Concord grounded by Palmer

Posted Wednesday, November 26, 2014 by PA

Ollie Palmer's second-half strike proved enough to give Mansfield victory against Concord Rangers and send them into the FA Cup second round.

Concord dominated the first half and went close after 15 minutes when a hopeful long ball found Lewis Taaffe and he rounded Mansfield goalkeeper Sascha Studer but Liam Marsden cleared off the line.

The Beach Boys looked threatening going forward and almost scored when Jordan Chiedozie fired a shot which crept over the bar.

Mansfield flew out of the blocks in the second half and within a minute of the restart Palmer found space to fire in a low shot that was well saved by Concord keeper Josh Vickers.

The Stags' ferocious pace continued and just a minute later half-time substitute Fergus Bell's superb control and volley had Vickers beaten but it struck a post.

The League Two side were now in control and opened the scoring on the hour mark when Robert Taylor's low cross found Palmer, who calmly finished to send the Stags through to meet Cambridge in round two.

Palmer nearly added a second but Vickers, on loan from Arsenal, produced another good stop to deny the striker while Chiedozie shot over the bar in the dying seconds.