By Adam Raj

That was better than I expected. On paper, this afternoon’s fixture at Field Mill looked a tough ask. Free scoring Mansfield at home to a blunt Bradford City side who had only kept one clean sheet so far this season and were missing their talisman and top scorer. Mansfield weren’t without their own injury crisis however, with star striker Rhys Oates and influential midfielder Stephen Quinn the notable absentees, meaning striker Jordan Bowery lined up at right back with a handful of youngsters making up the numbers on the bench.

Two such unsettled sides probably best explain what was a fairly low key affair. There was very little goal mouth action at either end with both goalkeepers being spectators for the most part. City did play some good football through the thirds, but failed to produce a moment to really bring the 1,600 travelling faithful to life.

Tyler Smith, playing in his natural position in Andy Cook’s absence, had a good game with some neat touches and hold up play. But he really should’ve scored in the first half when his free header from Jamie Walker’s cross went wide. That was by far the most promising performance I’ve seen from Smith (disclaimer, I missed Wrexham) – he’s not a winger or wide forward, where he’s been playing and looked ineffective so far. Almost like players at this level need to be played in their natural positions, isn’t it?

Smith did benefit from a lot of support from Walker in particular, who at times was playing right up alongside him, with City in more of a 3-5-2 than the 5-4-1 that has been evident for the early part this season. Emmanuel Osadebe, who had a decent game, and the returning Clarke Oduor rotated to make it a three pronged attack when City pressed.

City’s wingbacks were noticeably more advanced than they have been and it was the first time that it looked like they were playing with wingbacks as opposed to fullbacks in a back five. Brad Halliday had an excellent game, until it came to making a decision in the final third in terms of whether to shoot or pass and the subsequent execution of that decision. Lewis Richards continues to impress and look a vast upgrade on Liam Ridehalgh at LWB. It is to be hoped that this tactical shift is here to stay, because having wingbacks who are ten yards deeper than they should be makes City unnecessarily defensive and only invites pressure.

Oduor had City’s only effort on target in the first half when he tested Christy Pym with a low effort from 20 yards which produced a routine stop from the Stags keeper and aside from Smith’s header, that was about as exciting as it got at either end.

The second half wasn’t anymore entertaining. Lots of nice football again from City but nothing of note created. A handful of poor crosses and poor decision making in the final third wasted some really promising positions.

Hughes’ decision to bring on Ridehalgh and Matt Derbyshire on 70 minutes killed any forward momentum City had, as both had extremely poor cameos. It is alarmingly obvious that both are far inferior to the players that they replaced in Smith and Richards.

That decision could have been costly as the hosts, who had aimed every set piece to the back post and the mountain that is Aiden Flint, caught City off guard with ten to play. Louis Reed cleverly dinked in a corner to the near post where Lukas Akins glanced a header wide of the far post. That was the closest either side came to snatching the three points that neither of them truly deserved.

In isolation, it’s hard to get too disappointed at this result or performance. The game was there to be won if we had more quality in certain situations. There were plenty of positives in the way we shaped up, moved the ball and defended as well as the individual performances of the majority of the 16 that played a part.

The negative is: we have to look at the bigger picture. And that picture doesn’t look great at the moment. City have been devoid of creativity in the opening month of the season and are unsurprisingly the joint lowest scorers in the division, albeit a record they share with four other sides.

They have blanked in three of their six league games and have only one goal on the road. There is heavy reliance on Cook regaining his form from last season and Pattison being the ‘other’ goal scorer in the team. City still don’t look remotely threatening from attacking set pieces and don’t create anywhere near enough for others to contribute in Cook and Pattison’s absence. As Gillingham have found out in the last fortnight, you can’t 1-0 your way to promotion every week, which is the only score line City look to be capable of producing.

Goals are a problem that have plagued City for years. Whether that is down to hiring defensive-minded managers or lacking the attacking quality in the playing squad, last season’s haul for Cook really was the anomaly in terms of a reliable stream of goals. And even then, collectively as a team, City didn’t do enough to back up Cook’s numbers.

Last season, Hughes was indebted to Cook winning games like this on his own with a moment of brilliance and getting everyone else out of jail. Through injury, lack of form and definitely a lack of service, City don’t have that so far this year. And it’s a problem that Hughes needs to quickly fix.

Categories: Match Reviews

Tags: 2023/24, BCAFC, League Two, Mansfield Town