Nigel Clough, the manager of Mansfield Town, expressed his delight at his team’s clinical finishing in tonight’s record-tying 9-2 rout of Harrogate Town, but cautioned that nobody should be taken too lightly.
The Stags had never triumphed over Harrogate at home, but the visitors were hot right now—they had won six straight and were in the play-off positions.
But on an incredible night of drama, Clough’s team tore them to pieces to equal the club record score against Rotherham United in 1932, scoring five goals without answering by halftime.
Clough remarked, “I think most teams in the league would have struggled to cope with us tonight,” as the Stags pulled within one point of league leaders Stockport County.
“Scoring nine is such an odd scoreline, and I believe we should have scored nine.”
“Although it may seem absurd, the opposition’s perseverance and professionalism were the only things keeping us from scoring more.
A team’s ability to come back from a 6-0 deficit and score two goals also speaks volumes about their character.
This season, we have made three threats to score four goals while travelling. We also have high totals to aim for. Thus, we already possess it.
“However, tonight was just a demonstration of winning the ball, hurting the opposition, and finishing it.”
“This season, there have been games where we have had 25–26 shots and have only managed one goal, or maybe two at most,” he said.
We finished tonight with remarkable clinicalness. All night long, I don’t think their goalie stood a chance against any of them.
“Losing two goals in the space of a minute was the only negative aspect of the night. Don’t give up on them, but the outcome was certain.
“The squad is currently exuding confidence, especially the forward players.”
However, Clough emphasised that his promotion-chasers still had a lot of work ahead of them.
We’re not overreacting just yet. There are still 15 games left, and nobody has accomplished anything,” he remarked.
“Although it was only three points, it was a fantastic performance, and we are only focused on Walsall this Saturday. That one is now gone, and when Saturday rolls around, it will mean nothing.
“It is fantastic that we increased our goal differential by that much tonight, as we only managed to miss out on one goal last season.” By the conclusion of the season, it’s worth a point.
“For the supporters who braved the rainy night when it would have been easy to stay home, it was fantastic. They had a great time returning home after witnessing the performance that broke the record.
Leave a Reply