Report
The last meeting of the two clubs saw Rothwell beat the Stags in the FA Cup a couple of seasons ago but the young Stags were in no mood to let history be repeated when they visited the midlands on Saturday.
Right from the start Forest signalled they were not about to defend for 90 minutes and they duly took the lead after only two minutes when Richard Georgiou raced through the home defence down the inside left channel; he cut the ball back for Leon Belton McKenzie to force the ball home from close range. It really was an excellent start for the game as it made sure the home side could not sit back.
Rothwell began to push forward but this allowed the Stags’ midfield to open up down the left where Jermain Hughes became a constant threat with his speed and desire to run after dead balls. Time and time again in the first 15 minutes he beat his defender, Darren Capps and sent over a cross from the goal line.
Then, for 10 minutes the game settled down into a midfield battle which neither team got the better of. Slowly the Stags began to exert more pressure again and, while there were no chances for either side, Rothwell found great difficulty in picking up the Stags runners.
Rothwell had their first real chance on 25 minutes when Mitchell found himself free on the right and was able to swing over a cross come shot which Charlie Hasler tipped over the bar. The corner was cleared but the ball came to Boyle-Chong whose close range shot was well blocked by Hasler and a third shot went sky high over the bar.
The pressure was on and soon Rothwell had won another corner which fell to Mitchell who saw his shot blocked on the line by the well placed Hughes.
On 40 minutes the Stags were unlucky to have a free kick awarded against them outside their area after the ball had been headed against marc wards lowered arm. A harsh decision and an even harsher deflection from Stephen Towers’ free kick.
The second half started brightly for both teams with Rothwell having a good chance in the opening seconds and the Stags replying with two chances moments later. The second was particularly unlucky as James Chrysanthou sent the ball into the penalty area for Wesley Thomas to be taken down from behind, the referee, claiming that the player had gone for the ball grinned a toothy grin and waved play on.
Rothwell then took up the initiative and had a shot blocked on the line by Dave Bastian. It was not all one way traffic though as a few minutes later the Stags were on the attck causing all sorts of problems in the home defence ending with Richard Georgiou send a shot goalwards which was totally misjudged by Quailey in the home goal who just managed to get his finger tips to the ball to send it off for a corner.
Another chance came and went when the Stags won a free kick just outside the Rothwell penalty area: Georgiou again slammed the ball in and, with Rothwell bodies falling everywhere the ball rebounded as in a pin ball machine and was cleared.
Rothwell continued to push forward looking for the winner and gave the Stags some uncomfortable moments cutting in from the right goal line but their final ball was always dealt with by the massed Stags defenders.
In the end, a hard fought game from both teams and a well deserved point for the Stags.