Two late goals for 10 man Town see Town through to the third round.
Town: Max O’Leary, Aaron Pierre, Scott Golbourne, Dave Edwards (Brad Walker, 86), Ro-Shaun Williams, Ollie Norburn, Fejiri Okenabirhie (Daniel Udoh, 86), Donald Love, Ethan Ebanks-Landell, Josh Laurent, Jason Cummings (Sean Goss, 62).
Subs: Joe Murphy, Omar Beckles, Ryan Giles, Lenell John-Lewis, Brad Walker, Seam Goss, Daniel Udoh.
Mansfield: Conrad Logan, Matthew Preston, Krystian Pearce (Malvind Benning, 80), Jacob Mellis, Nicky Maynard, Conor Shaughnessy, Ryan Sweeney, Andrew Cook, Kellan Gordon, CJ Hamilton, Alistair Smith (Omari Sterling-James, 80).
Subs: Robert Olejnik, Malvind Benning, Neal Bishop, Alex MacDonald, Otis Khan, Omari Sterling-James, Jimmy Knowles.
Referee: Andy Haines
Assistants: Steven Rushton and Conor Brown
Fourth official: Matthew Smith
Attendance: 3678 (465)
Josh Laurent and Brad Walker were both on the scoresheet for Town as Salop secured a spot in the third-round of the FA Cup.
Despite going a man down with the majority of the second-half to play, Town battled it out to beat Mansfield Town 2-0 with both goals coming within the last five minutes.
First Half:
Town’s second-round FA Cup tie with Mansfield Town got off to a bright and energetic start, with both teams having chances at goal. The magic of the cup was not lost on this tie, as both sides were attacking the opposition at will.
Sam Ricketts’ men came inches away from taking the lead just after the 10-minute mark. A well-worked corner saw Dave Edwards find Aaron Pierre at the back post, which nearly resulted in Town taking the lead through the defender's headed effort – only to be denied by a goal-line clearance from the Stags.
In the 18th minute, the Stags received their first yellow card of the game. Conor Shaughnessy was the man named in the referee’s book for a challenge on Edwards.
Scott Golbourne was also booked early on in the half for a miss-timed challenge on Kellan Gordon.
As the minutes ticked towards the halfway stage, both teams were still trying to find that final ball to create a clear scoring opportunity. However, Ollie Norburn was a continual bright spark for his team in the middle of the park. The midfielder dispatched a number of dangerous passes, as well as being defensively solid for his team.
Matt Preston was the next player to receive a yellow card. The Stags defender was booked for preventing Pierre from breaking on the counter-attack.
In a game that was littered with bookings, Pierre also found himself in the referee’s book for a foul in the middle of the pitch.
Town nearly found the breakthrough with just five minutes left to go in the first-half. Donald Love did well to find space on the right-wing, but the defender couldn’t find Jason Cummings with his driven cross.
The half came to an end with neither team able to notch the go-ahead goal.
Second Half:
It didn’t take long for the Shrews to generate an attempt at goal as the second-half commenced. Town displayed clear attacking intent and were pressing forward with every opportunity. Fejiri Okenabirhie found himself in a yard of space just inside the Stags’ box but his powerful effort was well saved by Conrad Logan.
A brilliant defensive block by Ro-Shaun Williams in the 56th minute saved Town from going a goal down in the tie. A great driven cross fell at the feet of Kellen Gordon but his shot was well blocked by the Town defender who managed to knock the ball out for a corner.
Despite a good start to the second-half, Town were faced with an uphill battle as referee Andy Haines brandish a straight red card to Ollie Norburn for an incident in the centre-circle.
Town did manage to find the back of the net in the 67th minute through Okenabirhie, but to the disappointment of the Town forward, the flag was raised for offside.
Donald Love had a golden opportunity to fire his team into the lead with less than 15-minutes to go. The defender did well to find space inside the Stags’ box but couldn’t convert his first-time effort into a goal.
Town finally broke the deadlock in the latter stages of the game through Josh Laurent. Great play between Daniel Udoh and Laurent saw the ball deflect off a Stags defender and into the path of the midfielder. Laurent didn’t need a second invitation and poked home the ball for his team with only four minutes left on the clock.
Town’s confidence went up a notch when Laurent put his side in the lead, and it wasn’t long before the Shrews notched a second. Udoh’s brilliant run from midfield saw Brad Walker receive the ball in the opposition box, and with sublime calmness, the midfielder took the ball around the keeper and slotted home to secure the win for his side.
The game came to an end with Town taking the win and securing a spot in the FA Cup third-round.