Mansfield Town deserve to win.

With storm Goretti and the cold snap that followed, having left snow and ice, the Non-League games in my area were mostly postponed. Looking for an alternative I was lucky to find the FA Cup third round match between Sheffield United and Mansfield Town. The added bonus was that all prices were drastically reduced to encourage a crowd on a cold mid Sunday afternoon with other games competing on TV. Most people would also have presumed that it was a non attractive fixture with Mansfield sitting in mid table in a division below United. With a lot of games to pay for in the 24 team Championship, and this game not part of those who had already paid for a season ticket, the reduction was a great idea. back at the start of the season I had watched Sheffield FC play in the early extra preliminary round.

It was a miserable wet, drizzly, afternoon driving into Sheffield, and I was lucky to find an on road parking space, in the slush, near Heeley City Farm. The drizzle and the warming temperature of 3.5 degrees were quickly clearing what was left of the snow and ice.

I have been to Bramall Lane a few times before but never written about Sheffield United on my blog. This stadium started life as a cricket ground circa 1850 and is reputed to be the venue of the first ever competitive football match in 1862 between Sheffield FC and Hallam. It is a great stadium fully seated and covered with a very flat grass pitch that was showing some wear in some areas.

United were formed in 1889 as a branch of the cricket club. Originally playing in the Midland Counties League they were elected to the football league second division in 1892. They managed to win the first level of English football as champions i 1897. They have mainly played in the top two leagues but have gone lower. Sheffield United have won the FA Cup on four occasions the last being over100 years ago in 1925.

Mansfield Town have never made it to the top league in England having been formed way back in 1897. Their Field Mill ground like Sheffield United’s was in use as early as 1861 and maybe even earlier.

Sheffield United 3 Mansfield Town 4

Sunday 11th January 2025, 14.30 kick off The Blades v The Stags

16th in the Championship v 12th in League One

Sheffield United; Red and White vertical striped shirts with black shorts, goalkeeper in all black.

Mansfield Town; Yellow shirts with some very thin blue vertical stripes with blue shorts, goalkeeper in all green.

The first 9 minutes were all Sheffield united but it was Mansfield who had the best chances when two shots were tipped over the bar by the home keeper. On 12 minutes Mansfield were ahead when a corner was headed out by United’s defence straight to ex Sheffield player Lewis Reed who hit it straight back, and the ball looped over everyone into the back of the net. But the Blades hit back quickly when with 19 minutes gone Gustavo Hamer received the ball on the edge of the goal area, he turned, made space and curled a beautiful shot into the top left hand corner of the goal.

The rest of the first half was a hotly contested game although Mansfield, the underdogs, regained the lead with minutes to go to the break. In a copy of their first goal, a defensive header out from a corner found Louis Reed again and his shot flew into the back of the net taking two deflections to get there.

The United fans around me discussed how it couldn’t get worse in the second half, yet it did, when five minutes after the interval after some scrapy play, Oates ran down half the pitch and sent in a perfect cross for Akins to slam the ball home. It was worse for United, only seven minutes later when Town made it four through Oates receiving a through ball on the left which he controlled and drove towards goal squeezing the ball between the keeper and the nearside upright.

Mansfield were in heaven, however the introduction of Patrick Bamford, newly signed from Leeds, brought some guile to Sheffield’s attack and he scored with 29 minutes left to play when he stretched out his leg to score after the ball was not cleared from a corner. There was more drama when under five minutes later Moriah-Welsh rifled the ball into his own net trying to clear a cross from the right.

You now expected an equaliser but Mansfield held on and even had two chances. When the whistle blew their near 5000 fans were joyous with the United fans streaming out quickly. This was a great win for the team one league below and for their Manager, Nigel Clough, who has been in charge for over 5 years, a long time in todays game.

No Chips but a very large sausage roll with very little pastry. It was tasty but had no hint of Hendersons Relish which it was advertised to have.

Lincoln Moorlands Railway just hold on.

After the day before, battling across the Midlands in the torrential rain of storm Claudia, I expected that the game I wanted to see would be postponed. However a call to the clubhouse, and a ring back by a cheerful lady, confirmed it was on.

There was some water lying in a few fields, and the river Trent looked high passing over the Toll Bridge at Dunham but there was little evidence of the storm that had caused flooding in some parts of Wales and the West.

The traffic in Lincoln was heavy, Lincoln City were at home to local rivals Doncaster, early Christmas shoppers, and perhaps people catching up on postponed shopping from the previous day.

I was dropped off at Lincoln Moorlands Railway FC in the south east of the City on a grey, overcast, light drizzly, cold (9 degrees) day. In fact I decided that winter had finally arrived.

Lincoln Moorlands Railway are the third team in Lincoln behind Lincoln City (English Football League, Division One) and Lincoln United (Northern Premier League, East Division). Crazily all three were at home on the same day. Perhaps the junior teams, in status, could play when Lincoln City were away to try to attract some of their fans who don’t want to travel.

The ground is reached by driving down a narrow drive between houses on a main way into the City. It opens up to a good car park and sports facilities that have a Sports and Social Club as its centre. Immediately through the gate you are met by the snack bar and beyond a large fenced in area for the main football pitch which is of grass and majorly flat.

There are floodlights, railings around the ground, two small covered seating areas on opposite sides of the ground, hard standing around the perimeter, toilets and changing rooms. This ground could be soon readied for a higher level of football rather than the eleventh tier match I had come to watch.

Lincoln Moorlands Railway FC started life in 2007 with the merger of Lincoln Moorlands FC and Lincoln Railway FC both of whom were in the Northern Counties League and the new club were placed in the Premier Division. After some near misses from relegation they went down to Division One in 2014 after being defeated in all but one of their games. Their misfortune continued with on and off field problems forcing a further demotion to the Lincolnshire League. A quick turnaround in fortunes enabled a move to the Central Midlands League but league reorganisations saw them back in the Lincolnshire League in 2018 where they still compete.

