CHARLTON 5 (Taylor 11, 53, 85, Marshall 82, Ajose 90) MANSFIELD 0
Attendance: 1,910 (291 Mansfield)Charlton Phillips; Dijksteel, Bauer (Sarpong-Wiredu, 61), Sarr, Stevenson; Clarke (Morgan, 74), Pratley (C) (Marshall, 66), Lapslie, Fosu; Taylor, Ajose.Mansfield Olejnik, Benning, Preston, Pearce (C), Mellis (White, 22), Atkinson, Butcher, Sweeney, Elsnik, Hamilton (Graham, 61), Rose (Walker 61).
Summary
A comfortable on paper victory into the 2nd round for Charlton. However, the scoreline grossly flattered and largely reflected that Charlton took their chances where Mansfield failed to in front of a shockingly sparse Valley crowd. Taylor secured his first hat-trick for the Reds, culminating in a lovely Claus Jensen style chip, while Marshall and Ajose chipped in with the other goals on a cold but surprisingly not miserable evening at The Valley.
Post Match comments
Bowyer:
“I like to think I’m always honest. Yes we did some good things, there were pros and cons in that performance. Was it a 5-0 game? No, I thought Mansfield played well, opened us up at times. They miss a few good chances, it could have been 5-4 that game. I just said to the lads ‘Yeah, I’ll praise ya but trust me, that weren’t a 5-0 game, so don’t get too ahead of yourselves’.
“There were some positives, Pat got 60 minutes into him which is very important to us. Billy Clarke started his first proper game I’d say, 70 minutes into him. So yeah, some good positives, a lot of young players which was good too.”
“Lyle to get a hat-trick was very good. I just said to him before the game ‘Go out there, work hard and you get rewarded’. I’m a firm believer that if you work hard and give everything, things drop for you. He didn’t stop running until I told him. In the last 10 minutes I said ‘Stop running around’. I don’t want him getting injured. I’m really pleased for him. I’m pleased for the lot of them. The lads work hard and sometimes it is nice to get a result like that.”
STATBANK Player Marks
Taylor = 8.75
Ajose = 7.56
Bauer = 7.00
Sarr = 6.72
Lapslie = 6.69
Sarpong-Wiredo = 6.38
Fosu = 6.33
Stevenson = 6.28
Phillips = 6.14
Clarke = 6.11
Pratley = 6.11
Dijksteel = 5.39
Team Average = 6.62
At the game...
@The31YearMan :
This time, I was pleased when I saw the team sheet, there were some big hitters out there. I felt particularly confident with Bauer back in the side.
Mansfield showed their intent from the start when after a short delivered ball by Billy Clarke, led to Danny Rose testing Phillips well in the Charlton goal. Despite his recent apathy, Ajose added to his growing number of assists as he fed Taylor for the first goal which he finished with aplomb. It was good to see Toby Stevenson growing into the game on his home debut especially when he had to deal with the marauding CJ Hamilton at times.
Early on, Billy Clarke was struggling to find his passing range but would improve later and Ajose looked like he was interested. Last night's conditions were an aid to Fosu. Never easy when someone is running at you with trickery and pace on a wet surface. CJ Hamilton showed why he caught Bowyer's eye, hittting the post and a goal that was chalked off for offside.
As the first half progressed, Mansfield were increasing in confidence and indeed, controlled the ball for long periods. We were too slow coming out, Dijksteel in particular was guilty of this and it allowed the Stags to press.
Into the 2nd half, Mansfield continued to show their intent. However, we managed to conjure up a second goal. Ajose was admiringly persistent as he put the ball across. Taylor was textbook, as he kept his head down and fired us into a 2-0 lead. Mansfield players must of been perplexed. Ajose continued to impress with a couple of cushioned headers. Bauer exited the field of play on 61 min after a good run out.
We saw the back of Hamilton but Mansfield had sufficient strength in depth to bring on Graham and Walker who presented their own dangers. Clarke tested Olejnik with a decent shot along the greasy grass.
As we approached the last 10 min, I thought Ajose really needed a goal to accompany the two assists he had delivered, but before that came to pass, we had the eye catching Stevenson putting in a devil of a ball for Marshall to gleefully cash in on for 3-0.
Then, what a goal to secure your hat-trick. A sumptuous lob over Olejnik by Taylor who previously had done a fair bit of work manoveuring himself into the penalty area. The Ajose goal hopefully will be a tonic for him going forward who was served well by a Lapslie ball.
In the end, Lee Bowyer got what he wanted from his boys and brought Mansfield's 13 match unbeaten run to an end but they were worthy battlers. The best of luck to them, in their League Two promotion campaign.
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HERE(Photo credit: Kyle Andrews on twitter)
