after tonight.

Mansfield Town 1 v Luton Town 1 - BSBP

Tuesday 23rd August 2011 - at Field Mill
Blue Square Bet Premier
Mansfield Town (1) 1 (Matt Green 27)
Luton Town (0) 1 (Will Antwi 78)
Admission £15, Programme £3,
Attendance 2,592 (437 from Luton).

A refreshing welcome for the teams

Mansfield Town: Marriott, Kendrick, Riley, Futcher, O'Neill, Meikle, Howell, Murray, Briscoe, Dyer, Green.
Subs Not Used: Redmond, Worthington, Stevenson, Connor, Wood.
Luton Town: Tyler, Osano, Beckwith, Antwi, Asafu-Adjaye (Gleeson 56), Howells, Watkins, Dance, Morgan-Smith, Crow, O'Connor (Walker 61).
Subs Not Used: K Pilkington, Barnes-Homer, Poku.
Their are lies, damn lies and statistics.
A phrase with it's debatable origins attributed to such luminaries as Benjamin Disraeli and Mark Twain ... today it's being utilised as an opening gambit, by a sub literate football supporter on a self indulgent bullshit blog.

The yin and yang of Mansfield Town circa 2011-12:

Mansfield Town are unbeaten in three of their opening four matches.
Mansfield Town haven't won any of their first four games.
Outwith the 'no show' at Gateshead, the Stags have scored first in their other three games.
The Stags haven't built on their single goal advantage in three attempts, nor have they held onto a lead yet.
The goals Mansfield Town have scored thus far have all come from different players, demonstrating they have goalscoring capabilities throughout the team.
Mansfield Town have scored an average of less than one goal a game and need a 20 goal a season striker to do the business ... ex Stags players scored for several other Blue Square Bet Premier sides tonight and Conor Higginson netted (again) for Sheffield FC in an Evo-Stik League fixture.
The goals for and against column shows that the Stags have shipped in twice as many goals as they have scored.
Following the debacle on Tyneside, the Stags manager Paul Cox moved swiftly to plug some obvious weaknesses in defence ... weaknesses that wouldn't have needed addressing in the first place, if two of the players he had brought in pre season hadn't been injured in a by now infamous 'friendly' game ... the circumstances of which are well documented elsewhere and are currently pending legal action.

You've had a great American literary genius, a twice serving British prime minister (who also wrote a couple of trashy novels) and some Taoist philosophy, to keep you on the edge of your seats so far ... but from now on, you're lumbered exclusively with lil' ol me.

So do the positives outweigh the negatives at this early stage of the season for Paul Cox's prototype Stags?
Hell yeah!
Pondering over the above 'stats' at face value and dissecting them, one would probably come to a fairly negative conclusion.
But having seen all four of their games so far this season, I would have to say ... taking everything into account, especially following the high level of performance during the last two games and considering there are still players coming back soon from injuries to strengthen the squad that was decimated on the eve of the new season, who'll provide a whole range of different options ... I'm genuinely optimistic for the rest of the season ahead, not merely cautiously optimistic ... but genuinely.
I've read comments on the internet and heard guys at work telling me what a crap start the Stags have had to the 2011-12 season. But most of that criticism emanates from people who haven't seen the team in action yet, or who at best went to the £2 admission game on the first day of the season - a game incidentally, that Bath City were fortunate to come away from with a point.
It is notable, that while those who were absent have been pouring scorn on performances they haven't even seen for themselves, the spectators who were at the last two Stags matches stood and applauded the team off at the end of both games.
There is no getting away from the fact that the performance away to Gateshead was poor, but Paul Cox took on board what needed doing to avoid a repeat of that dire showing and took immediate remedial action.
In spite of a minority of Mansfield fans already claiming that Cox is another David Holdsworth, I'd say on the evidence I've seen so far, the comparison is way off the mark ... he has my backing.
It's going to take a while to rebuild Mansfield Town, on and off the pitch, but the appointment of Paul Cox is a big step in the right direction ... and quite a bold one given his lack of previous experience at BSBP level.

Paul Cox on duty at Braintree on Saturday

Holdsworth completely baffled me at times, his departure from the club wasn't exactly an unpopular decision amongst the Field Mill faithful, his 'interim' successor was only a stop gap appointment and as such I will spare Duncan Russell the criticism his limitations probably warrant ... but I personally hope Paul Cox will remain at the club and see the job through that he's still in the process of laying the foundations for.
There is far too much clambering for immediacy and overnight fixes in the modern game ... a little bit of good old fashioned patience and steady progress that can be sustained, is what Mansfield Town need right now.

So what of tonight's game?
Fairly even to start with, but as the game progressed Mansfield's dominance increased and though taking a point against a team of Luton's standing must always be regarded as a good thing, the Stags could justifiably feel this was a case of two points lost tonight.
Though the visitors were always likely to pose a threat to the Stags at some point of the game, given the undoubted quality of some of their personnel, the Hatters found the home side hard to handle tonight and will be grateful to have hung on for a draw.
A friend of mine (Hi! Dan) put a load of photographs on Facebook after the game under the heading 'The most one sided 1-1 draw you'll ever see' which just about summed up the night.
Matt Green's opening strike on 27 minutes was an absolute screamer, that left the Luton keeper grasping at thin air ... the Stags number 10 almost doubled his tally for the night when he hit the post a few minutes later.
One of the more lively tussles throughout the game was the one between Green and Dean Beckwith the visitors centre half, which ultimately saw the Stags player booked in the second half, while the Luton number 5 avoided any kind of censure by staying marginally inside the line of what is acceptable within the rules of the game ... at least while the referee Mr Stockbridge was looking! ;-)
Against the run of play, deep into the second half, Luton had a couple of attempts on goal during a four minute spell.
On 74 minutes Jake Howells hit a free kick which Alan Marriott did well to tip over ... and a few minutes later the same play swung another free kick into the box which Will Antwi headed home for an unlikely equaliser.
Last season, the Stags players heads would have dropped and having conceded a sucker punch goal, they would most likely have caved in and got beaten ... but they have more backbone this term and for the last ten minutes put Luton on the rack.
A winning goal wasn't forthcoming, despite chance after chance going begging and the game finished all square.
But despite the disappointment of having seen a win being snatched away from them, the home fans rose to their feet and applauded Cox and his team off the pitch at full time.
Gary Brabin, the visitors manager, said after the game that Mansfield were Luton's bogey team ... and they've definitely had a good run of results against the Bedfordshire side of late. But what he really should of said was "Bloody hell, how did we escape from here with a point tonight!?"
My son is going away to the University near Luton Town's ground at the end of this month, so I guess I'll be heading to Kenilworth Road later in the season once more, even though I'm not very fond of the place.
I was asked earlier tonight if the66pow is becoming exclusively a Mansfield Town blog this season ... it isn't and I'll be popping up all over the place as the season progresses, but at the moment I'm enjoying my rub of Stags games ... it's nice to see they're on the verge of recovery after the downward spiral that seems to have been pulling the club into some undesirable void since they lost a play off final at Cardiff v Huddersfield Town in 2004.
Next up Stags U19 v Blidworth Welfare U19 tomorrow and Stags v Kettering Town on Saturday, I'm not going to White Hart Lane to see Tottenham v Hearts on Thursday as I'd originally planned, it's a big night for my son and that's more important than a game that's likely to be played between two weakened sides following the 0-5 result in the first leg.