Mansfield Town defeat must not take away from 'magical' season for Cardiff City, says Brian Barry-Murphy
Cardiff City are headed for Championship football next season and Mansfield Town made sure to give them a parting gift to remember.
The One Call Stadium saw nine goals scored during the final day of the 2025/26 season as Stags put five past second-placed Cardiff. The Bluebirds also gave as good as they got, with four coming from them to add to an exhilarating season send-off.
Nigel Clough believes the 5-4 win was a ‘fitting end’ to his side’s campaign, which sees them finish tenth in the League One table.
The Stags boss was passionate about not letting any side do the double over them this season and they made sure Cardiff City weren’t given that chance. After losing 3-0 in the Welsh capital back in November, Mansfield put three past the Bluebirds inside the first half at the One Call, before the second period saw an electric goal bonanza to keep everyone on the edge of their seats.
Brian Barry-Murphy was pleased his side could at least put on an entertaining show for the travelling fans, who will be supporting the club in England’s second tier after the summer break.
“We have to accept that we didn’t play very well today but in the end it was very important that we gave our supporters something to go home happy with, and if it wasn’t a victory, at least we scored some really good goals,” the Irishman said at full-time.
“We didn’t handle the opposition threats very well. This venue can be a difficult place to come and the level we played at today meant we didn’t give ourselves a chance to win. But in the second half, the players showed the mentality we’ve had all season, played some really good football, and I thought we could have gotten back into the game but it wasn’t to be.”
Barry-Murphy then stressed that the defeat against Stags doesn’t take away from what his side have achieved. They will join champions Lincoln City in the Championship next season and they both await to learn the winner of the play-offs, with Stockport, Bradford, Bolton and Stevenage all competing for the final promotion spot.
“It’s been a magical season for us and a magical end to the season – today was about celebrating our club.”