Mansfield Town ease past Curzon Ashton to book their place in the FA Cup second round
Mansfield Town booked their place in the FA Cup second round after a comfortable 4-0 win at Curzon Ashton.
Any fears that the National League North side could cause a cup shock didn’t last long with Stags taking charge of the contest after only 16 minutes.
Lucas Akins put the visitors ahead with a cool spot-kick. But the real damage was done with the dismissal of defender Marcus Posha for a deliberate handball leading to the penalty.
It left The Nash with a mountain to climb. And any hope they could do just that were effectively ended when Stephen Quinn smashed home on the half hour mark.
Sub Ben Waine then made the game safe with a good finish on 73 minutes, before Ben Quinn added another in the closing stages.
Nigel Clough had signalled his intent from the off after naming a strong starting side.
And Stags started brightly with George Maris seeing an early curler comfortably saved.
Alfie Kilgour had to be at his best with a brilliant last-ditch tackle to stop the hosts getting through.
The game took a huge swing in Stags’ favour when they won a penalty after Posha handled a Will Evans shot on the line, with Posha also seeing red as a result.
Akins kept his nerve from the spot to send Bobby Jones the wrong way.
And Stags doubled that lead on 30 minutes when Quinn ended an excellent move with an emphatic first-time finish.
Evans went close before the break after a good cut-back from Stephen Quinn, before he fired over after the re-start.
Waine was unlucky when he clipped the post from an Akins cross midway through the half.
But he wasn’t to be denied for long as he made it 3-0 with a cool finish off the post with 17 minutes to go.
Ben Quinn added another with four minutes to go after good work by Akins and Waine.
Aden Flint was denied by the crossbar seconds later as Stags threatened to run riot.
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