Mansfield Town

The Stags dominated from start to finish in Warwickshire, but fell behind at the start of the second period when Connor Taylor fired home from the edge of the box.

Wright levelled when he converted a Louis Briscoe cross on the hour mark and the visitors came close to snatching all three points late on through Junior Daniel and John Dempster.

Nuneaton stay rooted to the foot of the Blue Square Bet Premier table, whilst Mansfield remain in a mid-table position, eight points adrift of the play-off positions with a game in hand.

Borough shot-stopper Ben McNamara was forced to make an early near-post save from Lindon Meikle after the winger superbly cut inside from the right flank and arrowed a shot goalwards, as Mansfield created a rare chance in an otherwise quiet first 10 minutes.

The Stags enjoyed superior territorial dominance over their visitors for most of the game, and after Chris Clements’ long-range drive was diverted over the target, Meikle cut inside once more, this time from the opposite flank, but lacked accuracy with his final product.

Adam Walker tested the resilience of the Mansfield defence with a couple of dangerous set-piece deliveries from the left flank, before Anthony Howell almost put Wright through on goal with a fabulous ball over the top midway through the first period.

Wright nearly turned provider moments later as he fed Meikle from wide on the left, and the flying winger expertly peeled away from Simon Forsdick and unleashed a thunderous right-foot drive that crashed against the crossbar with McNamara rooted to his line.

Ben Hutchinson also fired straight into arms of the Nuneaton shot-stopper on the half-hour mark in what proved to be the only other chance of an unspectacular first period.

Chances proved to be at a premium after the break too, but only five minutes after the re-start Nuneaton took the lead with their very first shot of the game.

Borough’s Andy Brown expertly flicked a long punt out of defence straight into the path of the Connor Taylor, who advanced goalwards and curled his sweet shot into the bottom left-hand corner, beyond the desperate dive of Shane Redmond.

Nevertheless, Mansfield weren’t to be behind for long and they responded within minutes.

Briscoe picked up possession deep on the right flank and delivered a fine back-post cross towards Nick Wright, who cushioned his close range effort beyond McNamara.

Rooted to the bottom of the Blue Square Bet Premier table, the hosts soaked up waves of possession from their dominant visitors, who again came close when Briscoe blazed a shot wide of the right-hand post after Clements wreaked havoc with a corner.

With 13 minutes remaining, Borough almost claimed an unlikely winner as Walker drew a fine save from Redmond, which was before the hosts wasted a further chance through Forsdick, who was off-target with a powerful attempt from the edge of the box.

Daniel replaced Briscoe for the final five minutes and the flying winger cursed his misfortune when his fantastic 25-yard strike was tipped onto the woodwork by McNamara at the expense of a corner, from which Exodus Geohaghon was unable to flick the ball goalwards.

Penned back due to prolonged periods of Mansfield pressure, Nuneaton opted to go with five in defence in the closing stages, but they were almost caught out in the dying seconds of added time when Dempster glanced a header straight at McNamara from within the six-yard box.

Attendance: 838 (180 away supporters).