Mansfield Town midfielder Willem Tomlinson careful over celebrations for first ever EFL goal

But he admitted he had to be careful not to over-celebrate.

“I was on a yellow so I went to celebrate with the fans then had to check my run,” he said.

“I thought I can’t get booked again before Sweens (Ryan Sweeney) picked me up and tried to carry me in!

“I’ve never seen the lads so excited for a player to score a goal, to be fair – I’m delighted.

“I’ve been waiting a long time. The gaffer’s been playing me further forward, picking up seconds and driving forward so I knew I’d get chances.

“I had the same chance against Cheltenham two weeks ago. I was away and it hurt me because I wanted that first goal, so I came in on Monday, had a look at it and thought about what I could do better.

“Luckily, I got another one today and took my chance.”

As expected the game was a physical affair and ill-tempered at times as one red card and six yellows were shown.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game when we came here,” said Tomlinson.

“They’re a long ball, pick up the seconds, fighting team and I think we had enough quality to match that and then go and win the game by being more technical – I think it showed.

“I think I’ve just had my first head injury after 50-something games, a few of the boys have cuts and bruises so we knew what we were getting into. But we’re delighted to get the win.”

Stags led 1-0 at the break and Tomlinson said: “The plan was to come out and get a second.

“The gaffer told us what to do in the second half, where their weaknesses were and I think we played on them.

“I think we dominated most of the game up until the 92nd minute and we’re all disappointed because we’ve conceded a goal when we should have seen the game out.

“We shouldn’t have been on the back foot in the last five minutes but I can’t complain because we’ve got the win.”