Late fury as 10-man Mansfield Town are beaten at AFC Wimbledon

Will Swan bagged in the second half and he must have thought he had handed the Stags a point they probably just about deserved, only for Curtis to bundle home from close range deep into added time just after Stags had appeals for what looked to be a nailed-on penalty for a foul on Davis Keillor-Dunn turned down.

On an eventful afternoon the Stags had lost Jordan Bowery to a straight red card early in the game, and Stephen Quinn was also shown a second yellow and subsequent red on the bench for his anger at the penalty decision in the dying seconds, and they have now gone four League Two games without a win.

They have also lost man-mountain skipper Aden Flint to an injury within half an hour.

It was the Dons who made the better of the early running at the Cherry Red Records Stadium.

Stags’ keeper Christy Pym was twice called upon in the early stages as he kept out efforts from Omar Bugiel and Armani Little.

James Tilley also went close with a strike from distance.

With Nigel Clough’s men struggling to gain any kind of foothold in the game, John-Kymani Gordon also threatened for the hosts following Bugiel’s tidy lay-off.

Alarm bells then began to ring for the Stags when they were reduced to 10 after only 20 minutes.

Bowery saw red after he hauled down Josh Davison as he looked set to bear down on the Stags’ goal 40 yards out after getting goalside of the Mansfield man.

Soon after the afternoon worsened, Stags’ skipper Aden Flint was forced off with a shoulder injury, on the half-hour, but the Stags continued to dig in.

Ollie Clarke went close when he drilled off target following a set piece, before the Dons struck seconds before the interval as Bugiel drilled home low from 16 yards following Gordon’s off-load.

The goalscorer had to be substituted at half-time due to an injury, and his replacement, Harry Pell, almost made it 2-0 seconds after the restart.

Little was looking lively, and he went close to notching a potentially killer second goal, before the Stags levelled in the 63rd minute.

Swan guided home his third goal of the season after Quinn’s cross wasn’t cleared and rolled towards Swan off Brown.

Mansfield made positive substititions and did threaten to win the game as we entered stoppage time.

And they were convinced they should have had a penalty.

Instead, Curtis’s late, late show proved a killer blow in a seventh added minute as he poked home from close range from McLean's ball across from the right by-line.

It was only a third league defeat of the season for Stags, who stay third.

AFC WIMBLEDON: Bass, Brown, Ogundere, Gordon (Curtis, 67), Currie, Tilley (McLean, 87), Reeves, Bugiel (Pell, 46), Little, Davison (Sasu, 68), Lewis. SUBS NOT USED: Tzanev, Ball, Sutcliffe.

STAGS: Pym, Brunt, Flint (McLaughlin, 30), Cargill, Bowery, Clarke (Lewis, 71), Reed, Maris (O’Toole, 84), Quinn (Boateng, 84), Akins, Swan (Keillor-Dunn, 71). SUBS NOT USED: Flinders, Cooper.

REFEREE: Will Finnie.

ATTENDANCE: 8,114 (990 away).