HAMILTON HOT AS STAGS GO HUNTING
DAVID FLITCROFT praised the contribution of his squad players after Mansfield Town’s crushing win over Cheltenham Town.
Substitutes Will Atkinson and Alex MacDonald hit late goals as the Stags kept a play-off spot in their sights.
The Robins had mounted an unlikely second-half fightback with Chris Hussey and Charlie Raglan levelling after CJ Hamilton gave Stags a 2-0 lead at the break.
But Atkinson headed home from a corner after 76 minutes to restore the lead. And MacDonald settled the matter with his first goal since returning from injury.
It left Flitcroft delighted with the involvement of his fringe players.
“The squad shone through and that is what the game is about. Will Atkinson and Alex have both played a big part in this win,” he said.
“It is really pleasing, there are many positives. Everyone is playing a part.
“The players have really stepped up today and embraced the responsibility.
“Scoring four goals without Tyler Walker is a real standout moment for us as we have relied on his goals.
“At 2-2 we had to work hard to get the momentum back and the players fought hard to do that.”
Cheltenham boss Michael Duff was left frustrated by his side’s failure to hang on to a point.
“We would have taken 2-2, of course, but we wanted to be adventurous,” he said.
“We are not a top three of four team like Mansfield, but spirit and quality like that show we can be better team that what we are.
“We have paid the price for some individual errors which is frustrating. We played well today, but gave some poor goals away.
“We did brilliantly to get back in to the game, we showed some real quality there and caused one of the best teams in the division some real problems.
“It is disappointing that we did not hold on to the point, but we have shown ourselves the standards that we can reach.
Mansfield hit the front went Hamilton tapped home into an empty net after 42 minutes.
And he doubled that lead four minutes later when he calmly slotted home after getting away from his man.
Hamilton was denied a hat-trick by a smart save by Scott Flinders as he attempted to round the goalkeeper just after the restart.
Hussey curled a beautiful free-kick home in the 59th minute, before Raglan glanced a header in from a corner.
However, the two substitutes then stepped up for Mansfield. Atkinson headed home from a corner in the 76th minute, seconds after Flinders brilliantly kept out Jorge Grant.
And MacDonald slotted home on the break in the 90th minute.
MANSFIELD TOWN: J Smith 7, Sweeney 7, Pearce 7, Benning 7, Jones 7 (Atkinson 45, 8), Bishop 7, Tomlinson 7, Hamilton 9, Mellis 7, Grant 7 (Turner 79, 6), Ajose 7 (MacDonald 90, 7). Subs not used: Logan, Khan, A Smith, Hakeem.
CHELTENHAM TOWN: Flinders 6, Broom 6, Raglan 8, Tozer 6 (Barnett 45, 6), Boyle 6, Hussey 8, Dawson 6 (Lloyd 85, 6), Thomas 6, Tillson 6, Maddox 6 (Waters 81, 6), Varney 6. Subs not used: Forster, Clements, Pring, Lapworth.