Sleaford Town FC by comparison have a history going back 100 years and like their opponents have featured in many Lincolnshire League campaigns. The first team now play in the United Counties League, Division One but it is their Development team that was playing.

Lincoln Moorlands Railway FC 4 Sleaford Town Development 3

Saturday 15th November 2025, 14.00 pm kick off

Lincoln Moorlands Railway AFC, Newark Road, Lincoln, LN6 8RT

7th v 14th (last with no points).

LMR FC; Claret Shirts with light blue collars and stripe down the sides, claret shorts, goalkeeper in all purple.

Sleaford; Green shirts, black shorts, goalkeeper in all grey.

The home team dominated early play but it was Sleaford who had the clearest shot on goal. Their domination plaid of when on 21 minutes, after some neat passing play on the right the ball was threaded through to Liam Bentley who turned one way and another before scoring the opening goal. Only two minutes later it was two nil after a penalty was awarded when an attacker bearing down on goal from the left was bundled over. Jon Smith made no mistake from the spot kick when he placed it past the right hand of the goal keeper.

Sleaford hit back almost immediately when Alexander Milczak hit a shot from outside the keepers area that took a deflection off the back of a defender and flashed into the top right hand corner of the goal. Moorlands lead was increased on 27 minutes by Jon Smith again, who headed in unopposed after a pin point cross from the right.

George Asplin, who was running everything in midfield added a fourth when he expertly curled a freekick from 20 yards over the defenders into the bottom left of the net.

Sleaford did counter but Lincoln should have scored more, hitting the crossbar twice before half time.

The teams left the field with the home team wellon top and looking like they would add many moor against the bottom of the table team. At the start of the second half you could hear the noise from the Lincoln City game and after a few minutes the floodlights were needed to be able to see through the gloom.

The expected gloom of the away team did not materialise, what did they have at half time?

They really started battling for everything and started to play the ball wide, particularly on the left, they matched and out fought the home team and were rightfully rewarded on 72 minutes when Andrew Whalen raced in to meet one of the many crosses to head the ball into the net.

Morlands looked shell shocked and could not deal with the continued domination and pressure from Sleaford conceding another goal with 5 minutes left when Andrew Wharton squeezed the ball over the line after again some strong play on the left.

Everything was now being played in the home sides half and the few supporters there were anxious that a draw was inevitable. They were relieved when they held out, but what would the result have been if Sleaford had played the whole game the way they played in the second half. Surely they will soon gain their first point of the season.

The referee and officials had a very good game that flowed and needed little added time to each half.

No chips here, however I had a mini sausage roll and a coffee which was very tasty.

Little Christmas Cheer at Mansfield

I decided on a short trip for football to Mansfield on this busy travel weekend before the festive season. There was also an interesting local Derby between Mansfield and Rotherham and on this usually lean day for football crowds, with shopping being a priority in many families, a good crowd could be expected. It would also be the return of Steve Evans ‘the Marmite character’ to a club he left mid season and not on the home fans Christmas card list. Steve Evans had a football career in Scotland and then fell into management of Non-League and lower English clubs and usually creates a buzz and some excitement on and off the field where ever he has gone. My last brush with him was when he plotted knocking Aston Villa out of the F.A. cup when at Stevenage.

The traffic was bumper to bumper in Mansfield , especially around the ground, which is ringed by ‘Retail Sheds’. I couldn’t believe my luck at parking on the road, only a short walk to the match. My ticket was in the Rotherham end having not been able to get a ticket from Mansfield. A large contingent of the away fans had arrived by coach and on queuing up saw six ‘Father Christmases’ joining. For some reason the stewards were asking everyone to remove their hats to check if anything was concealed but no strip search? For some reason they did not ask me! To my great surprise the food stand was offering chips, some thing that has not been on the menu at the home main stand on previous visits, more of that later. It was also noticeable that this three sided ground had a fourth side as the Bishop Street side has been relieved of its hoardings and remedial work is going on to find a solution to making this a safe seating or standing area to increase capacity. This side of the ground has not been in use for nearly 20years and with crowds nearing capacity for popular games good income is being missed.

It was a grey dry day but with some strong gusty winds that sent darker clouds scurrying across the sky. The grass pitch looked immaculate and was watered heavily before the kick off.

Mansfield Town F.C. 1 Rotherham United 0

Saturday 21st December 2024, English Football League Division One, Kick off 15.00 pm

Field Mill Ground, Quarry Lane, Mansfield. NG18 5DA

Stags v Millers, 11th v 17th

Rotherham started the match with the greater possession but the swirling wind meant that their high balls were difficult to control. Their fans were the most noisy and were enjoying a holiday atmosphere. However as often is the case out of a rare Mansfield attack poor clearances meant the ball fell behind their defence for Deji Oshilaja to run through on his own and plant the ball in the net to the keepers right.

The Rotherham fans silenced and the Mansfield ones more vociferous to the point that Steve Evans complained afterwards about the vitriolic verbal treatment he received.

There is not much more I can say about the rest of the game. The wind totally spoilt it, but my mind drifted back to Hallam’s FA Vase win, when the part timers, in similar windy conditions, hit three goals in the second half by playing football along the ground.

The Rotherham fans turned on their own teams lack of attacks and mistakes.

Mansfield’s win meant that they went up one position in the League and Rotherham dropped down one after their recent form revival. Certainly no Christmas cheer here and perhaps the shops had the better offer for the 8401 who had made the effort.

The chips were a good quantity, crispy, hot, but greasy, and as I eat more the greasiness seemed to overwhelm the taste, to a point where I stopped half way through. A poor score of 58.