Alex Revell feels Stevenage dropped two points at Mansfield

Stevenage boss Alex Revell felt his side chucked two points away following their 1-1 draw at Mansfield.

Charlie Goode put the visitors ahead after heading home Harvey White’s 70th-minute corner.

But they saw that lead vanish three minutes later when Joe Gardner levelled after a brilliant solo run and finish.

Stevenage had seen good chances from Lewis Freestone and White go begging during good spells of pressure.

Gassan Ahadme was denied a later winner by a Liam Roberts reflex save with 10 minutes to go.

“It is a point on the road but, for me, it feels like it’s two points dropped,” said Revell.

“We didn’t get going or show how we have been playing in recent weeks.

“Coming here is tough. They make it really tough for you and you have to be aggressive and on the front foot.

“We should have scored at the start of the game, we missed a really good opportunity in their box.

“We needed to get the message at half-time to raise our levels, to raise our tempo and intensity, our demands to want the ball – we did that in the second half.

“For half an hour we created chances and scored a brilliant header. We should have scored another one before that.

“Their goal was a killer blow. If you don’t track runners and you leave yourself open from a set-play then you get punished.

“It is disappointing but this is a tough place to come to get results and maybe this will be a positive result at the end of the season.”

Mansfield boss Nigel Clough was full of praise for Gardner after his memorable equaliser.

“The goal was the highlight of the day,” Clough said. “It is not just running half the length of the pitch, it is the quality of his finish as well.

“Joe is another one we have seen so little of because of injury. It was a wonderful finish and a wonderful goal.

“We have all been a bit frustrated with the injury. He did well against Harrogate and had a chance of starting today, but he is still building up his fitness.

“It was an incredibly hard-fought game and you can see exactly why Stevenage are up there.

“We started well for the first 20 minutes and then lost our way a little bit. You fear the worst when they went 1-0 up because they are so hard to break down.

“We thought it was a foul in the build-up on Stephen McLaughlin, without a doubt. It was a push and we didn’t get the foul. It is very disappointing.

“The referee set the tone from the start, but we got the equaliser and it is a great point.”