17/09/2007 - Mansfield Town 1 Chesterfield 3
WHILE Mansfield’s fans may have gone home feeling a nagging sense of derby-day injustice, there is no disguising their team has big problems.
The Stags did get the rough end of the stick with the refereeing decisions against their greatest adversaries.
But there are, deeper, underlying reasons why they continue to be on the wrong end of results.
It would be easy to blame Saturday's 3-1 reverse on Kevin Friend, who chose to book rather than send off goalkeeper Barry Roche as he chopped down Michael Boulding just outside the box.
Some home supporters will argue that, with the score 2-1 to the visitors at the time, not correctly punishing what appeared to be a professional foul was the turning point of the game.
But the truth is, the Stags continue to be their own worst enemies. They only have themselves to blame for their poor start to 2007-08.
Assistant boss Paul Holland hit the nail on the head when he said Mansfield will not start winning matches until they stop making individual mistakes.
That, clearly, means at the back, where they have now conceded 14 goals in six League Two games - after shipping three more to the Spireites.
For one reason or another, the Stags seem incapable of getting anywhere near keeping a clean sheet and have gone a goal behind in all but one of their games this season - and that one, against Stockport, they won.
Holland's remark, though, could equally apply to up front, where a regular failure to take good chances at key moments is proving costly.
Even before Roche's misdemeanour, just before the hour mark, Boulding had failed to convert when in the clear, allowing the keeper to make the save.
The nippy frontman might also have nicked an equaliser to make it 2-2 when he fired at the keeper from close range when a yard either side would have yielded a goal.
It was the same story at Peterborough last week when Boulding missed a golden chance to put Mansfield ahead inside 30 seconds.
It is not just Boulding. Other players have similarly lacked composure in the opposition box and it has been the difference between getting something out of the game and going home empty handed.
All week leading up to the match, boss Billy Dearden had talked about the need for Stags to keep it tight and avoid conceding an early goal.
But, for the fourth time in six league games, they conceded inside the first 15 minutes - this time with just three minutes gone.
What made it all the more disheartening was the manner in which it came about. It would a goal an U-8s side in the Mansfield Junior League would have been disappointed to let in.
Gregor Robertson seemed to have under-hit his corner as it curled in towards the near post. However, with no Mansfield player on the post to clear, and Carl Muggleton wrong-footed as he anticipated a delivery to the edge of the six-yard box, the ball squirmed over the line.
Yet again, as they have on every other occasion this season when trailing, they responded with an equaliser - this time within five minutes of going behind.
Roche saved well from Stephen Dawson but when the resulting corner was half cleared to the Irishman he let fly again with a stunning, 20-yard volley that arrowed into the top right-hand corner.
Until the half hour mark, the rest of the half was evenly contested. However, as the break approached, Chesterfield took a grip on the game and created several openings.
Former Forest man Jack Lester's goalbound shot was blocked by Martin McIntosh, Jamie Lowry shot over and Steve Fletcher headed against the bar.
Just when Mansfield seemed to have been let off the hook the Spireites went back in front in stoppage time as Fletcher's stabbed effort from a Peter Leven cross came back of the right-hand post and Jamie Lowry slammed home the rebound.
Within 90 seconds of the restart Leven's long-range drive skimmed the top of the bar. But, for the next 20 minutes, the Stags, roared on by their fans, threw everything at Chesterfield.
As well as Boulding's miss, McIntosh headed wide when well placed and also saw his free-kick clawed away by Roche, just seconds after his red card reprieve.
Mansfield hopes all but went up in smoke in the 74th minute when Jake Buxton was dismissed for a second booking as he caught substitute Adam Rooney late. Having been booked in the first half for fouling Lester, the referee really had no option but to dismiss the Stags captain.
The Stags battled gamely on and gave everything in search of a point, but it was inevitable they would leave gaps at the back.
And in time added on, Chesterfield exploited that situation when Lester rounded Muggleton to sidefoot home his sixth goal in as many games after Mullins had pulled up with cramp.
In the final moments, the home supporters vented their frustration at owner Keith Haslam and left it in no doubt they would love to see a Field Mill takeover go through - whether it be by current chairman James Derry or someone else.
Yet, whoever is at the helm over the coming weeks and months has a massive challenge in front of them.
Derby defeat is always a bitter pill to swallow for any set of fans; it is the game they want to win more than any other.
But, unless there is swift improvement, there could soon be more serious issues than local pride for the Stags supporters to worry themselves about.
matt.halfpenny@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk