Mansfield Town and Notts County find themselves in similar positions in their respective divisions following Saturday’s round of Football League action.

Thirteenth in ELF League One, and twelfth in ELF League Two respectively, Nigel Clough’s Stags have won three and drawn two of their opening nine league games whilst Martin Paterson’s Magpies have a similar record in their opening nine.

On Saturday afternoon it would be the Stags that claimed a point, drawing 1-1 at home to high-flying Stevenage, whilst the Magpies slipped to a lone goal reverse at Gillingham; in the former the visitors missed out on the chance to go top of League One thanks to Joe Gardner’s equaliser for the hosts.

It’s tight at the top in the early those of the season as well, just two points separating first and seventh, they consisting of Cardiff City and Bradford City (seventeen points), Barnsley, Stevenage and Doncaster Rovers (sixteen points), and Huddersfield Town and Lincoln City (fifteen points) – Mansfield are just four adrift of the latter of those front-runners.

Against Stevenage, it would be the visitors who’d take the lead; a goalless first half did see the visitors carve out the more chances, but to no avail, finally finding the breakthrough in the seventieth minute when a corner from Harvey White was headed past Liam Roberts in the home goal by Charlie Goode.

The lead lasted just minutes however as Gardner, on for George Maris at the start of the second half, finished off a counter-attack to fire the equaliser past Filip Marschall in the visiting goal.

Home shot-stopper, Roberts, can be credited with the assist having rolled the ball onto Gardner who made a great break from inside his own half, onto the edge of the opposition box, and curling his first for the club into the far corner of the visiting goal.

MANSFIELD TOWN – Liam Roberts, Kyle Knoyle, Jordan Bowery, Ryan Sweeney (capt), Frazer Blake-Tracy (Stephen McLaughlin, 46), Louis Reed, Jamie McDonnell, Nathan Moriah-Welsh, George Maris (Joe Gardner, 46), Rhys Evans, Tyler Roberts (Aaron Lewis, 61)

Meanwhile, County lost for the first time in five games following a narrow, 1-0 reverse away to Gillingham.

County, who had won three and drawn one of their previous four outings, fell to a Josh Andrews headed effort just after the restart; Andrews, scoring for the second successive outing, nodded home Remeao Hutton’s cross in the forty-sixth minute as the League Two joint-leaders extended their incredible, unbeaten league run, to some twenty games.

Next up for the two clubs, Mansfield travel to fifth bottom Port Vale, and Notts County host seventh bottom Crawley Town this coming Saturday (20 September).

*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).

*Main image @mansfieldtownfc action during the Stags draw with Stevenage.