Bullseye! AFC Mansfield’s top five performances this season

For non-league clubs like Matt Chatfield’s AFC Mansfield, that period of reflection has come two months early in unprecedented circumstances.

Returning to the NCEL after unexpected relegation from the Northern Premier League, the Bulls took time to gather pace with a new manager at the helm and an almost entirely new squad pulling on the red jersey.

But despite the difficulties they faced, AFC still enjoyed several grand days out.

The Chad picks out their top five performances.

Sleaford Town 0-7 AFC Mansfield: The Bulls’ biggest win of the season by some distance was earned on just the second weekend of the season when they tore Sleaford apart in the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round.

Top scorer Ross Duggan, who would go on to net 34 in all competitions, thumped five past Regan Start in a truly ruthless display at Eslaforde Park to secure his first hat-trick of the season and send AFC coasting into the next round.

An own-goal and a fine Luke Walker finish piled on the misery for Town, as Matt Chatfield’s side unleashed their best goal-scoring performance of the campaign.

AFC Mansfield 2-1 Hanley Town

Cup ties simply don’t get better than this one, and unsurprisingly this was Chatfield’s pick of the season. AFC were staring an exit from the FA Vase in the face when Nicky Darker was sent off for an elbow-led challenge inside the Bulls’ penalty area.

Dylan Parkin pulled out all the stops to then tip Tim Sanders’ spot-kick away from danger, but Martin Stayner’s 18-yard finish eventually edged Hanley ahead of ten-man AFC with 18 minutes remaining.

The introduction of Jack Warwick then changed the complexity of the game, and against the odds Ross Duggan fired the Bulls level on 84 minutes just before Hanley’s Josh Thorpe was also dismissed.

Duggan's late leveller kept AFC's hopes of cup progression alive, and the game headed into 30 minutes of extra time.

The additional half an hour proved to be just as tight, and substitute Chris Boast almost restored Hanley's lead within seconds of coming on as his volley skimmed Parkin's crossbar.

Duggan then had a key chance to put the Bulls ahead in the tie for the first time, but couldn't keep his effort low enough after being teed up nicely by Warwick.

With five minutes remaining, Parkin had to use his heroics once again, this time with his legs to deny Faulkner from close range.

As extra time slowly came to an end, it seemed that the tie was heading for a Tuesday night replay, but the impossible was achieved when - in an eerily similar fashion to the tie against Graham Street Prims - Duggan twisted and turned in the penalty area and curled past Woolrich to give AFC a place in the next round in the dying moments.

AFC Mansfield 2-0 Staveley Miners Welfare

There was no better time to end a four-month league winless streak than on the first game of the new year against one of the division’s toughest sides.

The Bulls could have easily earned a lead before the break if not for some expert goalkeeping from Myles Wright.

But hot-shot striker Ross Duggan came off the bench with half an hour to play and made a big impact.

He tucked home a crucial spot-kick with 20 minutes to go.

With ten minutes to play the game could and perhaps should have been put to bed, but Gavin King could only pull wide of the near post after being set up by Nicky Darker.

Jamie Maguire was sent to the sin-bin after being cautioned for dissent to make things harder.

But Duggan wrapped it up in injury-time to send Staveley packing with just their second league defeat of the campaign.

AFC then had to resist a gruelling 20 minutes of pressure from the Trojans, who had lost just once all season, before their fears of a missed opportunity were all but forgotten when Duggan doubled the lead off the far post deep into injury time to send the visitors packing.

Liversedge 1-1 AFC Mansfield

It may not have been all three points, but this February afternoon provided yet another gutsy performance at, again, of the NCEL Premier Division’s best outfits.

AFC expectedly had a quiet game up top against the league’s meanest defence, but they too held firm at their own end before Duggan buried the ball beyond Josh Lill on the end of a blistering late counter-attack in what looked to be a smash-and-grab win.

But hearts would be broken with a minute of normal time remaining when substitute Mark Simpson headed home at the back post, although it was still a surprising and impressive result on the road for the Bulls.

Albion Sports 0-2 AFC Mansfield

What turned out to be AFC’s final game on the road was also their first league win away from home of the entire campaign.

Though many away performances prior to this Wednesday night were more than deserving of a result, the Bulls had to wait until March to earn three points on their travels.

Albion started the brighter side but AFC quickly found their feet, and a superb Morgan James corner delivery allowed Luke Walker to prod home the opener.

The hosts naturally saw more openings in the second period, but Grant Ryan would tuck home deep into injury time to secure a thoroughly deserved win on the road.