Euphoria for the Stags at the Keepmoat Stadium as they progress into the Third Round of the FA Cup

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On another magical FA Cup afternoon, Mansfield Town came from 1-0 behind to beat League One Doncaster Rovers 3-2 at the Keepmoat Stadium.

It was a horror start for the amber and blues as they conceded inside the first 10 minutes. Aidan Barlow steamed forward down the right-wing and found Branden Horton inside the penalty area. The left-back was left with the easy task of tapping the ball into an empty net as Doncaster took a 1-0 lead.

The tide turned in the second half as Will Forrester netted his first goal for the Stags. Stephen Quinn’s corner was flicked on by George Lapslie with the Stoke City loanee nodding in the equaliser.

On the hour mark, Mansfield scored their second of the afternoon through the impressive Lapslie. Jordan Bowery had his initial effort saved by Louis Jones but the midfielder was there on the follow-up to fire in yet another important FA Cup goal for the Nottinghamshire club.

He was not done there however as he secured his brace and the visitors’ third in the 71st minute. Fantastic one-touch football between Ollie Clarke, Stephen Quinn and George Maris saw the latter slide the ball into Lapslie who fired the ball into the back of the net from close range.

Doncaster did pull a goal back after a well-worked set-piece saw Tommy Rowe score with six minutes to go but it was too little too late as the Stags held on to claim a 3-2 win and a place in the Third Round of the FA Cup.

Nigel Clough made two changes from Mansfield’s 2-1 away league win at Crawley last Saturday. In came Ollie Clarke and George Maris into the midfield as Oli Hawkins and Ferrend Rawson were absent from the fixture due to illness.

The formation change looked to have caused a bit of a problem at the back as Forrester was caught out of position which allowed the Rovers to make a serious charge goalwards.

John-Joe O’Toole and Elliott Hewitt were the only defenders back as they came up against the energetic Barlow and Horton in a two-on-two situation. The latter was able to breeze past Stags’ number 35 as he squared the ball to his teammate who fired the ball into an empty net.

The amber and blues did not let that phase them and immediately picked themselves up. Quinn had a solid chance in the 11th minute but his effort from the edge of the box went straight through to Rovers goalkeeper Jones.

McLaughlin was energetic as ever as he progressed forward. The left-back played a neat one-two with Rhys Oates, however, his shot was blocked from going goalwards.

The hosts used the counter-attack element very well as the torrential rain continued the fall. Joe Dodoo looked to make his way into the box but his touch let him down at the crucial moment.

Just after the half-hour mark, McLaughlin delivered the ball into the box which was controlled well by Lapslie as he found the back of the net. Unfortunately for the midfielder, he was ruled offside and the goal did not stand.

In the 38th minute, the Stags went close to equalising through Oates. A free-kick into the area was met by the forward, however, his effort went narrowly wide of the post.

Forrester, who made his second successive start, came to the rescue in the final moments of the first half. Matt Smith’s corner found Rowe but Stags’ young defender was there to make a vital block.

Mansfield’s number 23 also made a contribution at the other end of the pitch after the restart. Quinn’s corner was flicked on by Lapslie with the centre-back heading the ball into the net to level the game up at 1-1.

The assisted for the first goal turned goalscorer as Lapslie put the Stags 2-1 in front. Bowery’s initial effort was parried away by Jones but the midfielder was there to pick up the scraps and fire the ball in from a tight angle.

As time went on, Mansfield continued to glide through the gears as Quinn’s delivery was met by an acrobatic effort from Forrester. However, his shot was charged down and blocked by the Rovers defence.

With 20 minutes to go, the amber and blues doubled their advantage and made it 3-1. Fantastic build-up play between Clarke, Quinn and Maris saw the latter slide the ball into Lapslie who made no mistake from close range to score his second goal of the afternoon.

Clough’s men continued to make progress in the attacking third but failed to create anything concrete as Doncaster pulled one back in the 84th minute. A well-worked set-piece saw Dodoo pass the ball to Rowe who fired the ball into the bottom corner of Nathan Bishop’s goal.

The Stags came under pressure for the dying embers of the game but managed to hold onto a fantastic 3-2 win at the Keepmoat Stadium which sees them progress into the Third Round of the FA Cup.

Mansfield will now take on Carlisle United and Salford City in back-to-back home games before the festive period gets underway.

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