LOMAS ON STAGS: Perfect time for a break for Stags as Non-League Day welcomes football fans
The postponement and moving of fixtures is a huge annoyance for football fans – but this weekend's cancellation could probably not have come at a better time for Mansfield Town.
International call-ups for Leyton Orient players this weekend saw Stags left without a game for two weeks.
But, having finally halted that painful winless run in last weekend's thrilling 2-1 victory over Barnsley, it suddenly feels like a huge cloud has been lifted from over the club.
And, with so many players in the treatment room, this is the perfect fortnight to bask in the glory of the Barnsley win and get players fit for the final nine-game push for a mid-table finish and staying well clear of the dogfight at the bottom.
The atmosphere on Saturday was superb and you can't get anything better in football than a last minute winning goal.
And no one could have been more deserving of being the hero on the day than Deji Oshilaja.
He had been an absolute rock at the back and was on hand in the right place at the right time at the other end of the field to bury the winner that maintained an eight-point gap to the drop zone.
Exeter aside, Stags have not been that bad during the frustrating winless run and the return from injury of Oshilaja has certainly made them much more solid at the back.
He is certainly well up there in the Player of the Season running and doubtless Stags would clone him for one or two other positions if they could.
With up to 11 key players missing with injury at one point - and nine currently out – it would be huge for Mansfield to get most of them back for the nine-game run-in and also for their luck to even out and not suffer any more.
Even new signing, striker Dom Dwyer, felt his hamstring tighten on his debut at Exeter and within a fortnight of joining was also in the treatment room and missed last weekend.
It almost feels like the bad luck with injuries is catching, though with little action under his belt in recent months it was no huge surprise that the rust caused him an issue.
An interesting topic of discussion this week was the lack of Saturday 3pm kick-offs for the Stags at home as three more games were moved.
Since the visit of Wycombe Wanderers on 18th January and up to the last scheduled game of the season at home to Exeter City on 3rd May - a total of 15 weeks – Mansfield's only home game was and will be last weekend against Barnsley.
That is an incredible statistic and one unlikely to have happened before apart maybe from a particularly rough winter weather-wise.
But the higher you move up the leagues the more you will get international call-ups for clubs and the more TV will dictate what they want and when.
For supporters it is so difficult to plan ahead with hotels and train tickets wasted, the best prices being available well in advance.
Three more games were moved today for next month and hopefully that is now the rest of the season set in stone.
So with no Stags and no Premier League on TV don't forget this Saturday is the big annual Non-League Day where the smaller clubs encourage football fans to pay them a rare visit and enjoy the grassroots experience.
Many local clubs are at home and there are staggered kick-offs at some to allow fans to groundhop and take it more than one game on the day.
Despite the atmosphere and quality of play at the bigger clubs, there remains something fantastic and nostalgic about going to the smaller clubs and being able to stand pitchside and feel part of the action and be able to walk around with a pint of beer in your hand, maybe standing behind one goal for one half and then the other for the second half.
Give it a go if you get chance – they will be more than pleased to see you.