We were due to play Barnsley the week after Scunthorpe but they pulled out late in the week so we had to wait three weeks to get back in action and we were graced with a beautiful pitch at Hooton Lodge and faced a young Mansfield side. We take every game seriously but perhaps knew in the back of our minds that this could be quite easy for us. There may have been a tad of complacency about us as we started as although we were well in control we were well away from the level we had set against Scunny. To be honest we should have had our feet up and cigars out well by half time as JV, Burnsy and Yeard all should have scored and we thought that it was just going to be one of those days. We did manage to score one before half time when
Gilby fed Burnsy and as he raced clear he finished in a way that we take for granted, firing low past the keeper.At half time we changed things around to give everyone a game and switched to a 4-4-2 and made pretty much immediate inroads. From an early second half corner from Gaz, Jebu scored his first goal since February with a nice glancing header. It didn’t take him long to grab another though and this was a fine goal. JV controlled a throw in on his chest and hooked the ball over his head in to the path of Gaz who was making a run down the line. He beat his man and put in a pinpoint cross for Jebu who had the simplest of headers to make it three. A great goal.
This opened the flood gates and Andy grabbed his first goal as player-manager and it was a fine 25 yard shot that sailed in to the top corner. Just as we thought we had seen the goal of the day, Gilby, returning from Iraq to play his first game for us since April, delivered something special as he rocketed the ball in from no less than 30 yards out and that is no lie. We continued to create chance after chance and JV finally got his goal after he poached a goal bound header from Burnsy on the goal line.
This was a good IFA game played in good spirit and we took the Mansfield boys to the pub afterwards where we had some food and beer and then they went to Millmoor to watch the first team hand them a place in the 2nd round of the FA Cup.