Mansfield Town left frustrated on opening day as Crewe Alexandra fight back from two goals down to draw 2-2

The Stags were seemingly cruising after half-an-hour following a quickfire double from Davis Keillor-Dunn, only to later see Calum MacDonald sent off as Alex roared back to earn a point.

There were no major surprises from Stags boss Nigel Clough when the teamsheets were distributed pre-match.

Thursday’s capture Aden Flint was handed a place on the bench for the Mornflake Stadium opener.

The Stags began brightly and created the first opening after only three minutes. Rhys Oates found space on the edge of the box, but fired a crisp effort over the top.

Keillor-Dunn them missed a terrific chance when he fired disappointingly straight at young ‘keeper Harvey Davies.

By the 20-minute mark, the Alex had fought their way into the game, with both Chris Long and Callum Johnson going close.

However, Stags deservedly broke the deadlock when Keillor-Dunn drilled home low into the corner after meeting Oates’ smart pass.

Keillor-Dunn repeated the trick four minutes later when latched onto Stephen Quinn’s through-ball before firing home left-footed.

And the 25-year-old former Oldham man almost made it a sensational early hat-trick, before Crewe halved the deficit when Mickey Demetriou stabbed home after a corner was not cleared.

Crewe wide-man Long then thumped the crossbar in first-half added time.

Half-time: Crewe Alexandra 1 Mansfield Town 2

Just after the restart, Keillor-Dunn went close again as he crashed a shot against the post.

However, either side of the hour mark, the game turned right into Crewe’s favour.

After Stags’ defender MacDonald was red-carded for an awful challenge on Rio Adebisi, the hosts levelled, Adebisi charging in to superbly head home Jack Powell’s cross.

Oates missed the Stags’ best late chance to nick a winner on what turned out to be a frustrating afternoon.

Crewe: Davies, Offord, Williams (Cooney, 81), Demetriou, Adebisi, Tracey, Tabiner, Thomas, Powell (Holicek, 81), Long, Nevitt (Baker-Richardson, 70). Subs not used: Billington, Booth, O’Riordan, Lunt.

Stags: Pym, Johnson, MacDonald, Reed, Kilgour, Lewis (Maris, 75), Cargill, Quinn (Boateng, 75), Oates (Gale, 90), Keillor-Dunn (Flint, 60), Akins. Subs not used: Flinders, Bowery, Hartigan.

Goals: Crewe: Demetriou 32, Adebisi 60. Stags: Keillor-Dunn 22, 26.

Referee: Ben Atkinson.

Attendance: 5,574