The FA Cup journey goes on as Mansfield Town defeat Sunderland in a tight contest at the Stadium of Light

Mansfield Town are through to the Second Round of the FA Cup after they narrowly edged out League One side Sunderland for a historic 1-0 victory.

Mansfield had three chances early on but they narrowly missed the Sunderland goal while Danny Graham hit the post for the Black Cats.

Going into half-time with the score at 0-0 a lot of faith and belief must have been added into the Stags player as they showed yet another 45 minutes of resilience and determination.

Kellan Gordon’s cross found the leaping George Lapslie in the box whose bullet header ended up in the back of the net.

Charlie Wyke could have levelled the game at 1-1, but Marek Stech saved his low and powerful shot with five minutes to go.

The game finished on Wearside 1-0 win to Mansfield which will definitely instill some confidence into the players knowing that they are through to the Second Round of the FA Cup.

Spirits will have risen after a positive start to the weekend. Nigel Clough was appointed as the new manager on Friday and will lead the Stags from now on.

This begs the question of whether the Stags are going to go on some sort of cup run this season or the sole aim is to rise in the league standings or can Clough do both?

We know that Clough is famous for his cup runs with the sides he managed in the past and this may be an aim that has been given by the board to the new manager.

FA Cup history for the Stags

The last couple of seasons, the Amber and Blues have not been impressive in the cup and would fall short in the First or Second Round.

Mansfield had an abysmal season last year and only made it to the Second Round of the Cup. Firstly, they beat National League side Chorley 1-0 at the One Call Stadium and but were beaten 2-0 by Shrewsbury Town, who themselves reached the Fourth Round that year.

In the 2018/19 campaign, Mansfield didn’t even make it past the First Round. They held Charlton to a 1-1 draw that set up a replay in which they were destroyed 5-0 at the Valley.

The furthest round the Stags reached in the last five years was Round three in the 2017/18 season. In the First Round, they travelled to South Yorkshire to face Shaw Lane. A stellar performance from Danny Rose was topped off with an acrobatic goal saw the Stags beat the Non-League side 3-1.

In the Second Round, they faced old player and manager Adam Murray who was Guiseley’s assistant. The Conference Premier side came to the One Call Stadium.

A 3-0 win for Mansfield sent them to the third with Cardiff City as their opponents. A resilient performance in South Wales saw the Stags fend off the Championship club and play out a 0-0 draw.

Cardiff travelled to Mansfield ten days later. Pep Guardiola was seen in the stands at the stadium as the winner of the game would face his Manchester City side. The Championship side beat the Stags 4-1 in the end, but it was a good run for the amber and blues.

What next for the Stags?

Two games in the space of a week are coming up for the Stags as they look to regain stability with their new manager and off the back of a win.

The Stags will travel to Scunthorpe United in their last game in the group stage of the EFL Trophy which Mansfield are already out of as they recorded two losses against Lincoln City and Manchester City U21’s.

At the weekend, the Stags are traveling yet again this time a trip to the New Lawn to face Forest Green in League Two. Forest Green are flying in the League, currently sitting in third, but one thing will be on the minds of the Stags and it will be to get a first league win of the season, no more and no less.

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