Mansfield Town hammer Carlisle United to close in on automatic promotion places
Mansfield Town fired themselves one step closer to the League Two automatic promotion places with an emphatic 4-0 victory at Carlisle United.
Nigel Clough’s super Stags had the points wrapped up before half-time as they ran riot at Brunton Park.
Goals from captain Ollie Clarke, Alfie Kilgour, Lucas Akins and Elliott Hewitt did the damage on a Valentine’s night to remember for the travelling fans.
Clough’s charges cut the gap between themselves and third-placed Carlisle to just three points with their biggest win of the season and Stags have a game in hand over their promotion rivals.
Stags’ skipper Clarke got them up and running in the 14th minute as he met Stephen Quinn’s cross and powered home an unstoppable header.
Kilgour cannot stop scoring and he continued his fine form with a third goal in four games.
The January signing thundered home a header from Davis Keillor-Dunn’s pin-point corner in the 25th minute.
Scot Keillor-Dunn was the focal point for the visitor’s third as he earned a penalty when he was brought down by Morgan Feeney inside the box.
Akins duly stepped up and dispatched his seventh goal of the season, and third from the spot, as he sent hapless Tom Holy the wrong way on the half-hour mark.
Everything the Stags touched turned to gold and Elliott Hewitt bagged a fourth before the break with a curling effort.
The Cumbrians tried to force their way back into the contest, but it was too little too late.
Christy Pym ensured he kept a ninth clean sheet of the season when he tipped over Owen Moxon’s free-kick.
And Feeney nodded wide of the mark from the resulting corner as the hosts’ hopes dwindled away.
Will Swan rattled the post late on as he missed out on reaching double figures for the campaign.
Carlisle: Holy, Senior (Harris, 45), Feeney, Huntington (Garner, 45), Mellish, Armer, Moxon, Guy, Gibson (Patrick, 45), Dennis (Robinson, 76), Gordon.
Unused subs: Kelly, Whelan, McCalmont.
Mansfield: Pym, Harbottle, Kilgour, Perch, Hewitt (Anderson 88), Clarke (Boateng, 45), Wallace (O’Toole, 69), Quinn (Law, 75), Bowery, Keillor-Dunn (Swan, 74), Akins.
Unused subs: Flinders, Johnson.
Referee: Ben Toner
Attendance: 4,645