3rd tier* League fixture
*Then known as Division Three

Mansfield Town 1     Notts County 1
Hodges 86                                                        McParland 57
 

Attendance:- 5,907
Referee:- N. Midgley (Bolton)
Corners:- Stags 5 Notts 5
Goal attempts on target:- Stags 2 Notts 4
Goal attempts off target:- Stags 2 Notts 5
 

Mansfield Town
Colours:- All yellow with blue side panelling
League Position:- before match 4th/24, after match 6th/24
Manager: Ian Greaves

1.   Brian Cox
2.   Craig McKernon
3.   Tony Kenworthy *
4.   Tony Lowery
5.   George Foster
6.   Simon Coleman
7.   Gordon Owen
8.   Mark Kearney
9.   Dave Hodges
10. Keith Cassells
11. Steve Charles

Sub: Kevin Kent *45
Sub not used: Ian Stringfellow
 

Notts County
Colours:- Black & white striped shirts, Black shorts, Black socks
League Position:- before match 18th/24, after match 19th/24
Manager: John Barnwell

1.   Mick Leonard
2.   Willie McStay
3.   Chris Withe *
4.   David Kevan
5.   Dean Yates
6.   Nicky Law
7.   Gary Mills
8.   Ian McParland
9.   Garry Birtles
10. Geoff Pike
11. Adrian Thorpe

Sub: Wayne Fairclough *85
Sub not used: Gary Lund

Video of the match:- Central TV video'd the match for a report which shows; Mark Kearney's shot for Stags just over / 2nd half; Kevin Kent blasting over the bar / Ian McParland forcing a save out of the Stags keeper from close range / McParland dancing through the defence to open the scoring / A Stags corner floated in and headed wide / Mansfield's equaliser.

Nottingham Evening Post Reports

NOTTS ARE STAGGERED
By David Stapleton

MANSFIELD TOWN kept up their unbeaten League start to the season, but understandably Notts County left Field Mill full of regret. To add to their wastefulness in front of goal, they forfeited an equaliser to David Hodges four minutes away from their first win since that at Blackpool on September 3. Victory, which was deserved especially bearing in mind that they were the away team, would have lifted Notts to halfway in the table before two successive games at Meadow Lane. Yet, home advantage has proved to be of no help to either of the city's clubs in the League so far and it is Mansfield who are upholding Nottinghamshire's football prestige. Summarily dismissed from the Littlewood's Cup, by virtue of County's 5-0 home victory, they took steps to bolster their defence and haven't looked back.

FAILED
So Saturday's latest meeting was destined to be as hard fought as it turned out to be for most of the time, Notts could have lifted some of the tension had Gary Mills made better use of a glorious chance in the first minute. Chris Withe's free-kick to the far post was knocked down into Mills' stride on the edge of the six-yard box, but he failed to get the ball under control and a hastily contrived finish went over the top.

CHANCE
Stags were unlucky when a fierce 20-yard drive by Mark Kearney hit the angle, but the rest of the first half was uneventful. The scrappy exchanges were punctuated by countless free-kicks, with experienced referee Neil Midgley over zealous. Dean Yates, Geoff Pike and Kearney, all booked in the first 45 minutes for fouls, seemed harshly treated, Mansfield played all of the second half without Tony Kenworthy, who has operated with conspicuous success at sweeper in the club's rise to sixth place.

FIRST
Kearney was entrusted with the injured Kenworthy's job, with Hodges moving back into midfield to accommodate Kevin Kent wide on the left. Initially, the re-shuffle had far from an adverse effect and Kent missed a fine chance of putting Mansfield in front when he blazed over from near the penalty spot. But once Ian McParland put Notts ahead in 57 minutes, having been denied moments earlier by goalkeeper Brian Cox in the first of several one-against-one confrontations, the visitors looked the more confident and proficient.

