Non-League Day provided the most dramatic of FA Vase ties as ten-man AFC came from behind to beat Hanley Town in the dying seconds.
Nicky Darker's red card gave the visitors the upper hand, and Town went ahead through Martin Stayner on 72 minutes, but the ten men of Mansfield clawed themselves back into the tie through Ross Duggan's 84th-minute leveller.
It looked to be heading to a replay with Hanley also down to ten, until Duggan provided more cup heroics with a winner in the 120th minute to cause the Forest Town Arena to erupt.
Little was worth noting until the ten minute mark had passed when midfielder Jamie McGuire cleverly knocked the ball down the right channel for Jordan Annable, who would have had Duggan to feed with plenty of space in the middle but could only win a corner.
Hanley's Chris Budrys then would have been in with a clear chance on goal on the edge of the Bulls' penalty area, but he was adjudged to have fouled Brett Lucas.
A frantic minute half-way through the first half saw Ross Duggan lead an AFC counter-attack, but the striker lost possession before Town dashed down the other end and Martin Stayner sent a 20-yard half-chance skywards.
With half an hour gone, Mackenzie Faulkner could have steered his side ahead from the edge of the area, but instead curled just over Dylan Parkin's crossbar.
The first half continued to provide very little openings for either outfit, and Ross Duggan's half-volley which flew wide from 20 yards out was the closest AFC came to an opener.
The first ten minutes of the second half provided a similar contest until the game's first real chance finally came into existence - Tim Sanders looked certain to convert Jon Kapend's deep cross but Parkin pulled off a spectacular low save to keep things level.
Meanwhile for AFC, chances were reduced to ones from distance with Duggan trying his luck from 30 yards on a couple of occasions but without any success.
Disaster then struck for the hosts when Nicky Darker not only conceded a Hanley penalty but received his marching orders from referee Jacob Lehane for a shove.
But Parkin was in no mood for conceding from the spot, and did brilliantly to guess correctly and palm Sanders's spot-kick away from danger.
Eventually, however, the one-man advantage also became a one-goal advantage for Town in a brilliant move, as Martin Stayner was teed up perfectly on the edge of the area before firing past Parkin emphatically.
For the majority of the game the Bulls had struggled to create a chance, but the introduction of Jack Warwick proved instrumental in changing the game as the ten men of AFC drew level.
Warwick flicked on McGuire's long ball perfectly, and Duggan took advantage of a slip to lethally fire into the bottom corner.
Duggan was let through on goal just as the game was entering extra time, but was denied a goal-scoring opportunity by Josh Thorpe, who was shown a red card to make it ten versus ten.
AFC continued to grow and then had the ball in the net deep into injury time, but Duggan was flagged offside after he bundled home Luke Walker's inch-perfect delivery.
Duggan's late leveller kept AFC's hopes of cup progression alive, and the game headed into 30 minutes of extra time.
The additional half an hour proved to be just as tight, and substitute Chris Boast almost restored Hanley's lead within seconds of coming on as his volley skimmed Parkin's crossbar.
Duggan then had a key chance to put the Bulls ahead in the tie for the first time, but couldn't keep his effort low enough after being teed up nicely by Warwick.
With five minutes remaining, Parkin had to use his heroics once again, this time with his legs to deny Faulkner from close range.
As extra time slowly came to an end, it seemed that the tie was heading for a Tuesday night replay, but the impossible was achieved when - in an eerily similar fashion to the tie against Graham Street Prims - Duggan twisted and turned in the penalty area and curled past Woolrich to give AFC a place in the next round in the dying moments.
The win is AFC's first in four outings in all competitions, and the Bulls will hope to carry on where they left off on Tuesday night when they visit Hemsworth Miners Welfare in the Toolstation NCEL Premier Division.
MATCH DETAILS
Final score | AFC Mansfield 2-1 Hanley Town (AET)
Scorers | Duggan (84'), (120') - Stayner (71')
Bulls XI | Parkin (GK), Annable, Darker, McGuire, Lucas, Hough (Hague 91'), Warner (Corder 74'), Buxton (C) (Potter 72'), Duggan, Walker, Slone (Warwick 80')
Unused subs | McMillan, Webster, Warhurst
Yellow cards | Annable (37')
Red cards | Darker (67')
Hanley Town XI | Woolrich (GK), Bristow, Faulkner (C), Bergin, Thorpe, Vernon (Mellor 117'), Stayner, Kapend (Ahmadi 62'), Sanders (Alcock 74'), Budrys, Philips (Boast 100')
Unused subs | Jackson
Yellow cards | Thorpe (40'), Faulkner (112')
Red cards | Thorpe (90')
Man of the Match | Dylan Parkin
Attendance | TBC
Comments