Tom Nichols’ first-half goal was enough to give Mansfield a vital 1-0 win as promotion-chasing Stags deservedly beat Forest Green at One Call Stadium.
The amber and blue dominated proceedings throughout and despite a couple of second-half chances for relegation-haunted Rovers, the Stags, in truth, should have won by a greater margin.
Mansfield goalkeeper Christy Pym produced a fine double stop in the second period but his opposite number, American shot-stopper Vincente Reyes was by far the busier of the two goalkeepers.
The result propels Mansfield back into the top three ahead of another important encounter this Saturday away at promotion rivals MK Dons.
Four changes were made from Saturday’s 4-1 loss at home to Crawley.
Left-back Stephen McLaughlin, midfielders Hiram Boateng and George Maris and forward Tom Nichols replaced George Williams, Elliott Hewitt, Ollie Clarke and Will Swan.
In a change just after the warm-up, George Cooper replaced Elliott Hewitt on the subs’ bench.
In the game’s first effort, diminutive midfielder Louis Reed struck wide from 20 yards after three minutes.
Maris then let fly from a similar distance in the sixth minute, but Rovers’ goalkeeper Vincente Reyes was well behind it with the aid of a deflection.
The Forest Green ‘keeper was in the thick of the action and had to produce a smarter stop in the ninth minute to tip over Boateng’s dipping strike.
Stags carved out another promising attack on 14 minutes which ended with Davis Keillor-Dunn skewing a hit past the target from the right of the box.
At the other end, Jordan Moore-Taylor prodded beyond the right-hand post from a Forest Green corner in the visitors’ first real noteworthy opportunity.
But it was Stags who looked the most likely to open the scoring and Keillor-Dunn again caused problems, turning cleverly just inside the box before the forward’s shot was deflected behind for a corner.
And eventually Mansfield took the upper hand on 20 minutes.
Boateng delivered delicately with the left boot into the box and Nichols stretched to send a looping header into the air which deceived Reyes by creeping into the far corner.
Veteran defender Richard Keogh prevented Rovers from falling further behind on 32 minutes by sliding across the box to block Maris’ low drive, which would surely have otherwise tested Reyes.
Stags continued to boss the game and looked to double their advantage on 42 minutes, but Reyes claimed Maris’ ten-yard shot on the turn.
In the final minute of the half, Stags’ goalkeeper Christy Pym did well to claw away a dipping free-kick by Charlie McCann to keep Mansfield in the box seat heading into the break.
Stags carried on their impressive attack-minded approach in the second-half and within five minutes of the restart Reyes had to beat away Nichols’ powerful strike following neat setup work by Boateng.
Keillor-Dunn was next to come close to a goal as he weaved beyond two defenders to break into the right of the box, but his final shot was well off target.
Just past the hour, Keillor-Dunn again tried his luck and this time his left-footed curling effort flew narrowly over the angle from just inside the area.
On 69 minutes, McLaughlin fired a low free-kick beyond the defensive wall from 22 yards but Reyes watched it all the way.
Akins came to the rescue for Mansfield a minute later.
After a rare Rovers’ charge forward, Akins managed to get in front of his man on the cusp of the goal area to turn behind a dangerous right-flank cross.
Stags then made a double change as Ollie Clarke and Will Swan were introduced for Quinn and Maris.
And on 81 minutes another two substitutions were made as Aaron Lewis and James Gale entered the fray for Keillor-Dunn and Nichols, the latter having collected a yellow card.
And within three minutes of action, Lewis was yellow carded for a strong challenge near the halfway line.
On 87 minutes, Stags had Pym to thank for a top drawer double save, firstly palming away Emmanuel Osadebe’s low strike and also pushing aside away Kyle McAllister’s follow-up.
George Williams then took the place of Stephen McLaughlin in Stags’ last change.
Clarke was cautioned for a late challenge in stoppage time and giant defender Ryan Inniss also went into the book for a push on the same man.
And after five minutes of stoppage time, there was relief and jubilation in equal measure as referee Daniel Maddison blew for full-time.
STAGS: Pym, Akins, Flint, Bowery, McLaughlin )Williams 88), Reed, Boateng, Quinn (Clarke 72), Maris (Swan 72), Keillor-Dunn (Gale 81), Nichols (Lewis 81)
UNUSED SUBS: Flinders, Cooper
FOREST GREEN: Reyes, Moore-Taylor, Keogh, Inniss, Robson (Dabo 64), McCann, Osadebe, Bunker (Jones 64), Thompson (McAllister 82), Garrick (Maddox 82), Doidge
UNUSED SUBS: Searle, Bernard, Omotoye
REFEREE: Daniel Middleton
ATTENDANCE: 7,245 (80 away fans)
