Mark Stevenson reports from the Raymond McEnhill Stadium.
Powerhouse forward Kyle Perry was on target once more as Mansfield Town gained a well-deserved away victory to knock Salisbury off the top of the table.
The 23 year old is proving an instant hit with the Stags faithful since his arrival in the summer from Port Vale and this latest goal will endear him further with the Amber army.
His 67th minute strike was the only goal of the contest, but there were more than enough chances for both sides to add to the scoresheet.
Stand-in captain Luke Jones may have put Stags ahead in the opening stages following a delightfully weighted free-kick from Ryan Williams.But Jones' header was misdirected and Salisbury were let off the hook.
The home side were made to rue chances of their own, including four first half opportunities falling to striker Matthew Tubbs. The first of which came on 10 minutes after Robert Sinclair crossed from the right but Tubbs headed weakly at goalkeeper Alan Marriott from 12 yards.
Marriott then claimed comfortably from Tubbs' 30 yard drive, but his best chance came on 14 minutes.
Sean Clohessy swung in from the right and Marriott had to dive to make the stop from Tubbs' header just under the quarter-hour mark.
On 22 minutes, Daniel Spence broke down the left and crossed into the six yard box for Tubbs - but Luke Jones did enough to put him off when a clearer cut opportunity would have otherwise prevailed.
One of Stags' best moves of the half came five minutes later.Gary Silk played a clever pass down the channel to Louis Briscoe, who used his power and pace to break forward before unleashing a venomous shot which just missed the target.
Then, Silk of all people twisted and turned past two players on the edge of the box less than two minutes later.But the shot that followed didn't replicate the fine skill which preceded.
With 30 minutes on the watch, Kyle Nix's corner found the head of Matt Somner on the edge of the six yard box but hit his effort was straight at goalkeeper James Bittner from point blank range.Kyle Perry may have broken the deadlock with the follow up header from short range, but it flew wide. His moment, however, was to come.
Perry then turned provider with ten minutes of the first half to play following good work by Louis Briscoe.His strong ball in from the left was one which fellow striker Rob Duffy was unable to connect to from just inside the area.
Stags grew in confidence as the game progressed and they ended the first half strongly.
Midfielder Kyle Nix was upended by ex-Stag Darrell Clarke 20 yards from goal.
Kyle Perry's resulting free kick beat the wall - but not Bittner in the Salisbury goal.
But it was Perry, one of Stags' top performers throughout, who forced Bittner in to a one handed diving save with three minutes of the first half to play. The Salisbury shot stopper had to be at full stretch to deny the left-footed drive from outside the area.
The hosts tried to put their mark on the second half immediately after the re-start whistle.With just 40 seconds into the second period, Salisbury broke away and when it fell to Christopher Flood in the final third, he tried to curl it round Marriott from the inside left channel - but narrowly missed the target.
Ryan Williams and Rob Duffy both had half-chances soon after, before Williams, the Stags' club captain was replaced by the lively Jake Speight on 56 minutes.
Salisbury's Tubbs, who had squandered chance after chance in the first half, had the opportunity to seriously test Marriott once more.As he advanced into the area, the City frontman trod on the ball which halted his forward run.
Manager David Holdsworth then made his second change on 65 minutes.Daryl Clare replaced Rob Duffy in attack and it didn't take long for Clare to put his footprint on the match. Two minutes later, he struck cleanly from the edge of the area to force Bittner to parry.Bittner had to use his chest to block the follow up shot from Louis Briscoe, but he could do nothing about Kyle Perry's strike which hit the underside of the bar and over the line as the hosts were finally undone.
Perry wheeled away behind the goal in celebration, 'high-fiving' scores of Stags' fans.But referee Richard Martin took a dim view and issued Perry a yellow card in front of the 260 travelling fans.
Stags continued to dominate territorially as Salisbury's frustrations grew.
With minutes left to play, Jake Speight let fly from the left from 25 yards, but his shot flew into the back of the stand.
Stags' efforts may have been unfastened in the dying seconds. The persistent Tubbs tried to slot home as Marriott had to come out of his area to clear the danger, but true to form - he stroked wide and Stags travelled home with maximum points.
