Chester draw sends Mansfield out of Football League
Mansfield to host conference football
Also In The News
|
Warner Brothers Records, out April 28th. |  |
Tuesday, 29, Apr 2008 10:25
Mansfield have dropped out of the Football League following Chester's draw away at Stockport.
Going into tonight, Chester needed just one point to secure their own safety in League Two and bring an end to Mansfield's 77-year spell in the Football League and, thanks to John Danby, they achieved this.
The Chester keeper was in inspired form, making a string of fine stops to keep the match goalless, first denying Adam Proudlock, Gareth Owen and Gary Dicker, before keeping out Anthony Pilkington's point-blank header in the closing minutes.
Stockport also felt that they should have been awarded a penalty after Proudlock was brought down by Simon Hughes, only for the referee to wave play on.
The draw gives Simon Davis' side an unassailable four point advantage over the Stags at the foot of the division and sparked mass celebrations at the Deva Stadium.
In comparison, the Edgeley park side are guaranteed a place in the League Two play-offs, with just one game to go of the season.
Jim Gannon's team were denied the third and final automatic promotion spot for the division at Barnet, where they slumped to a 2-1 defeat at the weekend, though a victory would still have made no difference as top-of-the-table rivals Hereford managed to grab three points away at Brentford.