McParland's first League goal was coolly slotted past the advancing Cox and reminiscent of his scoring activities last season. When Craig McKernon's free-kick found Kearney inside the box he allowed a free header to slip wide. Otherwise there was little threat to the Magpies' goal, emphasised by the fact that goalkeeper Mick Leonard had still to deal with his first shot when Hodges levelled in 86 minutes. It was a good piece of individualism by the 18-year-old, taking advantage of imprudent marking on the right hand byline and hitting a fierce close range shot which Leonard could only parry over the line. A minute earlier Notts had withdrawn left back Chris Withe, who had carried on gamely with an ankle injury, and sent on Chris Fairclough.

IMPRESSED
Even then, McParland had opportunities to win the match for Notts. But he was again foiled by the impressive Cox. Hodges, apart from his goal, impressed for Mansfield by his ability to hold the ball up and McKernon had a good match against former Stag Adrian Thorpe. For Notts, Dean Yates was the backbone of a resolute defence, the midfield worked tirelessly and Garry Birtles and McParland shone up front.
 

VERDICT ON THE BIG MATCH
GARRY BIRTLES, Notts County striker: "We came looking for three points, and I think we deserved three. But the season so far is proving to be the opposite of last year, when we were scoring goals by the bucketful. Again, we created plenty of chances, particularly for an away side, but couldn't put a fair proportion away. "

GEOFF PIKE, Notts captain: "We're chastising ourselves a bit for not winning when we ought. But neither did we lose an away local derby, which are always hard games. Performance-wise we created chances and we're in good heart for two successive home games, against Chesterfield on Tuesday and Chester on Sunday, We must do everything to capitalise on the situation. "

MANSFIELD manager Ian Greaves: "When Tony Kenworthy couldn't start the second half it forced us to reorganise. And that cost us the goal, because we got lost at the back for a second”

BRIAN COX, Mansfield goalkeeper: "It was another battle for us, but I was happy with my performance. I had to make a couple of good saves and the one late on from Ian McParland was especially pleasing."

JOHN BARNWELL, Notts manager: "Withe could have justifiably come off when he picked up his injury on Mansfield's byline. But he persevered and that's the player for you. When we decided eventually that he must come off, it unhinged us a bit as luck would have it. Mansfield scored their quick equaliser and nothing against young Fairclough, but a throw-in went over his head. Then Nicky Law marred an otherwise good match by getting too tight on David Hodges, who exploited the situation and went on to score. We did enough to beat Mansfield and victory would have set us up nicely for our two successive home games. But the main thing was that the performance was satisfactory, we created chances and, that being the case, the results will come. Law, irrespective of the marking that enabled Hodges to score, had a good match and he and Dean Yates are continuing to do very well together in the middle of defence. While our midfield weren't terribly constructive they were extremely industrious, and the two front men Garry Birtles and Ian McParland did well. McParland got his first League goal of the season, and now that he and Birtles are off the mark there are heartening signs that we can weigh in with a lot more goals. Most of our chances fell to McParland, but he was in the right places and generally he worked harder than at any previous time this season. Mansfield goalkeeper Brian Cox also deserved some of the credit, notably for a fine save from McParland at the death. Our 'keeper Mick Leonard, by comparison, never had a real save to make."
 

Up the Maggies footnote:
This match was played four days after the League Cup 2nd round home leg with Tottenham Hotspur, Notts had earned that glamour tie through beating Mansfield 5-1 on aggregate in the 1st round only a month earlier - The Magpies had played as well as they had ever done under John Barnwell in the two home legs, but the bookies 3rd Division title favourites had otherwise made a very disappointing start to the season, registering only one win in our opening six League fixtures. There was nothing like the following at Field Mill that Notts had run out to seven months earlier (Stags were 4th going into today's match but the gate suggested there were at least 2,000 fewer Notts fans than there had been at Mansfield for the clash in March). Although County had much the better of this encounter, the result was the same and we all left the ground feeling pretty pissed off having surrendered a winning position in the last 5 minutes. Having not even scored a goal at home in the league, a 4-0 thrashing of Chesterfield three days later (including a fabulous long range goal from Willie McStay) had us all believing that Notts had finally moved into promotion gear, but sadly it proved to be a false dawn and Notts wouldn't win another home game until after Christmas!
 

Notts County Season 1988/89
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