Mansfield can reflect on another season of mediocrity and disappointment that was capped off in the dying stages by agony as well as they lost at the hands of Darlington in the FA Trophy. David Holdsworth was backed for big things in the summer after another squad revamping and the opening few weeks were promising enough. The Stags were playing attractive and lively football but still looked too inconsistent to make it to the top five. Some top displays like consecutive 5:0 and 4:0 wins against York and Eastbourne Borough were followed by inexplicable capitulations like a 5:2 loss at home to AFC Wimbledon. The defence was changing all the time and the team was conceding too many goals. Still, concerns really started to come in November after a poor winless run with Crawley easing 4:1 win at Field Mill. Eventually Holdsworth paid the price by the end of November with Mansfield tucked in the middle of the table. Duncan Russell won the right to be in charge for the rest of the season after impressing in his first few games in charge but soon it showed that the team was still too unreliable and volatile to be really considered a play-off contender. A 5:1 win at Cambridge was followed by a 7:2 loss at Grimsby and so it went on as Fleetwood became the second team to score five goals at Field Mill. The performances hardly improved despite the manager steadying the ship a little bit but it looked like the season would end without any real chance of making it into the top five. However, a good run in the FA Trophy breathed life in their campaign with a dramatic 2:1 aggregate win over Luton after extra-time in the semi-final easily being the pinnacle for the team. The Stags showed real character and guts in these two games, something they lacked throughout the season, and won the right to play at Wembley. They had a punishing schedule after that and the results in the league were poor with injuries taking their toll as well. It was hardly the perfect preparation for the final as Russell was able to call on just four subs for the Darlington game. They still looked like they will hold on for penalties but it was not to be as a goal in the last minute of extra-time ended their challenge and broke the hearts of the fans. Russell looks certain to go in the summer and it remains to be seen who will come in but the owner is promising a Crawley-esque spending spree if he gets the stadium and therefore an interesting close season could be on the cards.
