Louis briscoe marked his 23rd birthday with a stunning strike in the 90th minute to gain Mansfield 3 valuable points. Mansfield fell behind on 14 minutes when Aaron O'connor provided a beautiful finish to his Silky footwork to fire home a strike from 18 yards past the helpless Alan Marriott. Mansfield continued pressuring Rushden and got their efforts rewarded on 29 minutes when a beautiful ball over the top by Adam Murray played in Luke Medley and he beat the keeper in a one on one to pull Mansfield level. Mansfield had a number of chances but Louis Briscoe hit the post on 45 minutes.
Mansfield dominated the second period but never really pressed home their advantage. Tom Naylor was dominant in defence and constantly thwarted Rushden in attack with what in my opinion was a man of the match performance. That honour was however bestowed upon Paul Connor. With time all but up Louis Briscoe picked up a loose ball and after a short run fired home a venomous effort from the edge of the box to secure all 3 points to Mansfield. Duncan Russell will be breathing a little easier now.
