LOMAS ON STAGS: Football – it’s heartbreak or joy by the finest of margins
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And for those fans watching Mansfield Town and England on Saturday, that point was massively underlined.
A point and clean sheet away at Steve Evans' high-flying Stevenage was a terrific result for Nigel Clough's men, who defended superbly.
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Hide AdBut it still took a split second of fortune at the end when the home side carved out their best and only real chance of the 90 minutes as the ball fell to the feet of the usually lethal Luke Norris three yards out near the right hand post.


However, he could only succeed in guiding the ball wide of the far post across the face of goal.
It would have been a real kick in the teeth for Stags, who thoroughly deserved their point in a tight, scrappy game on an increasingly frosty surface. These are hard-fought and precious points that can mean so much in the final table in May.
But England then showed what can happen when Lady Luck turns her back on you in their World Cup quarter-final against France. Almost every key moment in the game went against them, not helped by some appalling decisions from referee Wilton Sampaio.
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Hide AdFrance committed a blatant foul on their way to their opener while England had a penalty denied that looked as clear cut as any both in real time and on replay.
So it should have been the French chasing the game, not England.
How bad the officials were was underlined when the referee needed VAR to give England their second penalty. VAR is supposed to help when things are not clear but this one was even clearer than the first half one turned down.
You then have to feel for the usually deadly Harry Kane as he put his crucial penalty over to let the world champions off the hook.
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Hide AdEngland were magnificent on the night and those having a pop at Kane or Gareth Southgate should have a good shake of their head.
Have they forgotten what it used to be like watching England under previous managers? This is absolute heaven and as Nigel Clough said this week, England will win a major tournament soon if they get the luck every side needs.