MATCH REPORT: Rose strikes to win six-pointer for Stags
The striker struck the winner on 38 minutes, turning home the rebound after Kane Hemmings rattled the crossbar.
It means the Stags have lost just one of their last 12 league games with the win being the fifth victory in their last six games.
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Hide AdIt was no surprise Steve Evans’ men led at the break after they laid siege to the Exeter goal in a one-sided first half of a real ‘six-pointer’ game.
There was just five minutes gone when Rose fired the first warning shot, bundling his way into the six-yard box before watching his shot from an acute angle pushed on to the post by Christy Pym.
The chance set the tone for a first-half bombardment as Mansfield wreaked havoc down both flanks and created a steady stream of chances.
Rose was at the centre of everything, emerging through a sea of players to head straight at Pym before testing the Exeter keeper with another header.
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Hide AdCJ Hamilton was the next to be denied with an effort destined for the far corner of the net until Jordan Moore-Taylor blocked.
Mansfield got the opener their pressure deserved seven minutes before the interval.
Alfie Potter drove into the box and drilled in a cross from which Hemmings lashed an effort goalwards - Pym performed heroics to tip the striker’s effort on to the crossbar but Rose was on hand to stab home the rebound for his 17th goal of the season.
Rose could have added a second in the opening stages of the second half but could only drag an effort past the far post.
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Hide AdExeter made a fight of it in the second half but Stags keeper Conrad Logan was largely untroubled as Mansfield recorded their sixth away win of the season.
-STATS-
Exeter 0
Mansfield 1
Rose 38
Exeter City: (4-4-2): Pym 7, Wilson 6, Brown 7, Moore-Taylor 7, Woodman 4 (Edwards 69 5), Taylor 5, James 5 (Harley 46 7), Tillson 5, Moxey 5, Loft 4 (Boateng 46 6), Stockley 6. Subs not used: Jones, Archibald-Henville, Simpson, Holmes.
Mansfield Town: (4-4-2): Logan 7, Anderson 7, Pearce 7, Bennett 7, Benning 7, Potter 7, MacDonald 7 (Diamond 90 n/a), King 7, Hamilton 7, Hemmings 7 (Atkinson 63 6), Rose 8 (Spencer 76 6). Subs not used: Olejnik, Mellis, Penney, Miller.
Referee: Chris Sarginson 7/10.
Attendance: 3,680 (224).