First ever win for Mansfield Town at Salford City

The Stags started the season with an impressive 19-game unbeaten run before slipped to three defeats on the spin in all competitions.

But Goals from Jordan Bowery and Davis Keillor-Dunn either side of a Matt Smith leveller ended that frustrating run as they won at Salford for the first time in front of a huge and delighted away following at the Peninsula Stadium

And, importantly, Mansfield clinched a fourth successive League Two win in the process to leapfrog Notts County into third.

After three losses in eight days in the EFL Cup, FA Cup and EFL Trophy, Stags started brightly as they set about providing a positive response.

And their early threat was rewarded when Jordan Bowery notched an impressive opener inside 20 minutes.

The forward advanced dangerously onto an Aaron Lewis pass before unleashing an emphatic strike into the top right corner past a helpless Salford stopper Alex Cairns.

However, celebrations were cut short when the hosts secured an immediate response thanks to League Two top scorer Matt Smith.

The division’s October Player of the Month rose highest to meet a pinpoint delivery and head beyond the reach of Christy Pym.

But a pendulum first half switched direction again when Mansfield regained the advantage thanks to Davis Keillor-Dunn’s ninth goal of the season.

An inviting Callum Johnson cross found the Stags’ leading marksman unmarked, who volleyed in emphatically from close range.

Salford again threatened an instant reply and should have equalised, if not for an exceptional reaction save by Pym.

The dangerous Smith teed up Matty Lund for what seemed a certain goal, but the keeper produced a miraculous stop to preserve a slender lead.

Bowery and George Maris came close to providing Stags some daylight, but the former was denied by Cairns and the latter overran his mazy run as he tried to go round Cairns.

The impressive Pym proved the difference as he thwarted the best efforts of Stevie Mallan and substitute Conor McAleny.

And Salford’s late onslaught proved in vain as Mansfield secured a hard-fought three points on the road as they preserved their unbeaten league record in 2023/24.

SALFORD: Cairns, Shephard (McLennan, 46), Ingram, Tilt, John, Garbutt, Watt, Watson, Mallan (Nmai, 69), Lund (McAleny, 69), Smith. SUBS NOT USED: Wright, Dackers, Pedro, Humbles.

STAGS: Pym, Johnson, Flint, Brunt, MacDonald (Cargill 89), Reed (Williams, 93), Maris, Lewis, Keillor-Dunn (Boateng, 82), Bowery, Oates (Gale, 93). SUBS NOT USED: Flinders, Swan, Flanagan.

REFEREE: Ross Joyce.

ATTENDANCE: 3,281 (1,173).