Match Reports

08/10/2007 - Rotherham 3 Mansfield Town 2

JAMES Derry may have won his fight for control of Mansfield Town, but less than 24 hours later there was a stark reminder of an altogether tougher battle.

The current chairman's consortium will buy out Keith Haslam and end his 14-year ownership of the club, subject to official ratification, by the time the Stags host Notts County on October 20.

But while Mansfield's off-the-field problems may, finally, appear to be easing, on it, things have reached crisis point.

A sixth successive League Two defeat at Millmoor means bottom-of-the-table Mansfield are already five points adrift of safety and in real danger of slipping out of the Football League.

And that means if the Stags are to pull themselves out of strife then there can be no honeymoon period for Derry, who has to act quickly and decisively.

Because the take-over looks like happening in the next couple of weeks, rather than at Christmas or early in the New Year, Mansfield do have high hopes of turning their fortunes around.

Certainly, the supporters are desperate for that to happen. Buoyed by the news of Haslam's imminent departure, they backed their team superbly throughout the match in South Yorkshire, even at 3-0 down.

For things to change, though, Derry has to give boss Billy Dearden the financial assistance to bring in some experienced loan players.

Having slumped to the bottom of the table the Stags' young, injury-hit squad are struggling to find the right answers and only a bit of know-how and quality is going to help them through.

But the microscope is not only on Derry. The Mansfield players also have to do their bit as well.

While this year's squad are no world-beaters, they do have the ability to be getting better results than they are.

So whatever new faces are brought in, those already at Field Mill have to start showing the kind of form they show in flashes, on a regular basis.

If that doesn't happen, then maybe it is time to find players who are, because it was the same old problems in evidence at Millmoor.

The concession of three more goals means the tally is now 21 against in ten matches - and tells you exactly why the Stags are holding up the rest of League Two.

It is only fair to point out that constant changes at the back have not helped their cause. Boss Billy Dearden rarely been able to pick the same back four for two games running

Of his first-choice unit at the start of the season, three of them - Jake Buxton, Martin McIntosh and Gareth Jelleyman - were out for this game.

Alex John-Baptiste has also been out for much of the campaign so far, as had Ashley Kitchen, leaving Johnny Mullins the only defender to be fit for every game.

But that cannot exonerate the team from blame. It is individual, basic errors that are costing Mansfield dearly and they have nothing to do with the shape of the team or the personnel who make it up.

Again on Saturday, the first and second goals were disappointing ones to concede from a Mansfield perspective.

Carl Muggleton should have saved Marcus Bean's weak, third-minute shot from the edge of the area, but allowed the ball to slip under him.

Then, Paul Hurst was given far too much time to get in the cross which led to Marc Newsham putting the Millers 2-0 in front.

With just 20 minutes having been played at that point and Rotherham dominating, especially in the air, the chances of a visiting comeback looked slim.

Only twice did Mansfield threaten to retaliate in the first half as the flowing football they had played against MK Dons in their previous outing deserted them.

On both occasions it was Michael Boulding who went close, first heading wide from a Matt Hamshaw free-kick and then forcing a decent save out of Warrington from another ball in from the right.

After a decent spell of pressure from the visitors early in the second half, the writing seemed to be on the wall with a third goal for the Millers in the 67th minute as Stephen Brogan headed home after Newsham's effort struck the bar.

But with the introduction of John McAliskey soon after, things began to change.

Suddenly the Millers were not having it all their own way in the air and Mansfield threw players forward knowing they had little to lose.

When Boulding scrambled home his sixth of the season in the 76th minute it appeared little more than a consolation. But when, with seven minutes left, Nathan Arnold fired home following McAliskey's flick, it was game on again.

Alas, there was to be no fairy-tale leveller for an unlikely point and indeed Rotherham might have scored a fourth when Newsham was denied a second by a smart save from substitute keeper White, a half-time replacement for Muggleton. But Mansfield did at least restore some pride and, their fans will hope, belief for the matches to come.

Things will be just as tough, if not more so, this coming weekend as the Stags face a trip to in-form Barnet.

Ex-striker Adam Birchall will be waiting with a point to prove and no doubt Mansfield will be under-strength once more.

Even a win at Underhill would still leave the Stags in the drop zone thanks to their recent unenviable losing streak.

But three points would make Derry's future task just that little bit easier in what looks like being a long season.