Mansfield 2-3 Bolton

Report: Mansfield Town 2-3 Bolton Wanderers

Substitute Arthur Gnahoua’s last minute thunderbolt completed a sensational comeback for Ian Evatt’s men as they fought back from two goals down with just 18 minutes of the match remaining to pick up a memorable three points.

After a goalless first half, Mansfield probably thought they were home and dry on a very wet pitch when goals from Ollie Clarke and Jamie Reid looked to have set them on course for victory.

But a Declan John goal and an own-goal from Mal Benning appeared to ensure the game would end up all square.

But 17 minutes after replacing Dapo Afolayan, Gnahoua smashed the ball beyond Aidan Stone with a beautiful right-footer from 20 yards out.

The Wanderers manager made two changes from the side that beat Stevenage at the University of Bolton Stadium at the weekend.

Kieran Lee came back into the starting eleven following a spell of self-isolation, in place of George Thomason who was named amongst the substitutes.

Lloyd Isgrove also started in place of Nathan Delfouneso who was on the bench.

Former Wanderers loanee Harry Charsley was issued with a yellow card after just three minutes on the clock after his high tackle on Dapo Afolayan left the winger writhing in agony.

MJ Williams picked out Maddison with a precise pass which sent the winger on his way but Ryan Sweeney outmuscled him as the ball rolled out for a goal kick.

Maddison shot high and wide from the edge of the box after Isgrove picked him out from the other flank when Wanderers had broken into the Mansfield half.

Matt Gilks dived low to keep out a side footer from Jordan Bowery after the frontman was played in by Stephen Quinn.

James Perch was the second Stags player to have his name taken by the referee after a heavy and late challenge on Isgrove.

Wanderers earned a corner when Perch put the ball behind whilst under pressure from Isgrove, who ran on to a beautiful pass from Lee who impressed on his return to the team.

Afolayan hit the inside of the post after some superb build-up play by Wanderers. As the half wore on Wanderers were looking more composed and comfortable in possession.

Bowery rose to George Maris' corner but could only steer his header wide of goal.

No changes were made by either side during the half-time break.

A threatening ball in from the right side by Maddison evaded both sets of players after Wanderers restarted the second half brightly.

At the other end, Bowery’s cross-shot rebounded off Gilks’ right-hand post.

Wanderers made their first change of the evening after 62 minutes when Delfouneso came on for Maddison.

Stags captain Ollie Clarke broke the deadlock after 65 minutes when his powerful strike from distance beat Gilks who inadvertently allowed the ball to slip through his hands.

Adofalyan made way for Arthur Gnahoua as Evatt made his second change of the evening.

The hosts then raced into a two-goal lead when Jamie Reid broke through fired into the bottom corner.

Wanderers almost got themselves back into the game when they broke away with Lee heading John’s cross against the post. Mansfield eventually cleared the ball away from danger.

Evatt’s men got a goal back to set up a nail-biting finish when John’s cross from the far side looped over Aidan Stone and into the back of the net.

The visitors made a double sub with eight minutes to go with George Thomason and Shaun Miller coming on for Lee and Isgrove.

Wanderers were back on terms shortly afterward when John’s cross from the left-hand side was diverted past Stone by Benning.

Charsley’s shot from the edge of the box deflected wide for a corner as Mansfield battled to try and restore their lead.

But it was Wanderers who found the back of the net when substitute Gnahoua beat Stone with a thunderbolt from 20 yards out with a minute of normal time remaining to complete a sensational comeback.


Bolton Wanderers: Gilks, Jones, Williams, Almeida Santos, Doyle, Maddison (Delfouneso 62), Isgrove, (Miller 82) Baptiste, John, Lee (Thomason 82), Afolayan (Gnahoua)

Subs Not Used: Comley, Tutte, Jackson.

Goals: John (79), Benning OG (85), Gnahoua (89).


