CITY 3 MANSFIELD TOWN 5

League Cup 2nd Round

23rd September 1964

attendance 8,789

scorers
City Murray(49), Young(68), Kevan(78)
Mansfield Chapman(23 & 47), Wagstaffe(24), Tyrer(44), MacReady(53)

ref H G Wilson

City Dowd, Bacuzzi, Kennedy, Shawcross, Cheetham, Oakes, Gray, Young, Kevan, Murray, Wagstaffe

Mansfield Treharne, Jones, Poynton, Graham, Gill, Morris, Tyler, MacReady, Wagstaff, Chapman, Hall

Rank bad defensive play sent City spinning out of the League Cup in a game which, to the neutral observer, was as thrilling as the 5-3 score might suggest.
The Blues-oh, how blue they were!-never recovered from Third Division Mansfield Town’s first half sprint when they hustled in two goals within a minute and then added to that second before half time.
A fourth goal in the 46 minute virtually sealed City’s night of misery and disgrace as cocky Mansfield attempted to take the mickey out of their more experienced opponents. But it almost proved their undoing.
Hard luck stories are always difficult to swallow, but City did haul themselves off the floor of shame and Matt Gray could consider himself desperately unlucky not to have scored twice.
A similar story, too, for Derek Kevan. He actually got the ball past brilliant goalkeeper Colin Treharne only to be thwarted by the body and legs of anxious Mansfield defenders.
But apart from that late rally City were humiliated by a side which played soccer the simple way. Backed up by a tight marking defence and some great goalkeeping by Treharne, Mansfield tore the heart out of City’s defence..
They were given the run of the park with full backs Dave Bacuzzi-his worst game to date-and Bobby Kennedy the main offenders. David Shawcross also persisted in his irritating habit of holding on to the ball too long and it was again Alan Oakes who was City’s best defender.
Credit to the attack for staging a fight-back when four goals down. Praise, too, for Neil Young on his senior comeback. He had a hand in all three of City’s goals, hitting one himself and laying on others for Jimmy Murray and Kevan. But, oh, those defensive boobs.
FROM AN ARTICLE IN CITY PROGRAMME