Keeping the dream alive

Acting as one . . . from the left, Athletic’s toucline team of David DUnne, Keith Brown and Dean Holden ge their point across.

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Mansfield 0 Athletic 0

THIS was as dreary and forgettable as it gets, but at least the sturdy yet completely uninspiring visitors remain involved in the FA Cup.

League Two outfit Mansfield played at times as if their livelihoods depended on claiming a second-round place.

Adam Murray's side were far too muscular and switched-on defensively for depleted Athletic to cope with, despite manager David Dunn naming an attacking line-up.

A side containing Mark Yeates, Dominic Poleon, Ricardo Fuller and Michael Higdon should be doing better than failing to bend a 40-year-old goalkeeper's back even once.

Though Fuller wasted a major chance in the first half – when Athletic looked most capable of troubling the home back-line at Field Mill – it wasn't until Lee Croft's introduction that Dunn's men forced ex-Burnley man Brian Jensen into any type of real save.

Croft's 61st-minute effort with his left foot saw Jensen dive to his right to palm the ball back out – a rare moment to raise the pulse of the hardy band of 512 Athletic fans who travelled to Nottinghamshire hoping for a dose of FA Cup magic.

There was none to be had, though, unless you count the trick Reggie Lambe pulled in volleying over the top from six yards out just before the interval.

Or indeed, Cameron Dummigan's double escape act in twice blocking shots on the line.

The right-back (19) continues to out-perform his elder team-mates.

Mansfield pushed hard for a winning goal here and Lambe and substitute Nathan Thomas both saw Dummigan save Athletic's bacon after the team had been sliced open.

The Stags were certainly not bully-boys on this occasion. Rough-house tactics two years ago caused controversy but here, Athletic were often – too often – outpassed in terms of purposeful possession.

All that said, Dunn was up against it in terms of his selections on the day.

Jay Fulton was ineligible, goalkeeper David Cornell was missing along with fellow defenders Jonathan Burn and James Wilson, and in midfield, there was no captain Liam Kelly nor the influential Mike Jones.

And what Dunn wouldn't give for a forward line containing long-term injury victims Jonathan Forte and Jake Cassidy.

Most of the those men will be back soon, but for this contest, Dunn was forced to name a substitutes’ bench in which he included himself, along with youth team goalkeeper Chris Renshaw.

Plenty of responsibility was placed on the shoulders of two players who normally enjoy raids into the opposition box.

Here, Carl Winchester and Danny Philliskirk were fielded as needs-must bulwarks in the middle of a highly-congested and competitive midfield.

Operating in a bold 4-4-2 formation and playing into a stiff wind in the first half, Dunn's side set out their stall promisingly.

Yeates hit an early effort which struck a defender and lopped over, while at the other end Joseph Mills made a terrific saving tackle on Matt Green as the Stags counter-attacked.

Philliskirk was then a little unfortunate with a side-footed effort he couldn't quite thread between a packed penalty box after some neat build-up play.

Fuller's big chance came and went – he was played in by Yeates after a rare mistake in the home defence – and from then on the game was mainly about the home side.

Brian Wilson blocked well from Mitch Rose, and the wily Craig Westcarr's excellent cross after a swift length-of-field break should have resulted in the opening goal from Lambe.

A couple of neat through balls by Philliskirk and Winchester to Fuller and Higdon respectively ended with the forwards being closed down by their dominant markers.

And aside from Croft's attempt, and despite the introduction of attacking midfield man Giorgio Rasulo for his debut, the last half-hour saw Athletic holding on for dear life for a place in the pot tonight.

Green was played in down the right side of the area by Adam Chapman and as Joel Coleman took power off his initial shot, the follow-up was superbly blocked as Dummigan raced across the box.

The full-back did the same in the 80th minute after a neat passing move led to Thomas running in to fire an attempt that was hacked away in the nick of time.

Though Athletic were penned in for the closing stages, the Stags couldn't find a breakthrough.

It was pretty poor fare by Athletic – the final whistle was greeted by booing from the away end – but it could have been worse, as Notts County found out on Friday night.