Mansfield Town: Stone, Perch, Rawson, Sweeney, McLaughlin, Quinn (Benning 83), Maris, Clarke, Charsley, Reid, Bowery

Subs Not Used: Stech, Clarke, Law, O'Driscoll, O'Keeffe, Sinclair.

Goals: Clarke (65), Reid (72).

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Delighted for the 3 points but even allowing for the bog of a pitch there are still some obvious areas in which we need to improve, especially for when we start to come up against the better teams in the league. Gilks had a bad day, not just that goal but also his distribution was poor throughout - maybe Jensen will be making his debut soon? CBs were both superb, and John and Jones were great going forward but let too many crosses get into our box for comfort. Williams and Lee were great (as was Thomason in his cameo) but the major problem was the forwards.
Doyler ran a lot but was isolated, Dapo did OK but was ineffective, Maddison wasted ball after ball and managed only two good passes before he was subbed and Isgrove was Isgrove - hardworking willing runner but not enough impact.

To me, the issue was the inability to create good chances and play as a cohesive unit up front and half the problem was poor passing and crossing. Collectively, they just don't look like a strike force that is on the same page and it's no coincidence that the 3 goals came from a wing back, an OG from a wing back cross and a sub - and it was noticeable that we only had 2 shots on target all night.

If we can get the forwards to click we might have a chance, but today when we got into the final third, they played like complete strangers for the most part. Plenty of room for improvement IMO.

I was ready to switch it off at 2-0   
I don't think many of us thought we were taking three points with 11 minutes left but maybe a stroke of luck for a change will turn us around now.
Side note: if Ian plays another game without a sub goalie - get rid.  Today it was close call on Gilks.

terenceanne wrote:I was ready to switch it off at 2-0   
I don't think many of us thought we were taking three points with 11 minutes left but maybe a stroke of luck for a change will turn us around now.
Side note: if Ian plays another game without a sub goalie - get rid.  Today it was close call on Gilks.

If we’d a goalie on the bench I’d have considered subbing him for his performance, never mind his injury.
Didn’t seem focused yesterday.
As for the win, we were lucky but it was Roy of the Rovers stuff - brilliant.

As others have said we must have a goalie on the bench. The stupidity of Evatt in playing without a substitute nearly came home to bite us last night. If Gilks had gone off the game would have been over.

I don't know if he was shaken up from his fall,  but as Lusty said he seemed rather disconnected last night.

Our forwards always play as though they haven't met before, so it is fortunate that we now  have goals coming from other players. Still 10 points from 4 games is a big improvement, let's hope it continues.

We got quite a lot of luck to be honest but I also thought we looked more like a team than we have for most of the season. I agree the lack of a sub keeper is baffling but I can understand that Evatt was (possibly) thinking how rare a goalie getting subbed is and wanted more options to make a change in midfield or up front. I think he's wrong but I get it if that's his reasoning. Anyway I'm delighted we won and that we're putting together a decent run. I still don't think we're going to the play offs this year but I can now see us actually finishing in the top half. Given what's been happening recently that's a big improvement by itself.

Fwiw I'm wondering if the keep we got on loan is the player that tested positive for Covid?

It would explain Crelin not being named as sub since we signed him I guess - as it is like saying to him, Billy, you aren't going to be our keeper but we'll keep you as sub until we work something out about you going back to Fleetwood and getting games from there - and when we did sort things out going back to him and saying, you aren't going to be our keeper, or even number two and your club didn't want you back but do you mind sitting on the bench just in case...

Perhaps...

Cajunboy wrote:
Our forwards always play as though they haven't met before, so it is fortunate that we now  have goals coming from other players.

I think it can only get better in that department. Doyler has shown he can finish given the opportunity, Maddison has to be a lot better than what he's shown so far, and Dapo just needs to improve his decision making.
And if Evatt is giving them the freedom to wander it's harder to predict the runs to make but that will come with practice and experience.