Swindon Town head coach Gavin Gunning was left irritated after his side came from behind twice against Mansfield Town and still left Field Mill with nothing at the weekend.
The Stags took the lead inside five minutes when Lucas Akins slotted past goalkeeper Jack Bycroft after a perfect pass from Davis Keillor-Dunn. The home side dominated the first half, but it was the Robins who started better after the interval when Mansfield failed to clear their lines and Paul Glatzel levelled for his second goal of the season.
The Nottinghamshire outfit wasted no time in responding though as just a minute later Keillor-Dunn smashed home into the top right corner after a quick break for his 18th goal of the season. It was to prove to be an end-to-end game though as Aaron Drinan’s perfect header in the 59th minute brought the Robins level for a second time against the Stags. The league’s top scorers made it 3-2 when substitute Will Swan headed home Ollie Clarke’s cross in the 68th minute for his sixth goal in eight games and the winner for his team.
Swindon’s loss sees them drop to 18th in the League Two table, 14 points above the relegation places and ends their three-match unbeaten run ahead of the fixture this weekend. Meanwhile, Mansfield’s impressive victory keeps them in first place in the division, three points behind Stockport County who have a game in hand.
The Swindon Town boss spoke to the local media after the game and had no complaints about the loss after the defensive errors his side made.
“It is a frustrating result, there are so many positives, but a defeat is a defeat.
“When you concede goals that are a horror show like that it is a frustrating afternoon,” the 33-year-old continued.
“We were chasing things after the opening five minutes. Once we grew into the game it was much of a muchness.
“The first five/ten minutes we were all over the place and then we grew into it and had our moments,” Gunning added.
“It is frustrating. It is tough to get the words out, we went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the league.
“We score and then switch off. We didn’t mark in the box, and we conceded, it’s simple.”
Writer’s View
Swindon Town will be annoyed that they didn’t leave with anything at the weekend. With how the league’s played out this season, there is no real threat of relegation and little hope of going up. Swindon should be playing with a lot more freedom but making defensive mistakes as they did is inexcusable no matter the opposition. To score twice in a game and not come away with anything is going to hurt so Gunning’s side will be eager to make amends midweek against struggling Accrington Stanley.
Mansfield reacted very well after their loss in the week to fourth-place MK Dons and have significantly boosted their promotion hopes. The Stags are now five points ahead of the playoff places and will want to ensure they achieve automatic promotion this season. The league leaders have some favourable games coming up too which are so important to pick up maximum points as the Nottinghamshire side will not want to spend yet another season in League Two.
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