Mansfield Town 0 Exeter City 1.

Tuesday 27 April 1999.

Referee: AR Hall

Attendance: 2830

Bowling blow for Mansfield

Stags VERDICT
By Paul Taylor at Field Mill 

THEY say football is a cruel game, but this morning Mansfield Town manager Steve Parkin will know that more than most. Adversity has been a frequent visitor to Field Mill this season. But when the Stags boss wakes up this morning he could well question what he has done, or who he has upset, to deserve the hand which fortune dealt him last night. At 7.45pm Parkin stood confidently on the sidelines, knowing that three points would take his side another giant stride towards claiming a play-off place. Today, not only does he have to come to terms with the fact that his side's hopes of escaping the Third Division are all but over, but he also finds himself with a 72-hour deadline to find a new goalkeeper. For, as if seeing his side's battling determination go unrewarded as Exeter escaped Field Mill with three points wasn't enough, Parkin's night was com pleted with the news that lan Bowling, Mansfield's only senior "keeper has a badly broken right arm. The Stags number one sustained the break, which is thought to be clean-but which at 33-years-old, could possi- bly be considered career threatening whilst making a heroic attempt to prevent Exeter from scoring. The decisive moment the one which Mansfield fans could well look back on as the moment the club's season effectively ended-came just two minutes after the interval. Chris Fry broke down the right flank and whipped in a low, swerving cross into the six-yard box, which Bowling and City striker Steve Flack both threw themselves at. Flack was once a regular sparring partner for boxer Herbie Ilyde and with his heavyweight build behind him there was only going to be one winner. He won the ball, which fell for Geoff Breslan to fire into the empty net and left Bowling on the ground. There seemed little malice in the challenge, but that will provide little solace for Bowling or Parkin, who is now faced with the prospect of bringing in an emergency replacement 'keeper on loan before Saturday's trip to Shrewsbury. Predictably, Parkin was a disconso- late figure after the match. But, as ever, he provided an honest insight into what had gone wrong. And he refused to either provide, or hide behind, any excuses. Prior to the Exeter goal- and to Bowling being stretchered off and replaced by substitute, club captain John Schofield Mansfield had looked a shadow of the side which cruised to a 20 success over Hartlepool.  And it was this that galled Parkin most. "It was not until Bowling had been taken off and we had conceded the goal that we started playing," said Parkin. 'I had said to them at half time that they should go out on the offensive in the second period, but that they should make sure they didn't concede. They didn't do either. "They may have looked nervous in the first period, but they were not nervous on Saturday, so why should they be now? "In the second half they played with passion and desire, but the fact that they could not do that from the start was the most disappointing thing."

Stags created plenty of opportunities in the second period. Substitute lyseden Christie twice came close with low dri- ves and once with a deflected shot which looped onto the bar. But City 'keeper Danny Potter, a 20-year-old reserve-team player making only his third appearance in the side, was in inspired form. Parkin knows his side are not entirely out of the running. If Halifax and Swansea slip up Stags could climb back into seventh place- if they can win their remaining games, at Shrewsbury and at home to Cardiff. But Parkin's main concern today will be to begin the search for a temporary replacement for Bowling. "We will have to start looking for an emergency keeper on loan, which you are allowed to do," said Parkin, who did not have a replacement keeper to put on the bench. "We have always said that John would take over if fan ever got injured and he only had one save to make, which in itself says a lot. "It is a match we should have won. We certainly had the chances, we just needed that final touch at times to get it in. "But I was disappointed with the players because we didn't start playing until the second half. "We just have to lift ourselves now somehow and hope that other sides slip up."

MANSFIELD
Bowling (Schofield 47), Ford (Christie 66), Harper, Peters, Willis, Linighan, Kerr (Walker 84), Clarke, Lormor, Peacock, Williams.

EXETER
Potter, Curran, Power, Holloway, Richardson, Gittens, Fry (Wilkinson 88), Rees, Flack, McConnell, Breslan. Subs not used: Gale, Speakman.

REFEREE: Andrew Hall (Birmingham)

ATTENDANCE: 2,830

GOAL: Breslan (photo) 47mins 

BOOKINGS: Power, Williams (both dis- sent), Flack (foul)

CORNERS: Mansfield 7, Exeter 6

SHOTS ON: Mansfield 8, Exeter 4

SHOTS OFF: Mansfield 4, Exeter 2

MAN OF MATCH: David Kerr