Christy Pym stars as Mansfield Town beat Northampton to make it three wins in a row

The rock-solid keeper made four wonderful saves, including a first half-penalty stop, as plucky Stags rode their luck at Northampton to come away with a 2-0 win.

The visiting cause was certainly helped by some wasteful Cobblers finishing with Mitch Pinnock guilty of a glaring miss in the opening seconds.

It was a rather familiar tale of the first half with Pym coming to the rescue as Stags found the going tough.

But it was a different story in the second half with Will Evans heading Stags ahead just two minutes the restart.

The opener came either side of Stags smacking the post twice in quick succession as the visitors came out from the dressing room in determined fashion.

And Stags claimed three more crucial points when Aaron Lewis banged home a beauty from distance with two minutes to go to wrap it up.

Stags went into the game unchanged from the starting side which beat Shrewsbury Town last time out.

But they started shakily and had Christy Pym to thank for keeping out Pinnock when he got in on goal following a slack backpass by Elliott Hewitt in the opening seconds.

Pinnock then wastefully blazed over from a corner minutes later, before Luke Mbete curled over from the edge of the box on 11 minutes.

Evans scuffed a chance straight at the keeper from a tight angle minutes later as Stags began to see more of the ball.

Lee Burge stood up well to keep out Lee Gregory following a sweeping move involving Louis Reed and Hiram Boateng midway through the half.

Tyler Roberts skied over on 26 minutes after a surging run into the box, before another fantastic one-on-one save by Pym kept out Cameron McGeehan as Stags got hit on the break.

Evans was frustrated by the inside of the post after getting a flick on from a Keanu Baccus pass.

The hosts were given a great chance to break the deadlock after Tarique Fosu went down under a challenge from Baccus on 37 minutes.

But on-song Pym brilliantly saved Fosu’s penalty after the Cobblers man tried to bluff him with his slow run-up.

Cargill ratted the back post from a deep corner seconds after the restart.

But Stags hit the front seconds later when Evans nodded home Quinn’s inch perfect cross.

Gregory was oh so close to a second when he smacked the post after he was played in on goal by Baccus.

Pym got down well to keep out a well hit McGeehan shot on 51 minutes, before Mbete headed wide from a corner.

Mbete and Roberts both tried their luck from distance on 65 minutes as the hosts began to push Stags back.

Pym tipped Samy Couchane’s curling free-kick wide as the Stags keeper continued to stand firm.

It should have been game over on 74 minutes when Gregory scooped over from close-range after Northampton struggled to clear their lines.

But it was game over with two minutes to go when Lewis made it two in two after emphatically smashing home from long range.

Northampton Town: Burge, McGowan (Wills 83), Sowerby (Fox 87), Guthrie, Pinnock (Hoskins 8)) , McGeehan, Roberts (Wilson 83), Mbete, Fosu (McCarron 87) , Baldwin, Chouchane.

Subs not used: Tzanev, Morton.

Mansfield Town: Pym, Hewitt, Oshilaja, Cargill, McLaughlin, Reed, Baccus (Maris 87), S. Quinn (Bowery 70), Boateng (Lewis 76), Evans (Waine 76), Gregory.

Subs not used: Flinders, Bowery, Maris, B. Quinn, Nichols.

Ref: Ben Speedie

Stags man-of-the-match: Christy Pym

ATT: 7,223 (1465 away)