FLITCROFT HAILS SMITH’S HEROICS

MANAGER David Flitcroft believes keeper Jordan Smith’s vital save at 1-1 was the turning point in Mansfield’s hard-earned home win over desperate Macclesfield Town.

Smith kept out Scott Wilson in a one-on-one after 54 minutes and, three minutes later, Krystian Pearce gave Stags a lead they held on to.

“The turning point in the game is the save at 1-1,” said Flitcroft. “It was fantastic. The kid had gone through and Jordan raced off his line.

“It was the catalyst to go forward and get a deserved win.

“We have good quality, but again we showed we have resilience and a commitment to each other and the supporters, which I am proud of.

“They were scrappy goals, but the important thing is that the newspapers say it was 3-1 to Mansfield.

“We played well for 20 minutes, then we took our foot off the gas and over-indulged. But we hurt them second half.”

Forest loanee Jorge Grant lashed home his fourth goal in three games after just eight minutes, following up after Kieran O’Hara had blocked a Nicky Ajose shot.

But Macclesfield plugged away and ended the half on a high, levelling after 42 minutes as Callum Evans pounced on a half-cleared corner before Wilson curled a shot against a post soon afterwards.

It could have been worse for the Stags as Wilson curled a shot across goal and off the far post.

But after Smith had denied Wilson, Pearce netted from close range from a scramble after a corner. Tyler Walker forced a great save from O’Hara, but it remained nervy until the last minute when another scramble from a corner saw Walker force home his 20th goal of the season, the linesman confirming it was over the line, despite O’Hara grabbing it.

On Walker’s goals tally, Flitcroft added: “As a striker you probably do things in fives. The challenge I have given him is 30 goals.

“Not many strikers achieve that in a season and Tyler has the ability to do it. He has been brilliant.”

Macclesfield boss Sol Campbell said with better finishing his side would have come away with at least a point. He said: “We’ve played a top team away and we really should have come up away with something.

“We should have been more switched on with their set plays and we really need to make the keeper work a bit more with our chances when it was 1-1. “They are up there at the top looking for promotion and we gave them a good game. “It just came down to chances. If we’d been sharper up front it would have been a different story.

“We hit a post and then had chances we should have stuck away.”