Ollie Clarke at the double as the Stags brush Scunthorpe United aside

Mansfield Town continued their fantastic run of form as they recorded their fifth successive win in all competitions with a fine 3-1 victory over bottom of the league Scunthorpe United.

The Iron managed to take the lead through Myles Hippolyte’s penalty in the 15th minute but the amber and blues dug deep to secure all three points.

Ollie Clarke levelled the game before the half-hour mark with Jordan Bowery giving Mansfield the lead in added time of the first half. Mansfield’s captain scored his second of the game on the hour-mark as the Stags ran out 3-1 victors.

Nigel Clough made two changes from the victory against Stevenage last weekend. Rhys Oates and George Lapslie missed the game through injury with Jordan Bowery and Ryan Stirk stepping into the starting 11 in their places.

Mansfield started brilliantly with two quick chances. The first chance saw Bowery play Harry Charsley through but his effort was blocked by Manny Onariase. A few minutes later, Stephen McLaughlin’s delivery found the head of Elliott Hewitt who forced emergency loan goalkeeper Kieran O’Hara into tipping the ball over.

In the 14th minute, the visitors were awarded a penalty as Hippolyte beat the offside trap and was wiped out by Nathan Bishop inside the penalty box. The forward made no mistake from 12 yards as Scunthorpe took a much-needed lead.

Bowery went agonisingly close to equalising minutes later as he went one-on-one with O’Hara but saw his effort cannon off the post.

However, skipper Ollie Clarke was able to take his chance in the 28th minute. The midfielder expertly placed the ball into the corner and scored an important equaliser for the Stags.

Onariase was able to connect with a corner but his header failed to hit the target before the Stags took the lead in added time.

McLaughlin’s delivery found Charsley inside the area but the midfielder could only fire the ball at O’Hara. Luckily for the Stags, the goalkeeper pushed the ball into Bowery’s path. The forward’s effort was saved but the Scunthorpe shot-stopper did not do enough as Mansfield lead 2-1 at the half-time interval.

From the restart, the visitors had a chance through Ryan Loft, however, Bishop did well to deny the forward.

After he failed to convert a chance minutes later, Ollie Clarke scored his second of the afternoon as he charged goalwards before calmly slotting the ball into the back of the net.

With seven minutes left, James Gale did brilliantly to nutmeg the defender before sliding the ball into Charsley path. However, the midfielder was unable to score Mansfield’s fourth as O’Hara made a fine stop.

For the rest of the game, the Stags held onto their lead to secure a third successive league victory and extended their unbeaten run to five in all competitions.

This result sees the amber and blues move up to 17th in League Two, seven points clear of the relegation zone and only six points away from the play-off places.

On the other hand, Scunthorpe remain bottom of the league as they record their ninth league defeat of the season. The Iron are now three points away from safety and form needs to pick up if they are to survive in the division for another season.

Mansfield now face two away league games as they travel to Sutton United on Tuesday before a trip to Crawley next weekend.

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