Shirebrook Town 2 - 4 AFC Mansfield

Preseason | Shirebrook Town (A) – Bulls Win in Summer Heat

The summer heat was beating down at Langwith Road, with temperatures soaring to 31°C, making for testing conditions.

In front of a lively crowd of 138, it was the home side who struck first, finding the net within the opening five minutes. A well-worked goal saw Shirebrook break away from the Bulls' defence, threading a neat pass through to open the scoring.

After going behind, the Bulls began to settle and grow into the match and creating chances of their own.

Ethan Weisztort, who has been impressive since joining the Bulls, stepped up once again—getting on the end of a dangerous ball and calmly slotting home to bring the sides level.

The work rate was impressive from both sides considering the challenging conditions, with the referee calling for a drinks break as the score remained level at 1–1.

A swift counter-attack from the Bulls began when Liam Mays made a superb tackle to break up a promising Shirebrook move, quickly turning defence into attack. The ball was moved forward with pace, and Kaylum Mitchell — last season’s Committee Player of the Year, who will be looking to carry that form into the new campaign — was on hand to finish the move, putting the Bulls ahead.

The Bulls soon extended their lead to 3–1 after Kacper Rajter got on the end of a well-delivered free-kick, guiding the ball home with a composed header.

The Bulls put the game to bed inside 40 minutes when new signing Nathan Moss fired in a low-driven shot from just outside the area, beating the Shirebrook keeper to make it 4–1.

Despite the difficult conditions, Shirebrook continued to battle and were rewarded with a late goal to bring the final score to 4–2.