Stags are just out to enjoy the party
MANSFIELD boss Adam Murray has urged his side to enjoy the play-off battle and play with freedom after the 10-man Stags came from behind to win a thriller against bottomof-the-table Dagenham and move up to fifth.
Despite trailing at halftime, the home side fought back to lead 2-1 before a frenetic finish saw Dagenham substitute Jamie Cureton win and miss an 83rd-minute penalty.
Sixty seconds later Matt Green’s clinical finish looked to have secured a home win, only for Cureton to tap in three minutes from time and home keeper Scott Shearer beat away Ashley Chambers’ injury-time header.
Murray said: “We should have had it won well before that nervy ending. It was a massive win.
“I’ve just told them they have got a great opportunity.We’ve got 13 games left and are in a good position.
“I want these players to enjoy this. In pre-season people were writing me off as a manager and we were odds-on to go down. That gave me a fire. Now we are in this position I’ve told them to go out and prove every Tom, Dick and Harry wrong.
“Go out and play with freedom, we’ve nothing to lose. These boys have passion for the shirt and the club – go out and show it.”
Dagenham, whose winless run was extended to six matches, took a 42nd- minute lead against the run of play when Oliver Hawkins tapped in his first league goal from one of several dangerous Joe Widdowson crosses.
Matty Blair fired in off the post to level in the 54th minute and substitute Adi Yussuf raced on to a long pass to make it 2-1 on his 24th birthday 13 minutes later.
Acrobatic saves from Dagenham keeper Liam O’Brien kept the visitors in the game and when home defender Krystian Pearce was red-carded for pulling back Cureton for the late penalty, the bottom club squandered the chance to salvage a draw.
Assistant manager Ian Culverhouse called on the club to stay together in their fight to avoid the drop into nonleague. “It’s getting to the situation where we have got to win games. If we perform like that and everyone stays together and believes, we will turn it around,” he said.
“We were excellent in the first half, controlled the game for good parts and scored a deserved goal.We deserved to lead so it is a blow to come out with nothing.
“We are giving away soft goals and nothing goes for you when you are at the bottom of the league. The lads were outstanding at the end. We threw everything at them. But that’s the way it is going at the moment.”