Mansfield Town 1 Darlington 1

DESPITE a dramatic late equaliser in the seventh minute of stoppage time, Darlington boss Mark Cooper was far from pleased with his side’s overall performance in the draw with Mansfield.

Earlier in the week, Cooper had issued his players with a strong warning that unless they began to show the desire to play for the club they would be shipped out.

If the first half had been anything to go by, there would be no players left at The Northern Echo Arena this morning.

When the half-time whistle blew, Cooper marched over to the tunnel looking like he was about to explode and after watching his side resort to hoofing long balls forward whenever they got possession, it was clear the riot act would be read.

Whatever was said clearly gave the Darlington players the kick up the backside they needed as a much-improved second half was rewarded when Tommy Wright popped up to bag an equaliser deep into injury-time.

Cooper was pleased with his side’s second half performance, but questioned why it couldn’t be replicated for the whole 90 minutes.

“I thought we played really well in the second half, but in the first half we were atrocious,’’ he said.

“We were too deep. Everything we had worked on over the last two days, they went out and did the exact opposite.

“We changed it around at half-time and I thought we did ever so well and probably deserved to score more than one.

“We got up the pitch and didn’t give them any room to play. Once the back four squeezed up, the midfield could get tighter and support the front boys. Then we got it wide, which is what we want.

“The trick now is to get two halves the same. That’s the key, but it’s frustrating when you’ve got some experienced players and you wonder why they can’t play two halves the same.

“If we can get 70 or 80 minutes like we played in the second half, then we won’t be far off.’’ From the start the home side settled into a nice rhythm, playing some attractive pass-and-move football and it wasn’t long before the Stags deservedly took the lead.

Barely eight minutes had passed when the impressive Louis Briscoe collected ball midway in the visitors’ half and played a low ball to Ashley Cain on the left wing.

He whipped the ball into the area and found striker Paul Connor, who rose above everyone else to head the ball past Sam Russell from just outside the six-yard box.

At that moment it seemed Mansfield could go on to score four or five.

Briscoe, who gave Ian Miller a torrid time down the left, surged in from the flank and struck a fierce right-footed shot from 20-yards, which sailed just wide.

The Quakers were well and truly under the cosh, with Briscoe and Cain enjoying more chances to put the home side further ahead.

The closest Cooper’s men came to scoring in the first half was when Aaron Brown whipped in a left-footed freekick from the right channel and defender Daniel Hone headed just wide, although he was then ruled offside.

Half-time came and Darlington were extremely lucky to go in just one down.

As soon as the second half got underway, it was clear Cooper’s men were more motivated.

Kevin Austin made way for Josh Gray in a tactical switch and immediately the substitute won a corner on the left.

New singing Marc Bridge- Wilkinson stepped up and swung the ball in, but Miller’s shot was blocked, followed by a header which was also deflected away.

Gray then crossed in from the left and the oncoming Wright looked odds on to fire the ball into the back of the net, but the striker slipped and scuffed the ball high and wide.

The resurgence from the away side frustrated the Stags, who seemingly committed the cardinal sin of sitting back on a one-goal lead and as the second half progressed, it looked ever more likely they would pay for earlier missed chances.

That did happen when the fourth official indicated seven minutes of injury-time.

In the dying seconds of it, substitute Chris Senior crossed the ball in from the left and found Wright in the exact position he had missed from earlier.

This time the forward made no mistake and after planting the ball past the keeper, he raced off to celebrate with the travelling Quakers fans.

Match facts

Goals:

1-0: Connor (9min, headed in from Ashley Cain’s cross from the left.) 1-1: Wright (90, cool finish after good work from Senior down the left.)

Bookings: Waite (6, foul), Bridge-Wilkinson (21, foul), Connor (29, foul), Day (70, foul), Wright (75, foul)

Referee: Peter Wright (Southport): Inconsistent with his decisions, especially in first half, although he let the game run much better in second half 5

Attendence: 2,234

Entertainment: ✰✰

MANSFIELD TOWN (4-3-3): Aksalu 5, Silk 5, Foster 6, Day 6, Stonehouse 5, Nix 6 (Istead 90), Thompson 7, Murray 6, BRISCOE 8, Connor 7 (Parker 90), Cain 6 (Medley 64, 4). Subs (not used): Collett, Grand.

DARLINGTON (4-4-2)

6

Russell: Made some good saves to stop the home side increasing their lead;

4 Miller: Struggled to cope with the pace and skill of Briscoe down the left

6 HATCH: The stand-in centre back led by example and did exceptionally well to deal with Connor

5 Hone: Had two very good chances but sometimes seemed out of his depth at the back

4 Austin: Sacrificed at halftime for tactical reasons.

Anonymous in first half;

5 Moore: Fairly good comeback and wasn’t afraid to have a go down the flank

4 Waite: Found it tough to deal with Tyrone Thompson in the middle of the park

5 Bridge-Wilkinson: Got stuck in and when he got the ball, looked very useful

5 Brown: Provided some good crosses but failed to make a big impact

4 Louis: Caught offside far too many times and struggled to carve out any chances

5 Wright: Despite an earlier miss, he carried on and was rewarded with the all-important leveller

Subs:

Gray (for Austin 45) Looked lively and threatened down the left 6 Senior (for Louis 71) Powell (for Moore 83) (not used): Lowson, Clarke.

MAN OF THE MATCH

LOUIS Briscoe – caused Quakers all sorts of problems down the left, looked far too good for this league.