Mansfield Town 3 Tottenham Hotspur 3 – Division Two 1978

Division Two. Saturday March 25, 1978 attendance. 12,106

Mansfield Town: R.Arnold, K.Bird, B.Foster, C.Foster, M.Saxby, I.Wood, P.Sharkey, D.Martin, D.Syrett, G.Hodgson, J.Miller.

Tottenham Hotspur: B.Daines, M.Stead, J.Holmes, G.Hoddle, D.McAllister, S.Perryman, J.Pratt, N.McNab, C.Jones, C.Lee, P.Taylor.

Mansfield Town were “enjoying” their one and only season in the old second division and one of the many teams they were having the novelty of facing were Tottenham Hotspur.

This meeting at Field Mill was the first there in the league between the two sides and it already seemed, at the end of March, that the immediate prospect of another taking place was pretty slim.

Mansfield were rooted to the bottom of the table after five straight defeats whereas Tottenham led the division having won their previous three games and being unbeaten in seventeen.

Perhaps Mansfield could take heart from the earlier meeting between the two sides at White Hart Lane. Not only had the Stags managed a 1-1 draw on that occassion but they could have nicked a famous win had it not been for Pat Sharkey’s missed penalty.

The torrential downpour leading up to kick off might also have pleased the home team. The pitch was heavy to begin with and would certainly cut up. Whatever causes for optimism Mansfield might find, however, Tottenham remained huge favourites to win.

It was obvious from the start the the home side were “up for it” as they hoisted as many balls as they could towards the Tottenham penalty area and sought to get players in support of Dave Syrett as quickly as possible.

Tottenham were striving to play their normal fluent passing game and with enough success to keep them encouraged but at the back they were anything but assured. Don McAllister had his hands full trying to control Syrett and neither Mickey Stead or Jimmy Holmes looked in command down the flanks.

It was hardly a surprise, therefore, when Mansfield took the lead just before the half hour. Much of the credit belonged to right back Kevin Bird for collecting a return pass from a throw in to send a searching cross deep into the box. Dennis Martin was on hand to nod down at the far post and Syrett arrived to sweep home emphatically.

Field Mill exploded with slightly astonished excitement but within a minute was stilled as the visitors surged forward from the kick off to equalise.

The home defence had certainly switched off as Glenn Hoddle engineered a yard of space out wide to send over an awkward centre. Rod Arnold came but could not gather cleanly and although he then valiantly parried three times from point blank range Chris Jones eventually smacked the ball home to level.

Now the lid was certainly off the cauldron and shortly afterwards Mansfield were given a golden chance to regain the lead when Steve Perryman was adjudged to have fouled Gordon Hodgson.

Just as at White Hart Lane, however, the spot kick was wasted, this time Martin being the culprit. This disappointment was short lived, however, as the home side did re-take the lead five minutes later.

Hodgson swung over a corner , Colin Foster rose to head back across goal and Syrett, arching backwards, guided a fine header away from Barry Daines and into the net, just crossing the line before being hoofed clear.

With Tottenham chasing the game after the interval the play became increasingly channelled towards one goal. The visitors had taken a chance by sending perhaps their most dependable defender, Perryman, further forward but the decision helped them establish almost total control.

Pulling the strings was the young midfield find, Glenn Hoddle. Having enlightened the first half with his touch and vision the second period saw the young playmaker even more prominent, launching attack after attack.

The highly rated Hoddle was very definitely “running the show”.

The home side were fighting desperately to protect their lead, however, and had a reassuring presence behind them in goalkeeper Rod Arnold.

The pressure told with ten minutes left. A deep corner was headed down to Peter Taylor, lurking unnoticed beyond the far post, and his drive was goalbound until Ian Wood blocked it on the line with his arm. Hoddle was not about to let the opportunity slip and levelled the scores with a confident drive.

Amazingly this goal spurred the home team to push forward once again and five minutes from time they took the lead for the third time with a goal that resulted from a series of woeful Tottenham blunders.

Firstly the unusually erratic Perryman played an ambitious crossfield ball out of defence which went straight to a Mansfield player. The ball was lifted forward and when Daines rushed out to boot clear he managed only a glancing touch, slicing the ball perfectly into the path of Syrett who sidefooted home from the edge of the area for his hat trick.

Again Spurs came back desperately in search of yet another equaliser and in the very last minute a free kick just outside the area gave them one final chance.

Up stepped Hoddle and there was an air of inevitability about the outcome. Sure enough, the ball flashed from his right boot, whipped past the end of the wall and ripped into the corner of the net, thus completing the scoring on this remarkable afternoon.

The result proved something of a turning point in both teams’ seasons although without ultimately affecting the destiny of either side.

Mansfield’s distinct improvement over the closing weeks saw them climb only one place and suffer relegation well short of safety whilst the stumbling run in Tottenham suffered saw them eventually cling on to the final promotion place at Brighton’s expense in a nail biting finale.

The last word on this day belonged to Mansfield manager Billy Bingham who explained his frustration over the dominant performance of Glenn Hoddle afterwards.

“We kept screaming at the lads to take care of Hoddle,” Bingham declared, “but the message didn’t get through.”

Sometimes it’s one thing hearing a message, Billy, but it’s a different thing doing anything about it.